Think Like a Doctor, Part 3: Putting Context to Concept
In Parts 1 and 2 of our series, we focused on the importance of having a vision and getting your employees involved. But one of the biggest barriers standing between you and higher engagement from your employees is simply their understanding of the what and why of your vision.
As I mentioned earlier, doctors and staff members think on totally different wavelengths. Your priorities and their priorities are very different, and that’s a problem when you’re trying to grow your practice, shape your brand, and achieve something greater than the sum of its parts.
Putting context to your ideas and expectations can help avoid this altogether, but it takes some effort on your part to help them connect the right dots.
Context Creates Clarity
It’s logical to think that you can tell your employees what to do and they’ll do it. It’s part of their job, you’re paying them for it, so why would you need to do anything beyond telling them what to do?
But think about this at your level: when you went through Periodontal training, your instructors didn’t just tell you the steps to do. They put context behind the procedures so you could understand why you were doing certain things first. You gained a better understanding of the big picture and were less likely to take shortcuts or veer from the process.
It’s the same story with your staff. They need to know why they’re doing certain tasks, the importance of each task, and how it plays into the bigger operation. They’ll be less likely to skip tasks that can have a domino effect on the practice at large, and everyone will be better for it.
How to Add Context to Concepts
Start by finding the problem areas in your practice. Where do gaps exist that shouldn’t exist? Those will be your focus areas to address first. Tell your staff why things are done a certain way, why tasks need to be completed, and what can happen when processes aren’t followed. I promise they’ll be more informed and less likely to continue making the same mistakes.
My new course touches on this and other key topics in this series and is an excellent resource for helping your staff think more like a doctor. Watch for Part 4 coming soon on how to empower your staff for better decision making.
PANDA Perio now offers a master course for easy implementation. This enhanced course is called “How to teach your staff to think like a doctor." We utilize the regular training components of PANDA College and incorporate an extra 10 step series to help strategize implementation in less time by showing you how the team thinks and what they need to know in order to effectively get the inside scoop about how you think. This strategy puts everyone on the same page and empowers your staff, in turn, creating cohesiveness and lowered stress. We also offer the standard full course curriculum that comes free with purchase on any license of PANDA Perio.
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