Management Monday: How to become a business manager

After working as a Practice manager for the last 16 years, my work falls into two distinct categories. The two categories are reactive management and proactive management. Reactive management is all about implementing systems that are required to get from one day to the next consistently. Proactive management is all about working on your business, planning for the future and becoming the matradee of your business. Lets look at the two categories:

Reactive Management:

• Diary -management
• Recalls
• DNA’S
• Membership
• New patient tracking
• Cancellation’s
• Practice security
• Stock Management
• Patient
• Complaints
• Repairs and Maintenance
• Staff Welfare
• Rota’s ,Holidays
• Sickness – BTW
• CQCManagement
• Adherence to Marketing Publicity

Proactive Management:

• Vision planning
• Performance management
• Disciplinary
• Grievance
• Performance indicators
• Dismissing agent
• Staff Recruitment/Contracts
• Personnel
• Probationary induction reviews
• Records management
• Staff development up-skilling
• Customer service – on brand
• Finance – trading account – cash sales – bonus structure
• Marketing Publicity & Social Media
• Treatment coordination

To be a business manager you have to implement systems and delegate responsibilities from the reactive list, in order to give you a fighting chance of spending a proportionate amount of your time on proactive management. It has taken me a number of years to develop key members of my team to fulfill the reactive responsibilities, but I can tell you first hand the reward is worth the investment and really up skills your team.

I now spend days proactively working on my business and spending days away from the practice as a consultant, so it can be done. There is so much pressure on PM’s now to combine all of the above and it normally means that proactive areas of the business are left on the to do pile as the reactive jobs take over and overwhelm so many managers.

Hitting the balance is important and I recommend a 60% proactive 40% reactive split when I support PM’s. The key is systems, finding passions, providing suitable training and then having the ability not to micro manage. You need to learn how to be supportive as individuals in your team learn and take on new responsibilities.

If you need help making the change into a business manager then our 5 day advanced practice managers course with the Dental Nurse Network is a skills based programme that helps you to think differently! There are only a few spaces left click this link to find out more http://www.dentalnursenetwork.com/career-calendar/advanced-practice-management.html

Michael 

Providing dentists and their dental team with business development and training programmes to increase results with proven successful methods.
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