Building a family environment in your team

It is coming towards the end of a fantastic year for our team. We have achieved so much with our practice transformation and upgrades. None of this would have been possible without an outstanding team. Since our end of year christmas party, I have decided to write about team development and the 5 features I think are important to build a strong team.

Instill values to enable a trusted culture

I have found that defining a set of core values is much more effective than defining a set of tasks for each team member. Our core values are known to each member and this makes the expectation of each task more easier to establish. Strong  core values that put the patient first will result in our patients having a good experience at every stage of their dental experience.

Everyone must protect one another

If each member of the team treats each other like a family member, this will result in an unbreakable bond. Leadership by fear will limit the growth potential of each employee. I prefer to lead my team like a family, we have each other’s back and will always help to improve one another. One of the key factors that has contributed to our development is the ability for our team to improve each other. We have seen talent in each employee that was not being used before, this has opened up opportunities for our team members to exploit there potential in the correct manner to benefit our team.

Give each member of the team ownership

Each member of our team has a unique view of the service we provide. Instead of everyone just doing what I say, I prefer the team to engage in further ways we can continue to improve our service. Each member of our team is a ‘board member’ with an elevated sense of purpose.

Encourage employees to speak up

The goal here is not to restrict participation, but to encourage it. Nobody should feel afraid to speak up about anything, we have an organisational structure to give employees the confidence to speak up about anything – just like you would in your family.

Develop a career progression plan

This is the point which I think will contribute to further improvements and development for our dental practice and any business. It is important to scout the talent in each employee and then to have a step-by-step plan for them to pursue the next stages of their career. In a true family environment, this will enable team members to push each other to achieve their goals. Ultimately, a plan like this will result in the team performing to their full potential.

It is important that no-one in the team feels like they are in direct competition with another employee. If such aggressive competition was to exist, this could be detrimental to the overall performance and morale of the team. The family environment is crucial to this, this will only work if each member of the team is part of the family and respects each other.

I am very proud of the team we have built thus far and we will continue to develop in 2017 with many more plans ahead.

Thank you for reading

• Dr Mohsin Patel BDS MJDF RCS (Eng)