Addressing Performance Issues and the Importance of Difficult Conversations

680: Staff Management vs. Team Leadership - Dr Jim McKee

Have you ever thought that you need a better way to lead and manage your people? How do you even go about finding the right people? That’s what this episode is all about. The guest is Dr. Jim McKee, a Spear Resident Faculty member, lecturer, author, educator, and mentor to Kirk. You’ll hear about why the right team is key to the success of your business and the difference between management and leadership. Jim shares his tips on team leadership and the one ‘magic question’ he asks every employee. This episode highlights the importance of fostering a positive and collaborative work environment through effective leadership and well-defined systems in business practices.

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Main Takeaways

• Understanding the Financial Impact: Dr. Jim McKee emphasizes that a significant portion of a business's expenses goes towards employee wages. Acknowledging this financial aspect is crucial for business owners.
• Shift from Management to Leadership: Traditional staff management is considered outdated. Today, the focus is on team leadership, creating a collaborative environment where everyone strives for excellence rather than a hierarchical, autocratic approach. 
• Recognizing Strengths and Weaknesses: Acknowledging that every team member, including business owners, has strengths and weaknesses. The goal is to amplify the positives and minimize the negatives to enhance overall practice performance.
• Positive Reinforcement: Encourage a positive work environment by recognizing and praising employees for what they do right, fostering a culture of appreciation rather than just pointing out mistakes. 
• Team Leadership Through Systems: Dr. McKee emphasizes the importance of creating effective systems within the practice. These systems serve as guidelines, making it easier to identify and correct deviations when things go off track. 
• The Power of the "Are You Happy Here?" Question: Asking employees about their job satisfaction is a powerful way to gauge their engagement. This question serves as a starting point for discussions on how to improve and ensure mutual satisfaction. 
• Systematic Approach to Position Roles: Dr. McKee suggests outlining responsibilities for each position in the office and establishing clear guidelines on how tasks should be handled. This systematic approach facilitates effective team management. 

Quotes:

“As a business owner,  when you look at your profit and loss statement,  the largest percentage of money going out the door is going to the people that work for you.” [2:42 - 2:52]

“Staff management is kind of the old term, where it's autocratic, where you're the boss and they are the servants. That's not what it's like today.  I think today it's team leadership. I don't think people want to be managed. We want to lead. We want to create excellence in our practice.” [4:10 - 4:29]

“We have to recognize that every person who works for us is going to bring strengths and they're going to bring weaknesses, and that includes us as the business owners as well.  The goal Is to try and accentuate the positive and try to  limit the negative things that people bring to the practice so they can't hurt them too badly.” [6:27 - 6:52]

“Find something [your employees] do right. Because most of the time, people who are in a superior position talk to the people who work for them when they do something wrong. So it became really easy to find something they do right.” [18:08 - 18:28]

“That's really what team leadership is - it's about systems. So as a business owner, if you can create the systems in your practice, then all of a sudden when something gets off the rails, just go back to what the system is and figure out where the deviation was.” [19:17 - 19:40]

[asking the question] “‘Are you happy here?” It's just kind of a line in the sand and it's so powerful because a lot of times you go on all these tangents, but that's really the essence. And if they say, yes, I am happy here, then I say, then here's what we need to do to make sure we're both happy here.” [22:23 - 22:48]

“Ultimately you don't have to be a chest beater your entire career for everything. It really is a strong message to choose the things you're good at.” [24:08 - 24:12]

“If you walk in the door and you're excited to be there and you're willing to share information and you start the day that way,  most of the time people are either going to self select “in” or self select “out”.  Most of the time they're going to self select in because especially if they've worked in other practices in dentistry, this is a far more engaging style of practice and for us, for a team member, it's a way more fulfilling position than simply being a staff member somewhere who does a lot of suction.” [27:00 - 27:35]

“I always say nobody wants to work for you. You’ve got to be somebody that they want to work for.” [29:20 - 29:251]

“Every practice  should sit down and write down everything related to every position in the office - front desk, answering the phone, making deposits, submitting insurance, emergencies, all that stuff. Then make an outline and figure out how all that languaging should be handled. That's the job of the dentist. So if we really want to have a team that functions on a really high level, if we can provide that for them, then it's an easy way to sit down and have a discussion and say, here's what we need to do.” [32:40 - 33:28]

“If you can create systems in your practice to manage the people who work for you, your job becomes easier.” [34:36 - 34:45]

Dr. Jim McKee Bio

Dr. Jim McKee is a member of the Spear Resident Faculty. He has maintained a private practice since 1984 in Downers Grove, Illinois, where he treats a wide variety of cases with a focus on predictable restorative dentistry. He is a member of the American Academy of Restorative Dentistry and former president of the American Equilibration Society. He has lectured both nationally and internationally for over 25 years and directs several study clubs. Dr. McKee graduated from the University of Notre Dame in 1980 and earned his dental degree from the University of Illinois College of Dentistry in 1984.