Get the balance right – how to blend the team

  Posted by: Dental Design      21st September 2018

Over the last 20 years or so, I have found that one of the most stressful parts of my role as a Practice Manager comes when HR rears its ugly head – generally when a team member leaves or a new team member is introduced.

It is a huge balancing act on the part of a Practice Manager to ensure that the scales are evenly balanced. New people need to feel welcomed and supported, but existing staff must be borne in mind and not be threatened or feel like they are “carrying” anyone.
I have to be honest and tell you I have been a little spoilt over the last 20 years, and have, in the main, only needed to recruit due to expansion rather than the replacement of resigning staff. It has been a steady trickle of new people being introduced to my experienced team of approximately 30 people that hasn’t affected those pesky scales too much.

However, over the last year we have opened a second practice and had around 12 new, lovely additions to our tribe. Now, please don’t misunderstand me – the new staff have been and are as wonderful as my existing team (yes ok, I’m biased!)
But, it has had its challenges. Finding the right mix for your team is vital and will be the difference between a hugely successful practice and one that’s just ‘okay’; minimise your stress levels and increase your own job satisfaction. Some very basic ways to look at how you create that paradise is adopting the right culture within your team include:
• Behaviour – encourage a nurturing, kind and helpful attitude between your team members
• Expectations – communicate expectations to your team about standards and how they are expected to conduct themselves around others
• Boundaries – have a clear definition of what is OK and what isn’t
• Talking to your team – and not just at appraisal meetings. Finding out what they enjoy/dislike most about their jobs is a really positive step towards your practice working more harmoniously. However, make no promises; just because they may want something, such as working in a particular area/surgery, does not mean that you can make it happen. Listening to their preferences is still a great start though.

Ultimately, I have found that whilst we do have a clear organisation chart within my practice, which specifies every member’s responsibilities and roles within the team, we don’t necessarily have a hierarchy when it comes to respect and behaviours towards each other as a team. Every team member’s opinion counts and they are part of our work family.

One of the most important training aspects at our practice is our regular team building days, where we look at how each of us work as individuals and what our personality traits are – it’s then up to the individuals to find a melodious way of communicating and working with each other daily. It has performed miracles for us!
If problems occur, which they occasionally do, deal with it, correct it and learn from it so it doesn’t radiate through the whole team. We can’t all get along perfectly all of the time, but we can try to have systems and a culture in place to cope with them.