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Creating a Practice Philosophy

In a former article, I discussed 12 Winning Elements of HIGHLY EFFECTIVE and HAPPY TEAMS. I promised I would elaborate on several of these and I would like to begin with the element of "Dr. is committed to his/her practice's philosophy".

Why is this so important to teambuilding? Well, it has a lot to do with your credibility as a leader.BUY IN! Your team needs to "buy in" to you AND your philosophy in order to effectively be a part of the growth of your unique practice. There are many ways to run a dental practice. However, running it by default should not be an option. Doctors and teams must have a clear picture of what they are working to achieve daily. This then frees everyone to concentrate on what really matters. It will define a standard of quality. It becomes a tool for decision-making. It will be a set of principles that gives purpose to the hour to hour work you and your team performs. Your written philosophy is a tool that creates accountability for you and your team to achieve what this business was established for.

Writing a philosophy is not about perfection. There is actually an easy three-step process to get this going.

List several of your values, ie. happiness, profitable, honesty, trust, fairness, relationships, etc.
Make another list of the important elements of your practice. (* The major ones are listed below.)
Now, ask yourself these questions and jot down some notes.
"What works well in this area?"
"What does not work well?"
"If it was working, what would it look like?"

Now you are well on your way! I find that when I begin to work with clients, most do not have a written philosophy but they do know what they want. This exercise helps demystify the process... not to mention ridding you of the guilt of not having a written philosophy! Have fun.

*Major Elements:

Team
Marketing
Leadership
Communication
Profit/Growth
Continuing Education