From chaos to control. The manager training playbook for utilisation, marketing, and performance. This week I sat down with the Practice Managers of a small dental group for a working session that, in truth, could have been held in almost any practice in the UK. The names and locations change, but the development needs of managers are remarkably consistent. The starting point was financial control. Not a vague sense of “we’re doing alright”, but a disciplined focus on the few

Do you have a buzz. Why great teams make you feel it the moment you walk in. I want to thank Roy McGillivray and the team at Swift Dental for hosting my management team training day yesterday for Au Dental Group. Thank you also to Practice Plan for sponsoring the day. I talk a lot about "hospitality" - service is the thing we do, hospitality is how we make people feel while we do that thing. From the moment I arrived at 08:30 yesterday, to the moment I left at 16:30, Roy coul

A guest post by Victoria Thomson, Dental Practice Stability Strategist. Does running your practice feel harder than it used to?  Not chaotic, not failing. Just… stretched. Fragility doesn’t announce itself dramatically. It creeps in. You might notice: One resignation creates immediate pressure. You become the decision-maker for everything. Recruitment feels constant. Weekends disappear into rotas and CVs. Growth feels exciting – but slightly risky. Minor issues escalate faste

A Guest post by Mark Topley Your best nurse has gone quiet. She used to contribute in team meetings. She'd chat with patients, crack jokes with colleagues, stay late when things got hectic without being asked. Now? She does her job. Competently. Quietly. She shows up, completes her tasks, and leaves. No complaints. No problems. No spark. You think, "At least she's reliable." Three weeks later, you get the resignation letter. Two weeks' notice. No warning. No conversation. Jus

An opportunity to reinforce your brand, culture and values The patient-facing statement CMA review of private dentistry: what it means for you You may have seen recent media coverage about the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) launching a review of private dentistry in the UK. First and most importantly: nothing changes about your care today . Your treatment will continue to be recommended based on clinical need, explained clearly, and agreed with you in advance. The CM

Make a start and train one AI to think like you So now Facebook (Meta) want me to subscribe to "Manus" - their new AI-driven intelligent thought partner - very similar subscription levels to ChatGPT - free, $20pcm, $200pcm, depending on the depth of knowledge (let's call that bandwidth) that you want to access. As an early adopter, I was on the $200pcm version of ChatGPT very early and I've been teaching it "dental" for almost two years now - that's "The Extreme Business Auto

4,000 handouts, 5 years, 389 reviews A couple of Saturdays ago, I handed out 40 Google review cards at the Dental Monitoring conference, and predicted I'd get a 10% response, even though the majority of the room told me they would write a 5-star review. Last night, I handed out another 40 Google review cards at the BDA Reading and suggested the same. 4 Reviews came in from the ortho conference. Another 4 reviews are in from the BDA delegates this morning - I'm actually impres

Nothing but bad news on the media It's not much fun looking at the media at the moment, whether its a TV or a device. When the news cycle is loud and unsettling, what people really want is not reassurance, they want evidence that somebody is in control. In a dental practice that means three groups are watching closely, your PAYE team, your self employed clinicians, and your patients. Confidence is not created by a speech, it is created by visible leadership, calm routines, an

In this month's newsletter, I’m delighted to share a guest contribution that I felt was too important not to include. From time to time, something lands on my desk that makes me stop, re-read, and think:  every practice owner needs to see this.  This is one of those pieces. When things go wrong in practice — and they will — our response as leaders determines whether we build a culture of learning or a culture of fear. The distinctions explored in this article are subtle, but

every clinician deserves constructive feedback Have you ever seen a brilliant clinician talk a patient out of treatment? Effective communication is essential in dental care, especially when highly-skilled specialists present treatment recommendations to patients. These clinicians often possess deep technical knowledge but may struggle to convey their expertise in a way that patients easily understand and feel comfortable with. Coaching these professionals to improve communica