What is Important?
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Establishing priorities is difficult for many of us. "How," we ask, "can you say one item is more important than another item when everything is important?" The alternative to consciously setting priorities is unconsciously reacting to demands as they occur. Reacting seldom brings the best results. Initiating action requires control coupled with decision- making abilities. In your efforts to establish priorities, ask yourself the following eight questions:
Remember, too, that as difficult as it is to set priorities, you make a priority decision even when you decide not to set priorities. By default, you allow any urgent activity to control your time while items of greater importance go unattended. |
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Do You Have Stop and Go Practice?
If you have the unfortunate task of dealing with rush hour traffic, you know how exhausting it can be. Unlike cruising at higher speeds, stop and go traffic requires greater presence and there’s always more opportunity for mishaps.
Many dentists practice this way. Filling a tooth or two, then back to the office to read the latest in a dental magazine. One or two more fillings, then surfing the net for a new boat. Adjusting a crown seat then finishing-up on some charts. Complete a new patient exam then returning a phone call. The day is filled with interruptions and attention stealers making the day unproductive and unfulfilling.
We all have slow times, but during those rhythm-breaking lulls, it is important to remain focused by working onyour practice. Improve your website, clean your desk, review team performance reviews, or determine what barriers are holding your practice back.
By staying in the zone, you’ll deliver better results and help more patients become healthy
Continued Success!
Art Deden
Tags: dental practice development, dental practice management, improving your dental practice, Leadership, practice development & growth
You Have to Name it to Claim it…
No knowing what you precisely want is not OK. If you cannot name, with great specificity, what it is you want, you will never be able to claim it. If you cannot decide which movie to see, what meal to order or what to wear, is it any wonder you find it hard to identify your goals? Indecision creates inaction. Inaction leads to results you don’t want.
Imagine, you put an ad in the paper offering to sell your car for $6,000. What do you think the chances are that somebody will look at it and say, “Gosh! This is a really good car. I don’t think they’re asking enough. Let me offer them $8,000?” Sound crazy? The lesson here is that if you don’t ask for enough, the most you will ever get is what you asked for.
I can’t count the number of times I asked a dentist what they wanted and they responded with,” I want my practice to be successful, my team to be happy and my patients to be healthy.” It is a commonsense answer right? But as far as a vision, it is destined for failure.
Consider a practice that is focused on, energized by, and defined in relation to goals; then contrast it with a practice that doesn’t know what is missing or doesn’t know what they want. Naming what you want means you can begin to guide your practice like a ship toward a harbor light.
Tags: dental practice management, improving your dental practice, Leadership, practice development & growth, Practice Vision
