Episode : Shuffling Team Member Personalities and Skillsets the Right Way

Podcast Description

Tiff and Trish break down what it means to have the right person in the right chair that’s best for your practice. This means gauging comfort levels and the ability to stay calm, but it also means supporting each position so they feel like they can win at their job.

Listeners are invited to review their positions based on what personality would thrive there — not only to increase treatment, but to make everyone’s lives better, too.

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Transcript:

The Dental A Team (00:00)

Hello, Dental A Team listeners. We are here today with, honestly, really fun one. These are some of my favorite subjects, the things that we talk about on here. I tell you guys that all the time, but I have Ms. Trish here with us today. Her internal nickname, Dental A Team name, for all of her clients, you guys can use this, is Tada. There’s all kinds of reasons for it. We don’t need to hash out today, but just know Tada is here. And I know I’ve said this on the podcast before, but if you’re new here, you haven’t heard it yet, I love.

podcasting with these women and I love also handpicking the topics. get topics given to us from our marketing company. We have a lot of input and say on them as the consultants, but really we just kind of look, I look ahead and I’m like, that’s what we’re doing in the month of March. So fantastic. And then I kind of handpick which consultants I want because I love when

I get to watch someone and partake with someone speaking on things that they’re passionate about, that they truly thrive in and they love. And Trish, this topic specifically today, I know I tell you guys this, I don’t know if you believe me or not, maybe you do, maybe you don’t, but I know this is something that lights you up and I’m excited to be here with you. Thank you for blocking your calendar for me. Thank you for getting this set up. know it’s like, both of us are like a little chaotic storms.

when it comes to things like this. So I know both of us were like frantically getting ready. So thank you. How are you today? And how excited are you to be here? Like just, you know.

Tricia Lee Ackerman (01:24)

Thanks. ⁓

Thank you. Thank you.

I’m doing great. I always love it when I get to podcast with you.

The Dental A Team (01:34)

Thank you, thank you. I ⁓ feel like all of you ladies bring your own sense of ease to podcasting for me, which is fantastic, because then I don’t feel like totally exhausted by the end, so thank you. ⁓ Something you’re really phenomenal at is people, Trish. I think you read people really well. I think you read people quickly, and I think that it’s very easy for you to determine.

where people should sit or what they should be doing, what they’re really great at. It’s very easy for you to walk into a room and say, my gosh, this person is born to be a treatment coordinator. She is born to be a billing representative. you mentioned, gosh, what were we on? We were on some call this week. And you mentioned that you were a really great treatment coordinator. And I think we did it. It was on our coaching call we did together.

Tricia Lee Ackerman (02:24)

Yes.

The Dental A Team (02:24)

last week and you mentioned that you are a phenomenal treatment coordinator and is your passion and I think that reading people piece is part of that. It’s part of who you are, it’s part of your personality and it’s part of what makes you a phenomenal consultant but also what fed into that piece of treatment coordinating for you and I think Trish if I had to read you correctly I think you love it and I think it lights you up to be able to read people and get people established in something they can be passionate about.

because you can read personalities. So very easy to see why this kind of topic we’re doing, know, personality versus experience when it comes to team members. Very easy to see why that was such an easy fit for me to choose you to be here today. And before we dive in too much Trish, I want to ask what, ⁓ gosh, what about reading people and being able to peg that?

What do you love the most? What do you love when you walk into a room and you can say, my gosh, this, like what lights you up the most about it?

Tricia Lee Ackerman (03:28)

I think what lights me up the most is like I can easily target somebody who is comfortable talking. So if somebody just kind of looks like their, you know, their shoulders are down, they look like they’re at ease, that’s going to be a pretty easy person to go and approach. Then you have your people that smile and they obviously they still look very friendly, but there is, it’s, again, Tiff, it’s like they don’t have something written on their forehead. So it is really a read.

It’s an internal emotional read that I have where it’s like, you know what, that person actually probably doesn’t want me just going up to them, just like starting a big conversation. And even if I do, you can read a person’s body language and see how they’re engaging back. And if the engagement back is kind of light, then like that’s not a person that you push on. I’m not gonna make them have a conversation with me about a recent wedding they attended if they…

The Dental A Team (04:04)

Yeah.

