Episode 480: Doctors, Are You Disempowering Your Team?

Did you know that often when you’re trying to accommodate your patients, you’re actually undercutting your staff? Doctors, we’re looking at you. Kiera shares how to master the scheduling lingo to make sure the right people are scheduling the patients. Telling patients they can come in whenever is not a solution, using the verbiage shared in this episode is.

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0:00:05.6 Kiera Dent: Hey everyone, welcome to the Dental A Team podcast. I'm your host, Kiera Dent, and I had this crazy idea that maybe I could combine a doctor and a team member's perspective, because let's face it, dentistry can be a challenging profession with those two perspectives. I've been a dental assistant, treatment coordinator, scheduler, biller, office manager, regional manager, practice owner, and I have a team of traveling consultants, where we have traveled to over 165 different offices coaching teams. Yep, we don't just understand you, we are you. Our mission is to positively impact the world of dental, and I believe that this podcast is the greatest way I can help elevate teams, grow VIP experiences, reduce stress and create A teams. Welcome to the Dental A Team Podcast.

0:00:51.3 KD: Hello, Dental A Team listeners, this is Kiera and you guys, alright, I'm still car casting. So when you hear all these car casts, just know, I've been doing quite a few of them today. It's been a long drive, I think this is gonna be my last car cast of the day, but you never know, I might do a hotel cast, you never know. It gets wild over here, especially when I've been talking to myself for the last six hours. But I'm not talking to myself, I'm talking to all of you. And it's funny because when I make these podcasts, the consultants are starting to podcast with me, which I'm super excited for you guys to get more of them on the show and less of me on the show. I know, don't worry. I'll still be here guys, don't panic. I will never leave you. But truly Brittany was talking, and she's like, "It's just weird to talk to myself." And it's funny 'cause I've never really felt like I've talked to myself. I actually feel like I'm genuinely sitting with you in your car, or at your office, or at your house, and I'm really having a conversation with you. I might not know you, but I feel like I do. Just like you feel like you know me.

0:01:52.7 KD: You probably know a lot more about me than I know about you, but I will say this podcast is for you. And any time, like right now, I've been cruising along and you have been traveling right along with me. And I super appreciate you keeping me awake and alert, and just being one of my best friends. I literally feel that way when I create these. These are made for you with love, and... So today, today is something to the doctors. Doctors, this is something that you do that actually disempowers your team members. Alright, I know. Tease that up and you're like, "Oh shoot, do I do this?" I hooked you. I hooked you right now. So what this is, I was actually on a coaching call, and I realized this is a rampant problem 'cause I hear it with so many offices. So what happens, are doctors are some of the most loving, caring people, that's why you became dentists. You went to school because you love to what? Oh yeah, help people. All of you say that, every single one of you. That's why you became a dentist, and I love you for that.

0:02:54.6 KD: So what you do is you actually wanna help every single patient. You love them so much, so what you say is, "Absolutely, we can get you in at any time." Then... Or you say, "Oh for sure, we can totally get you in on Friday." You guys, I'm guilty of this too. I do this with clients and it drives Shelby nuts batty. As a team member, I'm like, "Oh, Doc, you just said that we can get them in on Friday, but you told me that you don't wanna work anymore on Friday, so what am I supposed to do? How am I supposed to accommodate both? How am I supposed to accommodate this patient who's now coming up here telling me the doctor said that I could get them in, and doctor told me they don't want me to get them in on any more Fridays." So docs, when you give your front office team a schedule, please, for everything that is good in this world, do us a favor and stick with that. I know that that might be tricky for you to do, I know the reason why is because you genuinely want to help these patients. But by telling the patient in the back that we can get them in at this time, or when they text you on the weekend, and we have to fit them in, it actually is very disempowering for your team, and it keeps you stuck in that rut of having a really yucky schedule.

0:04:10.0 KD: The reason why? Is 'cause your team starting to lose confidence in you. If you come to me and you say, "Hey Kiera, I don't wanna work any more Fridays. I'm sick of it, I'm fed up with it, no more Fridays, don't put anybody in there." Guess what? "Okay, you got it. I will figure it out. I'll find a way to accommodate our patients, and I will make sure that you are not working anymore Fridays." But then if I find out that somebody texts you on the weekend, you want me to put them in on Friday, Mrs. Jones can only come in on Friday and she cried to you in the back, so you come and you say, "Hey Kiera, put this patient in on Friday," I actually have lost trust and confidence that you really want the Fridays closed. Because guess what, doctor, you keep putting those patients in there. You keep having them come in. And so a lot of doctors are like, "But Kiera, I don't know what to do, that patient cornered me in the back, they're crying their eyes out." And I'm like, "Hey, I hear you. Don't you worry. Don't you worry, I hear you."

