Management Seminars:

 

Our Management Training Courses

By introducing our Management Training courses to your staff we help ease the negative effect of change on both managerial and supervisory personnel. The change in job responsibilities, the change in personnel, job duties, and the rising challenge of developing subordinates are specific goals of our learning systems courses. We are highly successful at helping Managers and Supervisors learn and adapt to the necessary skills and proper behaviors to be successful at work as well as in their personal lives.

For more information on our management training courses please contact us.

As a part of our management training courses, Managers and Supervisors will learn how to:

  • Minimize the chance of miscommunication by understanding what people are really saying, and why
  • Deal with difficult people, manage tense situations, and resolve conflict
  • Make use of proven active listening skills to improve your ability to gain helpful information
  • Be able to facilitate, guide, and close discussions in one-on-one or group settings
  • Improve understanding and communication by giving and receiving good feedback
  • Use ideas submitted by a member of the team without causing other members to be defensive
  • Develop a comprehensive team building strategy that improves productivity of the whole team
  • Emphasize the value of working toward common goals without devaluing individual accomplishment
  • Define and set up a method to track staff activities
  • Be able to manage time and work assignments effectively
  • Conduct team meetings that capture and hold the audience’s attention
  • Interview and hire the right person for the right job
  • Save time and work more effectively through the use of a clear time management plan
  • Understand and comply with proper hiring and managing requirements
  • Communicate effectively with both superiors, peers and subordinates
  • Become effective coaches for their work team
  • Conduct accurate and difficult performance appraisals

 

Management Training Tips:
Top Ten Ways for Team Management To Constructively Critique Your Staff

As leaders and managers, dentists are often faced with the uncomfortable task of disciplining employees. Whether you need to help your hygienist improve productivity, address a conflict between two staff members, or discuss your receptionist's inappropriate reaction to an upset patient, you need to be cognizant of the impact your team management feedback has on your employees. Your gut reaction may be to yell, to use harsh language, or to hide in your office, but if your team management goal is to instruct, develop, and retain your staff, you can't rely on instinct. These Top Ten Tips have given me and my clients excellent results - they've improved retention and morale, increased productivity, and lowered the doctors' stress levels, and they can work for you too!

1. Critique the behavior, not the person.
When you direct your criticism at the person rather than the behavior, you give the discussion a hostile, argumentative tone. Imagine how your receptionist might feel if you said, "You were really rude to that patient. I can't believe you let her leave without trying to resolve her concern, and I'm very upset with you." By directing your team management critique at the receptionist, rather than focusing on what was wrong with her behavior, your critique feels more like a personal attack than constructive feedback. What if, instead, you said, "I feel displeased with your behavior in the presence of our last patient. I sensed she was irritated when you raised your voice to her. Your interaction with our patients is a key part of their experience here, and I know we both want it to be a pleasant one." This statement focuses on improving the behavior, not on what's wrong with the employee.The receptionist's ego remains intact and she feels more compelled to "hear" and respond positively to your observations.

2. Critique the behavior specifically.
Rather than deliver a broad-based comment, make your remarks specific to a situation; again, you want to avoid attacking the person and focus on improving a specific behavior. When your hygienist comes in late for her shift AGAIN, your instinct may be to say "You're always late!" or "Why can't you ever seem to get here on time?" By being more specific, as in, "You were not on time for our team management meetings on the 15th and the 30th of this month," you remove your judgment from the statement and give the hygienist a concrete example of what she needs to improve. Get your staff member to acknowledge the specifics of the undesirable behavior, and collaborate to find a solution.

3. Begin with positive communication.
Engage, don't alienate. Start off the conversation with something commendable, and your employee will know that you value her; that you have her best interests at heart. For example, tell her, "I feel you are an important member of our team." Or, even better, praise a specific behavior: "I admire the work you've done on updating the patient files. Your organization has been a tremendous asset to our team." Make your comment sincere and honest - people will be able to see through a facade.

4. Use "I" messages.
When the word "you" is directed at an employee, be prepared for defensive behavior. When you use "I" and "we," you demonstrate that you want to work out any differences, and you emphasize the impact of the behavior, not the deficiency of the employee. For instance, "I feel disappointed that you did not get the report to me on date we agreed upon," is much less threatening than, "You missed the deadline for that report, just like you did the last time I gave you an important assignment."

5. Mutual meaning, mutual understanding.
Make sure that your employee clearly understands the reason for your critique. Ask her to paraphrase what you've said, in her own words. You might ask, "Are you clear on why we are having this conversation?" or "What's your understanding of this situation and my expectations?" Review any elements of the communication that are unclear, and document the conversation. Both of you should leave the team management discussion with the same understanding of what was wrong and what will be done to correct it.

6. Empathize.
Show your employee that you understand how she feels. Be attentive, listen, and ask questions about her feelings. Let her tell her side of the story, and be careful not to interrupt or get agitated. When your staff feels cared for and heard, they are more receptive to suggestions for improvement. Comments like, "I understand how you must have felt," or "Wow, that must have been a tough decision," will go a long way toward opening up communication and developing trust for team management.

7. Write, crumple, write.
Don't try to deliver your critique in the heat of the moment. When you're upset, you're much more likely to say something hurtful. Your words will have less of an impact if they are delivered in anger than if they are calmly and carefully prepared. Take the time to write out your critique...let your anger flow through your pen. Then, crumple up that paper and rewrite your critique more objectively. Once your emotions have cooled, you'll be able to write more clearly and constructively.

8. Carrots vs. lemons.
Behavior that gets recognized and rewarded gets repeated. Set clear team management expectations of how you want your employees to behave, and reward them for meeting those expectations. Offer incentives to develop the behaviors you need and want, and the behaviors you don't want will diminish. If your staff has not been asking for referrals as you have needed, and you want to modify this behavior, consider creating a game in which the person who asks for the most referrals during the month wins a full tank of gas, or 4 tickets to the cinema. The rewards don't have to be huge to create a huge difference.

9. Just the facts, ma'am!
Be short, sweet and to the point. Avoid lectures or long philosophical dissertations. Be assured, long-winded lectures will go unheeded. Be empathetic, yet brief, and resist the temptation to rehash old problems. Focus on what you observed, why it needs to change, and how you can help the employee do a better job next time.

10. At the end of the day, let them know that "I support you."
As you conclude your critique, be supportive, affirming, and willing to help the employee make improvements. Demonstrate your confidence and offer to provide team management coaching on a regular basis. When you close with, "This will take some real effort on your part to improve, but I have a great deal of confidence in you. I want to make myself available to you during your progress," you will see great individual growth.

Ron Arndt: http://www.drarndt.com/

Subject: Team Management

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