Tricia Lee Ackerman (04:24)

clearly see if it’s showing that they just kind of don’t want to do that. So I don’t know, like, I don’t think there’s a book that you can read on how to do this. Maybe there is. I, I personally think that this is something that you either kind of have or you don’t. That’s just my, that’s just my thoughts on that. because again, I mean, some people really struggle, really struggle with knowing how to read a room. I’m sure they don’t want to, but yeah, if there was a secret sauce, I would

love to share it, but I do think it’s kind of an internal characteristic that you may or may not be born with.

The Dental A Team (05:01)

For sure, I totally agree. actually, have my son, you he’s 17 now, the recording of this and we’ve always, myself and just the people on my side that have been involved in his life and forming him into the kid that he is, we were always really big on being like socially aware and really just aware of his surroundings. One, because you know, as a parent, was a single mom scared to death that somebody’s gonna steal my kid, you know.

So I made sure like he was always insanely, intentional about watching his surroundings, but then also being the one that’s courteous to everyone else. Like you just don’t be in the way and not so much that you make yourself small, but don’t be in the way because it’s very easy to just be like, ⁓ awesome. Yep, you go around, know, like don’t make it a thing. Just be super aware. And I know that Brody’s got that kind of intentionality and that intuitiveness that

he can read people as well. And I wonder, often I watch him do it, and I’m like, gosh, is that because you’re so aware of your surroundings and you’re watching for your next move, right? Because I know for me, it’s like, where am I going to step next even of a crowded grocery store? What’s the easiest path? When I’m driving down the street, well, which lane is going to be the easiest for me that I’m not an inconvenience to other people as well? So kind of like double dipping there.

So I watch him do these things and I think to myself, there are so many people that are not aware of their surroundings. Is that a piece of it, right? And like you said, it’s kind of ingrained as personality. Anyway, it’s high tangent there, but I think one thing to do is to really ramp up your awareness of present, I guess really, right? It’s being present with where you are at and the people that you’re with. Because when we’re in our heads ahead or behind,

we’re not here and we’re not intentionally paying attention to the things going on in the people around us. How do you feel like then? I mean, where can we talk about hiring? We can talk about all the pieces, but realistically, we get the biggest question is like, gosh, do I hire for personality? Do I hire for ⁓ experience? Do they have to have dental experience? Do they have to have management experience? But really, I think this also applies to looking at the team that you have today and making sure that

Tricia Lee Ackerman (06:59)

Anyway.

The Dental A Team (07:23)

We say this all the time, right? Person, right? Seed. It’s a massive piece. And I think these pieces you can take and apply to both. When it comes to personality, Trish, and it comes to not just like, that’s one thing, to be able to read personalities and be able to be in a room and navigate the situation, but personality versus experience. How do you help practices differentiate the two, even in any situation at all?

Tricia Lee Ackerman (07:50)

Well, obviously, ideally, personality and experience at a high level, both. That’s perfect. That’s awesome. But but more than more times than than than not, we do have that situation where the doctor will say like she was really not, you know, hiring for an office manager. She was really nice. She was really great. She was all these things. But that’s awesome. However, that’s a position where we do need to see the skill set.

What type of leadership ⁓ experience does she have? And maybe she doesn’t have any, but can we set her up for some? And how quick, how sharp is this individual? Because if they’re really, really, I use the word cool. We can train skills, but we really can’t train cool. You kind of either cool or you’re not. And if they really like this person and they’re sharp, then maybe we should entertain giving them some leadership activity homework.

and see how that comes. If it’s somebody that has all the experience in the world, say like as a treatment coordinator, they’ve been doing it for a very long time, but they’re kind of cold, they’re kind of direct, ⁓ they kind of really don’t know how to like maybe laugh or break some ice. Is that really the best treatment coordinator? Because that is really a role where you have got to be able to do both.

The Dental A Team (09:12)

Yeah.