0:05:03.3 KD: And again, I know why you're doing it. You're doing it because you love these patients so much. You're doing it because you think you're actually helping them, and in reality, you're actually hurting the practice. You're creating your life to be psycho, and you're disempowering your front office. So let me give you some verbiage of what you can do. First of all, before we even get to verbiage, please give us actual boundaries that you want. If you want Wednesday's half days, let's stick with Wednesday's half days. If you want Fridays off, let's stick with Fridays being off. Don't flip-flop constantly, and I say that like, "Oh, Kiera," I know I flip-flop too.

0:05:42.4 KD: So I'm gonna say, be as consistent as possible. I usually recommend trying to stay that way for at least three months. Three months, okay? That's at least gonna give me the front office time to adjust the schedule. I've gotta move a ton of patients. But then if you keep putting people in, or moving them around, or closing days off, it gets really, really hard and I'm like, "Forget it. I'm just gonna schedule them wherever, because I know I'm just gonna have to move them anyway. So why try to get a perfect schedule." So by you doing this doctors, you're actually disempowering your front office, and then you're like, "Why does my schedule never get better?" Well, if I asked everybody honestly, they would tell me, "Well, doctor always puts them in on this day, so we just open it up because we know it's gonna be open anyway."

0:06:24.9 KD: So that's step one. You gotta have your boundaries and you've gotta stick with it for a little while. The next step is, let me just give you some verbiage of what to say, so that way you don't get stuck in a pickle. And that verbiage is, if somebody says, "Hey, can you get me in on Friday?" This is literally what I've had to say, I've had to train myself. Offices can attest to this because Shelby is my guru. She is my scheduler, and I know if I promise something, Shelby is like, "Hey, what are you doing?" I did the same thing to Kaylee when Kaylee used to do it. I remember one day Kaylee finally said to me, "You know what, Kiera? This is your schedule. You've told me what you want, but if you wanna go outside of that, then fine. We'll make it work. You just let me know what you actually want." And I was taken back, 'cause Kaylee is the sweetest little gem in the world. She would never, ever, ever say anything to me to hurt me, but it definitely made me think that by me always trying to accommodate, I was actually undercutting Kaylee. I was actually undercutting Shelby, 'cause I said, "No, no, no, schedule me these times." And then I'm like, "Well, I can do this." How come I get to trump that when they're having to work their buns off? But because I wanna make this work? That's not fair for them.

0:07:30.5 KD: So what do I really ultimately want? Am I trying to undercut my team, or am I trying to empower them? I would probably opt for empowering them. So the phrase that I've come to use is, "Hey, I have actually been fired from scheduling. I am the worst at scheduling. However, Shelby up front is a rock star. She'll be able to get you in as soon as possible. She's a schedule wizard and she'll be able to help you out with that."

0:07:55.5 KD: Have you guys heard? But really, have you heard? And are you the type of person that loves to take massive action? Well, if you are, I would love to invite you to Dental A Team's virtual summit, April 22nd through 23rd. And yes, right now, guys, it's early bird. That means it's $200 off the normal ticket price. You guys are going to learn how to optimize your practice this year. We know it's been a rough year. People have quit. We've had COVID. We've had changes. So we wanna teach you guys how to optimize within your practice now and execute. Friday is full team, Saturday is all things leadership. So bring your team, get some CE, take massive action, head on over to thedentalateam.com. Coupon code is summitearlybird and it's valid until March 31st. That's summitearlybird, all one word, and it's valid until March 31st. So guys, head on over. I can't we to have you take massive action, optimize your practice and execute. Let's make 2022 your best year.

