The Wednesday Pulse: Make room for progress

Reading this week’s trackers and reflecting on my conversations with clients, I keep coming back to the same concern.

Good people are working hard. Recruitment is progressing, systems are being written and team members are keen to develop. Meanwhile, the practice manager’s desk keeps filling up, and the work that might make next month easier gets taken home to finish in the evening.

We need to do something about that.

There have been some encouraging examples this week of people taking ownership: improving induction, organising patient follow-up, sharing financial information and helping colleagues prepare for more responsibility.

The willingness is there. We now have to make room for it.

If somebody is taking on a new responsibility, agree what a good result looks like. Who is going to train them? Who will check their work? When will you review progress together?

And where, exactly, is the time in their diary to do it?

Without those agreements, we can spend months talking about somebody’s development while the manager continues to carry the responsibility. That costs money, creates frustration and does very little to move the practice forward.

I’m seeing a similar issue with diary gaps.

Several practices have mentioned more white space, alongside patients who are due to return but have nothing booked. Before spending more money on marketing, I would want to understand what is happening to the enquiries, recalls and outstanding treatment plans already in the practice.

Who owns the follow-up, and when do they do it?

“Reception will deal with it” needs a little more thought when reception are already answering the telephone, welcoming patients and dealing with everyone else’s questions. Give somebody the responsibility and enough uninterrupted time to get the job done.

One practice this week has started bringing its daily break-even figure into the morning huddle. I like that.

A healthy-looking collection figure makes more sense when the team understands what it costs to open the doors and deliver the dentistry.

Then connect the numbers to things people can actually influence: booking accurately, following up promptly, reducing avoidable gaps and communicating clearly with patients. That is how financial information becomes useful.

Which brings me back to the manager.

A capable manager can absorb an extraordinary amount of pressure. The danger is that we become accustomed to their coping and stop noticing how much they are carrying.

Ask what needs to come off their desk. Be clear about the decisions they can make without referring back to you. Protect some regular time for planned work, with cover for anything genuinely urgent.

We have spent a lot of time discussing the implementation gap in our community. There is plenty of shared learning and no shortage of good ideas. Those ideas need space in the working week if they are going to become part of how the practice operates.

Before Friday, choose one improvement that matters. Agree an owner, a clear result, time in the diary and a review date.

Then decide what can wait. You cannot keep adding priorities without making that decision.

And when you next ask your manager how the project is going, ask how they are doing as well.

Give yourself enough time to hear the answer.