Tricia Lee Ackerman (09:15)

And that’s where I shined and loved it so much because I was able to read the room and I was so passionate about what I was actually getting ready to sell to them. But I could also tell if, if, mean, if they started sweating and like, okay, slow down, back up, let’s start to find like what’s happening with this person. So the personality, you know, that’s, that’s great. Most offices are looking for somebody that knows how to smile and

and things like that. The skill set, it doesn’t always have to be right on point as long as we can give them some tools slash tests, which we can and we could deploy those to monitor like almost like their sharp skill set. Like how sharp are they? How quick are they? Because if they’re nice and quick and sharp, it might just be our person. Some of the best people that I have hired through the years had zero dental experience, but they were sharp.

They were quick. were in the restaurant industry. That’s an amazing industry because people know how multi-task like crazy they can order drinks, they can order food, they can serve, and they have to do it all with a smile because their tips depend on it. those are perfect. That particular group of people are excellent examples because most of them do have the personality and they’re sharp. Easy to.

The Dental A Team (10:16)

Mm, I agree.

Yep.

Yeah, I agree.

I totally agree with that. have hired, I tell practices all the time, when you’re at a restaurant and you have a hostess or a server or somebody that you love, give them your card, whether you’re hiring now or not, give them your card. ⁓ I totally agree. I think too, as you’re chatting through all of that, I agree 100 % with all of it. And I’m thinking too, as you’re saying that, yes, you’re front office lead, you’ve got to have the leadership skills, you got to have these pieces, and does the dental

Is the dental necessary? Not necessarily, right? My best treatment coordinator ever, she didn’t have any dental experience, but she loved people and she believed in the product, like you said. So she didn’t even, half the time she didn’t even know what she was selling. She was just like, I know that they said this was going to make you healthier. So like, why would you not get this done? And I was like, this is wild. Like, it’s an SRP. Yeah, yeah. And they would schedule and it was great. And they would prepay, right? And it was like, gosh, she blew my mind with it, but she believed so much in the people being healthier.

Tricia Lee Ackerman (11:26)

And it works. Yep.

The Dental A Team (11:36)

that she just did it. But I’m also thinking as you’re saying this, yes, there are personality pieces for that that’s necessary. And then it’s like, yes, there’s also personality pieces for our billing coordinator. So I think that’s where the avatar comes into play, right? And knowing what are the goals of this position and what kind of a personality can do that? Because you’re bubbly, like for sure this person can do billing.

Right, I can do billing, Trish, can do billing. If we sat down, we can do it. But I’m gonna be bored out my mind and it’s gonna take me 10 times longer than the personality who was built for it. Because my personality, I need to be, I need to move. I need to move more, I need less details. I am not a detailed person. And I need to just, I need more interaction. So that billing personality might be someone who’s a little bit more muted, a little bit, you know.

and more introverted, ⁓ detail oriented, loves the numbers, wants to dig in, and you probably are gonna want some experience if you can find it, but again, a skill set that can be taught. How do you help your practices kind of navigate those avatars?

Tricia Lee Ackerman (12:51)

Just yesterday, literally just yesterday, this was a topic. And it’s an office that does have, that like the skillsets is there for all of the team members. However, they weren’t in the right seats. So when I started digging a little, because of course case acceptance is always something that I really want to target, because what does that do? It increases production and it’s just a big win. Okay. But what we discovered was that,

The Dental A Team (13:02)

Awesome.

Tricia Lee Ackerman (13:18)

the team member that was actually more say like the checkout seat that was kind of finalizing and kind of closing up the treatment plan was, was like really shy when it came to money, ⁓ really shy when it came to like asking for any kind of deposit. And so what we found was that when that particular team member is in that seat, we had less people scheduling.

So meanwhile, I had gotten to know this front office team a little bit more over the last even just six weeks. And I thought to myself, hold on a second. I know exactly who needs to be in that seat all the time. So no more rotating of seats. We’re going to lock down this chair is for that person, this chair. And I had ⁓ a touch base this morning with the O.M. They’re already feeling like less anxious.

because the person that is now there is good at both. She has no problem, you know, wrapping up a financial piece of things, but she can also talk dentistry if any of those questions do come up. we, and that was a fun exercise. I do like doing that. Like, let’s look at your team. Who are all these people and where did they shine? ⁓ okay. But they’re sterile tech. Maybe just maybe.

The Dental A Team (14:19)

Yep.

