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Dr. Justin Moody: Team Mistake
31 Plays1 month ago
Leading a dental team isn’t just about hiring—it’s about survival. 😳🔥
This week on DentalFuel, Tanya Sue Maestas and Dr. Justin Moody get real about the post-COVID staffing crisis, leadership struggles, and the hidden challenges of managing a large dental team. With 33 team members and seven full-time dentists, Dr. Moody knows firsthand what it takes to keep a practice running smoothly, profitably, and without burnout.
Is your team thriving or just surviving? Learn how to navigate turnover, wage inflation, and team friction—without losing your mind.
Episode Summary:
In this insightful episode, Tanya Sue Maestas and Justin Moody delve into the complexities of managing large teams in the field of dentistry. From post-COVID staffing challenges to the intricacies of leadership dynamics, they explore the multifaceted nature of running a dental clinic amidst modern-day hurdles.
Justin Moody sheds light on the staffing issues post-COVID-19, highlighting the significant turnover in dental hygienists and assistants due to retirement and stress. With a team of 33 and seven full-time dentists, Justin explains how the dental practice environment has become increasingly competitive with escalating wages. Here, he underscores the importance of unique skillsets such as teamwork and finding natural leaders who can guide the team toward an aligned vision amidst these challenges.
Further into the conversation, Justin dissects the division of roles within his clinic, emphasizing the importance of leaders in bridging the gap between different departments. He candidly discusses the "three factions" within the clinic – dentists, hygienists, and auxiliary staff – and the necessity of unified collaboration to manage day-to-day operations effectively. These insights reveal the crucial role of organizational structure in fostering a productive and harmonious work environment.
Key Takeaways:
- Managing a large dental team involves navigating unique challenges, especially in a post-COVID world with staffing shortages and wage inflation.
- Leadership is crucial in ensuring cohesive teamwork across different roles within a dental clinic.
- Having skilled leaders who can address frictions and work toward unit cohesion is essential for a dental team's success.
- Dental practices must adapt to changing industry dynamics, including increased competition and evolving team roles.
- Teamwork and efficient communication are key to overcoming daily operational challenges and ensuring smooth clinic operations.
Connect with Dr. Justin Moody: @drjustinmoody
Find out more about Implant Pathway: @implantpathway
Connect with Ignitedds and Dr. David Rice: @ignitedds Free Intro Call
Connect with Tanya Sue Maestas: @tsmaestas.dds
Learn more about Ignite Coaching : https://ignitedds.com
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Transcript
Introduction to Dental Fuel's Unique Focus
00:00:00
Speaker
Dental Fuel, the podcast that focuses on what no one else is talking about, mistakes. The dental world is full of before and afters, and no one is talking about the middle.
00:00:11
Speaker
Dental Fuel brings you the unspoken in between.
Partnership with Ignite DDS Coaching
00:00:14
Speaker
Dental Fuel is brought to you by Ignite DDS Coaching, empowering dentists to build self-determined futures. Together, we're shaping the next generation of leaders in dentistry.
Building and Growing Teams with Dr. Moody
00:00:24
Speaker
Dr. Justin Moody has been around for quite a while and he knows a thing or two about building and growing a team. Currently, he has a huge team helping him at Implant Pathway. In this episode, he talks about some team mistakes.
00:00:37
Speaker
Let's listen in. You know, just in one thing that I think about dentistry is one of the hardest things about dentistry across the board, short surgical, ah not surgical, is managing those complications.
00:00:48
Speaker
So I think that that's great that your residents get to see that, but I think that it's great to also obtain that knowledge through your course. I want to go back to something that you mentioned, and I'm just switching gears a little bit, but you said that your team is, or the team that helps at the clinic is around 33 people, which is a huge team.
00:01:06
Speaker
I'm sure that you have worked with different teams along your way in your path ah in dentistry, but I'm curious if you've had any challenges or struggles in managing and mistakes in managing such a large team or building a team to that proportion.
