What a privilege it was to speak at the IACA. In over 25 years in dentistry and countless meetings attended, I’ve never seen energy and enthusiasm that rivals the IACA. If you are looking to get fired up about dentistry again, plan now to attend the meeting July 22-24, 2010 in Boston. Check out www.theiaca.com
Here’s how the call went “Ginny, I’m concerned because everyone is talking about how the economy is affecting their productivity and yet I haven’t seen that change. Now I know that since you’ve been working with us, we’re much more focused and proactive but I can’t help wonder when the other shoe is going to drop and we’ll see productivity slide too.”
This is not inevitable. Some areas of the country are feeling the economic slowdown more than others but that doesn’t mean that you and your practice have to see the numbers fall. My advice to my client and to you is to focus on what you CAN DO for each other and your patients, talk about your philosophy of care and commitment to excellence, keep attending continuing education courses and stay focused on providing the best possible care to your patients. Negative emotions are contagious & they are 7x more powerful than positive emotions. It’s your choice and your opportunity.
If you’re an oldies’ fan you remember the Shoop, Shoop Song but you probably called it by it’s popular name “It’s in His Kiss” This song made simple work of finding the “right” one. When it comes to hiring the “right” person for your team, pay close attention to interpersonal skills and remember to hire talent, you can always teach skills. “It’s in their tone of voice, energy level, and their enthusiasm for dentistry.” Yes, you absolutely need to check experience and references but you’d be better to give up a little “bit there, done that” in exchange for a great can-do attitude and passion.
It was bound to happen. With Twitter, Facebook and other social networking sites gaining such incredible popularity and with the prevalence of smartphones, we’ve had out first calls from dentists asking if we can add verbiage to their policy & procedures manuals to specifically outlaw tweets, texting and facebooking during work. You might think that this is unnecessary and simple common sense, but then you’d probably be the next “shocked” dentist or office manager to call and report this happening. Cell phones should be be off and stored with employees’ personal belongings during work hours and only turned on during breaks and meal periods. Period. End of discussion.
Business owners everywhere are unhappy when social networking interferes with work. Here’s an example of the tables being turned for one potential employee who may have tweeted himself out of a job:
POST: “Cisco just offered me a job! Now I have to weigh the utility of a fatty paycheck against the daily commute to San Jose and hating the work.” “TheConnor” Twitter
RESPONSE: “Who is the hiring manager? I’m sure they would love to know that you will hate the work. We here at Cisco are versed in the web.”