Tricia Lee Ackerman (14:42)

We could just hire a sterile tech and this could be your main treatment coordinator. So evaluating those seats and I think consistently evaluating the seats, because we do evolve with change, that is a really successful and not time consuming project that I think a lot of OMS and doctors could and should do regularly.

The Dental A Team (15:03)

I totally agree with you. I love that you just did that yesterday. ⁓ And I love that you keyed in on the rotation of seats because I feel like a lot of practices do and I hear a lot of managers and team members and doctors say, yes, but I want everyone to know how to do everything. Cool. I do too. I want you to be able to fill in if someone decides to take a vacation. Absolutely agree with you. I don’t want things to go left undone. But being responsible for everything.

Tricia Lee Ackerman (15:21)

Yes.

The Dental A Team (15:31)

because no one’s responsible for anything, and then that means no one’s, everyone’s responsible for nothing, is a whole lot of things not getting done effectively and a ton of underlying stress that people don’t even realize they’re feeling. The anxiety of not knowing how to win in your position or not feeling fully confident in the things that you’re doing because you’re doing so many things that require different brain sets.

You actually, you, you feel it, but you really don’t know that it’s happening until you get stabilized in that seat with clear goals and a clear way to win and in a space and a seat that you thrive in. You’re like, I feel free. Like I feel so much less stressed and I didn’t even realize I was stressed. It’s, so much fun to watch. And if you’ve ever felt it, you know what that feels like and Trish.

you keying in on that right now might be to me at least the biggest piece of this whole podcast because so many practices and I think both of us experience this fight that like no we all do it right we all do it we all we help each other we don’t want to be a team that can’t help each other ⁓ golly if you become a team that can’t help each other because you’re in a treatment coordinator seat instead of this float seat where you’re doing 15 000 things that’s a different issue

Tricia Lee Ackerman (16:44)

Yes.

The Dental A Team (16:57)

That’s completely separate and your culture needs to be fixed. But right now, you’re not helping each other. You’re actually holding each other back and you’re, as the manager, I think I’m gonna just, hard truth, as the manager and the doctor, allowing a space like that to exist is a detriment to the people that you’ve hired. And it, to me, says, I don’t think you can do one thing really well, so we’re gonna do all of the things all together to make sure nothing gets missed.

And in reality, there’s so much stuff that gets missed.

Tricia Lee Ackerman (17:31)

Yeah, a lot of missed opportunity for growth there. And it can be so, and now like this, in this case, the gal that is now in this seat and she’s not moving, she’s going to be so empowered. And then the other two that we moved into the seats that are appropriate for them, same thing. They’re going to feel so empowered. And that, and I’m looking forward to a check in with them in two weeks. That I really truly am, but.

The Dental A Team (17:34)

for sure.

Tricia Lee Ackerman (17:56)

That’s the key. The right people, right seats, we say it all the time, almost every day to at least one client or more. That’s the ticket. Who are your people? Where do they shine? Where are they currently sitting? And where could a better seat be for them?

The Dental A Team (18:15)

Yeah, yeah, and I think what are the seats that you have and what’s the goal of that seat? Because when we don’t know, when we just say, well, I’ve got five front office team members or three front office team members, cool, but what are those seats? Well, we have two that sit at the front and then one that sits in the back. Okay, but like, what is the seat? So if we’re saying we’ve got a check-in, a check-out, and an office manager who does billing and treatment planning, great.

Tricia Lee Ackerman (18:30)

Right, I did.

The Dental A Team (18:44)

We got five seats, label the seats. What is the seat? What is their main goal, the main duty of that seat? And how can they win in that seat? I did that exercise. I think it’s very similar to what you just did, Trish. I did this with a big practice, three doctors, lots of hygienists, lots of, and I’ve done it with, we’ve both done it with so many practices. The big guys are the ones that are the most fun to untangle because those webs are deep.

Tricia Lee Ackerman (19:08)

Yes.