Post-COVID Staffing Challenges
00:01:22
Speaker
ah ah The answer is like, yes, you know, like, like there's, um, You know, there's a little different set of problems pre and post COVID, you know, um You know, post COVID we had the, ah the really a very high mass exodus of, ah you know, heightening, I mean, nobody listening this probably is like, this is a shocker, but like we had a mass exodus of, you know, hygienists from the the profession for, you know, early retirement, you know, like just like stress and somewhat in the dental assistant field as well, you know, had people leave and just like not come back to it.
Leadership and Team Management at Implant Pathway
00:02:04
Speaker
And then you know, we have inflationary, you know, things going on and like the escalation of ah wages, you know, because you're in a more competitive and environment.
00:02:16
Speaker
So those are like staffing challenges. But what I think is like, I always believe that the people that you need will show up in your life. And, ah you know, for us, we've been very, know, we've been very fortunate in, you know,
00:02:33
Speaker
ah We have a clinic manager, her name is ah Marcy, and ah she was working for a large DSO. She worked there for like 12 years as an office manager and you know you know, she learned great skills and systems and things through that. Like like that's one of the things that, ah you know, DSOs do an incredible job with is, you know, training their front office teams, you know, to be efficient and, you know, language skills on and the phone and and and things
Team Structure and Cohesion Challenges
00:03:05
Speaker
like that. But really, I think one of the biggest challenges I have for managing a team like that is getting ah leaders to step up
00:03:14
Speaker
and and and to lead, you know, so you can imagine like, you know, with 33 people, like we have, you know we have an office manager, we have a front desk lead, you know, we have a sterile techs, we have a sterile lead, we have dental assistants, we have a ah lead, ah you know, assistant.
00:03:32
Speaker
And then, know, we're very fortunate we have two hygienists, like we could use five, but like we have two ah that are with us and it's,
00:03:45
Speaker
And then, yeah and I'll finish up the team. So we've got, I think there's seven on the front desk and we got Marcy and then we've got three sterile techs. You know, like we have 12 sterilizers. like Like when we have a course going on, like like it's it's it's, it is organized, but it's chaos back there.
00:04:03
Speaker
ah And you know then all the the the dental assistants, and then we have we have three dentists that work here full time as dentists.
00:04:15
Speaker
And then we have ah four residents that work here full time, but they won't be here forever. ah So you know the clinic is staffed by seven dentists every day.
00:04:28
Speaker
And um it
00:04:33
Speaker
the challenge is like our leadership, you know because you have, yeah I call it the three factions. Like you have ah you have dentists, you have hygienists, and then you have auxiliary.
00:04:50
Speaker
But the auxiliary really lie in front desk faction and your dental assisting faction.
Leadership Strategies for Team Integration
00:04:56
Speaker
And they're all great humans, but like they they, the challenge in leadership is getting all those factions to actually work as a team.
00:05:06
Speaker
You know, because like on a daily basis, you know, like hygiene gets behind, the assistants have to do all their their their sterilization, they get busy, you know, like like like front desk doesn't schedule well, they lose a lunch, like now a DA is mad at the front desk. And like, so like, it's it's ah it's a that dynamic and how you operate it, I think is finding natural leaders to step in and and to massage that that that that group into a cohesive unit.
00:05:43
Speaker
And at that size, you like people come and go out of that unit. you know People move away, they get better jobs. they they they think like like what you know Sometimes personnel don't fit and you've gotta make the change.
00:05:56
Speaker
and And that's the challenge. The humans, yeah they all do their jobs. They all do their jobs exceptionally, you know, but the challenge is getting them to all do it together because they all have a different mindset, right?
Series Conclusion and Future Preview
00:06:13
Speaker
Thanks for tuning in to another episode. Next week is our last episode of Dental Fuel and with our guest, Dr. Justin Moody. Ready to take the next step in your journey? Book an intro call with Ignite DDS Coaching today and level up your future in dentistry.