Tracy Webb has more than 25 years’ experience working in mixed practices in roles including dental nurse, receptionist, practice manager and oral health educator. She also has over 12 years’ experience working at DPAS where she has shared her passion for guiding practices to improve their performance and grow both patient numbers and profits.
Below, Tracy shares her experience of being part of a practice that moved from the NHS to private, the importance of communication, having a business plan that the team believes in, and her advice on managing disruptive team members…
What is the most challenging experience you faced while working in practice?
Dealing with a difficult/disruptive member of staff is always a challenge. As the practice manager, it can be easy to focus on this and almost forget about the good work the rest of the staff are doing. As well as dealing with a difficult member of staff it’s very important to recognise and reward other staff who are just getting on with their work and supporting the business.
How did you deal with the situation and what was the outcome?
The key is to keep the situation under control by keeping calm – being firm but also fair.
Listen to each member of your team, whether you think they’re being difficult or disruptive or not, and respond appropriately to any concerns they have. I have found that giving someone who may seem as if they are being disruptive some extra responsibility, can have a positive impact.
Their behaviour may simply be down to a feeling of boredom in their current role and a desire to do more – starting a conversation and listening to what they have to say may highlight these issues and help to resolve them positively.
What has been your most memorable experience whilst working in a practice?
Being part of a practice that was converting NHS patients over to a private dental care plan, and keeping the staff motivated and positive throughout the process. It was great to see the whole team pull together to make this a success.
We knew that once the six-month process of converting all the patients was over, that everyone would benefit from working at a nicer pace, patients could have longer appointments which would enable us to give them the care we always wanted to but didn’t always have the time.
We set monthly targets, and if we reached them, we would all get a bottle of wine or box of chocolates to recognise our efforts.
What are the biggest issues facing practice teams today and how can they deal with them?
I think keeping on top of all the policies and procedures to be compliant with the CQC is a key issue.
To manage this, it’s worth delegating sections to different team members and sharing the responsibilities so it doesn’t all rest on the shoulders of the practice manager or principal dentist.
Having a compliance programme in place like Apolline or RightPath4 can help and assist with all the elements of being a compliant practice.
What advice do you have for practices looking to grow their business?
- Have a business plan in place that will act as a framework for where you want to be and what you want to achieve
- Make sure you have the whole team on board, involve them in business planning and ensure they understand your goals to keep them motivated
- Have regular team meetings to update everyone on how well they are doing to reach that goal, and reward them along the way to keep the momentum going.
If you could only pick one thing that practices should be doing in order to succeed, what would it be?
Communicate well with your staff and patients. If the staff don’t know what the principal dentist wants to promote and how to promote it, then it won’t happen! Just like if the patients don’t know what is available to them at your practice, then they may go elsewhere for it.
What three key business lessons have you learned from your time in dentistry?
In a nutshell:
- Good communication
- Be well organised
- Listen out for opportunities and then act on them.
What do you enjoy most about working in dentistry?
I just love to see my practices grow and improve when they’ve taken on board something I’ve recommended or suggested. It still gives me a great buzz – job satisfaction at its finest!