The Dental A Team (19:11)

But we started untangling them and the doctors were like, wait, I like, want to, I want to help with this. And they untangled the seats and the goals. And even as far as three metrics per position in the front office that they can say this position is winning so that now that front office gal can take this job description and say, great, these are the things that I’m going to do. This is my operations manual for my seat.

on how I’m going to get there. And just being able to have that clarity alone, even for the doctors, they think it opened up a ton for them and I can’t wait till they deliver it to the team because it’s just, it’s empowering. And when you’re hiring, that’s how you know if you’ve interviewed the right person. Does this, this seat, the seat that I’ve created, the job description, the goal and the metrics, what kind of a person will thrive

reaching those. I’m not going to put a like introverted, great with numbers person. I want great with numbers for a treatment coordinator for sure, but they’re not selling anything. They’re just reviewing it, which is fine, but if you want a different result, you’ve got to do it differently.

Tricia Lee Ackerman (20:29)

Something else that comes up Tiff quite often is, and this can be such a hard decision for a doctor, they might have like their best dental assistant that they’ve ever had. And those two work so well side by side. However, that particular say dental assistant could be an absolutely incredible treatment coordinator. But when we bring that to the doctor, that’s when they’re like,

because they just can’t imagine not having that person side by side with them as their assistant. And the doctors that do recognize it and go, ⁓ my gosh, you were so on to something. Those are amazing transitions because number one, that dental assistant that we’re even considering putting into like a full-time treatment coordinator role, she knows that doctor inside and out. She believes in him. I she knows everything about him, the dentist.

that is somebody that can really grow a business, then we just hire, we replace the dental assistant and sharpen those skills with the same ones, the one that stepped out. But like that is also something that doctors don’t, sometimes they don’t even entertain that idea. We have to entertain it for them. And then when they see that, it’s like, and I can only imagine, it’s very scary for them to lose their key person sitting next to them all day, every day, but it can also be a,

The Dental A Team (21:45)

I agree.

Tricia Lee Ackerman (21:54)

really great move.

The Dental A Team (21:56)

I totally agree with you. Totally agree. Love it. Thank you. I knew this topic would be fun for both of us. We both kind of love moving people around. I love seeing, I love when we can move someone, like you just said, like giving someone the empowerment to try something they’ve maybe not really done before, but that growth opportunity to go from chair side dental assistant to treatment coordinator and just like learn a new skill set is, it’s super cool. Super fun to watch. So.

Thank you Trish. I think if I had to pick out some action items for everyone, I think based on what Trish is saying here, evaluate the people you have. Look at their personalities and look at their skill sets. Trish, said, like, where do they thrive? So what do they love to do? Oftentimes, too, when I say that, I like to look at their personal lives. Like, what kind of sports are they playing? Like, what activities are they doing? Are they knitting? Are they pottery? Are they, you know, are they volleyball players? Like, look at their personalities.

And then also look at your positions and what personality would thrive in that position, not only to get us more treatment on the schedule, but to fulfill them, to make their lives better, to make them happy, to make them love where they work, and in turn, make you love where you work. So I’d say go evaluate your people, evaluate your positions, and get the personality straight. Build those avatars and take a look. Trish, anything you want to add before we wrap this up?

Tricia Lee Ackerman (23:23)

don’t think so. really don’t. The disc test, maybe I’ll toss that in. That’s always kind of good one. Doctors do love to do that. ⁓ You know, evaluate those. Everybody can even do them together when you hire somebody else on or if you’re considering. and you know, vibe checks. We always talk about that. Do your vibe check. Let your team do a vibe check. And again, how’s their personality? Does that personality fit the actual practice? Some practices are full of spunk and fun and craziness. I see some of these teams on Instagram and they just

The Dental A Team (23:24)

Awesome. Yeah.

Tricia Lee Ackerman (23:52)

track me up, that would be a great one for fun. And you know, some doctors are not. So you might not want to bring in say like a clown into a really conservative practice. They might not mesh. So evaluating personalities slash the skill set. Yes, it’s not always that easy, but we can certainly help. And ⁓ once you do get those right personalities in those right seats, like you said, Tim, everybody wins.

The Dental A Team (24:21)

Yeah, I love it. Thank you. All right, guys, you heard it here. Go do the things. Trish, this was phenomenal. Thank you for taking this journey with me. Everyone, you know where to get ahold of us. [email protected] or leave us five-star review below or both. We love both of those. So we can’t wait to hear from you. [email protected]. Trish, thank you.

Tricia Lee Ackerman (24:29)

Thank you.

Thanks, Tiff.