Once You Know Your Values, Every Decision Is Easy: Managing Poor Behaviour in Your Dental Practice
In a busy dental practice, the last thing most principals or practice managers want to deal with is conflict. Time is tight, stress levels run high, and challenging conversations can feel awkward or overwhelming. Yet brushing poor behaviour under the carpet is seldom a successful strategy. Left unaddressed, minor issues can fester into team-wide dysfunction, lowering morale and impacting patient experience.
One of the most powerful tools at your disposal is establishing a clear set of values, culture, and philosophy. These aren’t just inspirational words on a poster in the staff room – they are the moral compass of your practice.
As I often say to the dentists and managers I coach: “Once you know your values, every decision is easy.”
Values Aren’t Chosen – They’re Revealed
Identifying your values isn’t a matter of choosing nice-sounding words from a dictionary. It’s a process of eliciting and revealing truths about what is important and essential – both to you and your practice. This is something that a skilled coach routinely helps clients with.
Once you’ve articulated your values, they become a practical tool. You can then define what those values look like in action – what behaviours are acceptable and what behaviours are not tolerated. This provides a plumb line – a reliable reference point for all decisions, especially those related to team behaviour.
A Framework for Conversations That Matter
As a principal, practice manager, or senior team member, your role may involve supporting colleagues to overcome behavioural challenges. The key is remembering: It’s not your job to make the changes for them. However hard it may seem, you can’t live someone else’s life.
Every problem – and its solution – shares the same fundamental anatomy:
- A current state
- A desired state
- The obstacles preventing that desired state
- The resources needed to overcome or disempower those obstacles
- An action plan with steps, a timeframe, and accountability
Using this framework, difficult conversations become structured, constructive, and clear.
Practical Example: Addressing Lateness and Mood
Let’s say a team member arrives late and grumpy. Rather than launching into a list of past lateness, take a coaching approach.
- Ask questions, don’t accuse.
- Invite them to reflect: “How do you feel your timekeeping and attitude align with our practice values?”
- Invite them to describe the behaviour that would reflect those values.
- Explore the obstacles they’re facing.
- Ask what support or resources they need.
- Together, create a short-term action plan.
By focusing on behaviour, not identity, you avoid criticism and encourage reflection. “You’re always late” becomes “Let’s look at what’s getting in the way of you arriving on time and in a good headspace.”
“But I Don’t Have the Time or Skills for This…”
Yes, these conversations take longer than ignoring the problem. But not addressing it will cost you more time and energy in the long run. The stress of unresolved issues spreads – affecting team harmony, patient experience, and ultimately your practice’s success.
Being able to confront challenging situations comes from embracing a coaching approach to leadership and management. With the right training, anyone can develop the skills and confidence to manage these situations calmly and effectively.
If you’d like to learn more about coaching style approaches in dental practice management, including our ILM-accredited courses designed to support principals and practice managers and Patient Centred Communication workshop, feel free to email me at jane@IODB.co.uk.
Let’s make your practice a place where people are proud to work and patients are delighted to be treated.
