You and your staff are all human beings, and you have feelings. A lot of those feelings or emotions are not necessarily under complete control and could often be said to be negative. Things happen, reactions occur, and stuff is said that may be injurious to otherwise fairly good relationships, right?
Often, negative emotions can be brought into the practice from home whether it is anger at a child who wouldn’t get ready on time and made one late for work; or there was a spousal disagreement of some magnitude that brings one down; or one had a bad or no sleep and all manner of emotions are roaring around in one’s head and may leak out and pour all over someone who doesn’t actually deserve it. Sometimes, in the heat of a moment of pressure and speed, thoughtless comments are made that spark some miscommunications.
Does it Affect Production?
Of course it does! Negativity of any sort bouncing around in a practice can slow down production and make it a less than enjoyable place to work. Equipment can start to suddenly break down when there is too much negative emotions in the air, staff can make mistakes, patients can “feel” the emotional atmosphere and can be turned off from referring friends and family to your practice.
For an example, I left a dental office because, after a couple of visits, I grew tired of the dentist constantly carping at the dental assistant while treating me. It was unpleasant to say the least, both for the dental assistant and me.
How to Get Positivity Going
For starters, a good staff meeting with everyone present (and not singling anyone out in the meeting) to work out some ground rules for keeping negativity out of the practice.
One example would be an agreement that when they arrive at work in the morning, and cross the threshold of the front door, they put their game face on. Actors can do it when they are playing a part and yet feel wretched inside, so therefore staff can do it too. Maybe have some loud, cheerful music playing first thing in the morning as the staff are arriving and getting the place ready before the patients start arriving.
Maybe just agreeing on a method of getting a team member to “lighten up” when they are being a bit munchy could improve things.
Good staff meetings and fun morning huddles and really bonding as a great team all going in the same direction of giving extraordinary service to every patient can make work so much more fun. Having awards for exemplary care and being the most upbeat also can add to the mix.
Work it out between you and put your ideas into action and observe how much nicer it is to go to work every day!
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