0:08:53.5 KD: So all you have to say... If they text you on the weekend, you can be like, "Absolutely, I 100% wanna help you out. Bottomline is, I've been fired from putting patients in my schedule. I'll have Sarah give you a call on Monday. She's awesome." Now, make sure that you tell Sarah, otherwise, you made Sarah look like she's ditzy and she forgot because you forgot to tell them. What I do typically, if there is a text, I screenshot it, I text it or I email, however our communication is, so I don't forget to tell that person. They will happily take care of it. But this way, the patients aren't coming to you anymore to schedule. They're now going to the front office. Hygienist, same thing. They can text you on the weekends. We love our patients, so they know we can do this. However, guys, by not following the scheduling rules or putting people in, we're undercutting our poor front office and making it really tricky for them to stick with the scheduling boundaries that we've asked them to do. So again, that magic phrase is, "Hey, I've been fired from doing any scheduling. Shelby is the master scheduling guru, she'll be happy to get you scheduled in. I cannot wait to see you."

0:09:57.6 KD: Period, that's it, nothing more. You don't have to hear the sobbing, weeping story. Nothing, because now they know who the scheduling guru is. You've not only empowered Shelby, you've also made her look like a rock star. And now that they know who they need to go to for all things scheduling, it makes your life, doctors, so much easier 'cause now you don't have to stress about it and get worried, and then over-promise and then not be able to see everybody and then work a million hours and be exhausted and tired... And I know I just described some of your lives. You now have also helped your front office know that when you give those boundaries and those standards that you're actually serious about it, that you're not going to just change your mind on them, that they actually have control and they can feel like they can win your schedule. And you've actually been able to help the patients have a better experience. By shoving a patient in where it's not good for the practice creates mayhem. It doesn't give the patient the best experience either. You're literally able to help these patients out to get the best experience, and I know at the end of the day, that's ultimately what you're aiming for.

0:11:00.1 KD: So I just wanted to give a little shoutout, the last car cast of the day, I'm almost in my hotel. It's gonna be such a fantastic day, but definitely wanted to just give you guys some verbiage and make you aware of what some of the things we don't even realize we're doing. Docs, I know. I know with every ounce of me, you were just trying to "help" the front office out. You really are. You're thinking, "Hey, I'll schedule them on the weekend. I can do this." But it's actually not helping. It's creating frustration. It's making it so these patients can call you, text you, email you whenever.

0:11:31.8 KD: So instead, remember the phrase, "Hey, I've actually been fired from doing my schedule. I make way too many mistakes and I don't wanna do that to you. Shelby is a rock star. She will take incredible care of you. I will get you connected with her on Monday. She'll be in touch with you and she'll get you into our schedule as soon as you can, and I can't wait to see you." "But doc, I just wanna come in." "Hey, I totally got you. Reality is, if I schedule you, it's gonna be a hot mess and I don't wanna do that to you." Make a joke, make like... You guys, I literally put this in emails. Clients will see this, people who wanna podcast me will see this, people who want to get into my schedule... I literally had to learn that exact phrase. I say, "Guys, I've been fired from my own schedule. I make a mess." Everybody giggles 'cause they're like, "Ahaha, I know, I understand. I do the same thing." [chuckle]

0:12:17.1 KD: And so there's a reason that we have schedulers. If you wanna be a solo practice and do everything on your own, by all means, please do. But if you don't, and you want your team to be empowered and feel like they can do it and that they can win your schedule, let them win. Let them win. And let me know how much better your schedule gets, how much happier your life gets, and how much happier your front office's life gets. Everybody is gonna be happy. Doctors, front office, and patients. Everybody wins. And the clinical team wins too because their schedule is not crazy. People aren't having to work days that they didn't think they are gonna work. It just makes everything smooth, easier. So guys, take this, run with it. Let me know how the verbiage works out. I have a doctor using it and she's like, "Kiera, it works like magic, and my schedule is getting better, and I don't have patients calling me all the time." You could just feel the energy and excitement coming from her.

0:13:07.3 KD: So I wanted to pass it along, give you guys a great, great, great tip and tool. And then let me know. Guys, if we can help you with anything like this, this is what coaching comes down to. Little things like this, simple little verbiage changes, things that you might not even know should be something to be discussed, we're able to help identify it and give you solutions. So that's something you'd love to have, basically a dental genie. [chuckle] "Genie, this is what I wish." If that's something that you'd love, call us. I'd love to chat with you, see if you're a great fit for us. And as always, guys, you can email us any time, [email protected]. I'd love to hear from you. As always, guys, thanks so much for listening and I'll catch you next time on the Dental A Team podcast.

0:13:48.6 KD: And that wraps it up for another episode of the Dental A Team podcast. Thank you so much for listening and we'll talk to you next time.