Effective Actions
GrowthCard
4Blocks Drive Effective Actions
4Blocks is home base for training — it all spins from there. Mentoring, training, and effective actions. By breaking each role down to four areas of focus, team members can easily get a handle on what is expected from them, and mentors can clearly direct and focus training. Your 4Blocks are the functions your role performs for patients as part of the whole-practice team, and Effective Actions are outcomes to focus on and track in order to predictably achieve those outcomes.
You're Not a Fixer-Upper
We hired you on purpose. We don't see you as a "fixer-upper." We don't train to get you up to snuff. If extraordinary patient care was only about individual team members performing with excellence, we wouldn't need ongoing training — your daily practice with patients would take care of that.
But dentistry is a team sport. The Growth Platform emphasizes the positive aspects of the team approach — that each patient gets to have multiple warm, enjoyable interactions with people who evidently care about them — and nurtures the needs of a collaborative team with planning, purposefulness, and commitment to support.
Synchronized Swimming
It's not about drilling each role to a state of individual readiness — it's about coping with the realities of a diverse group effort. The complex, multi-person, multi-specialty nature of the patient visit requires us to be well-coordinated.
"Training" here means making the practice an environment where the whole team is able to work together to care for patients, and call out for help and support when it's needed. We take care of each other by providing a structure for communication and support that allows us to be intentional and focused on collaborating with our teammates to take outstanding care of our patients.
Coordination is the challenge. Clear, accurate communication across the whole practice is the solution.
Effective Actions and the Growth Card
To be successful and confident in their pursuit of excellent patient care, each team member must be able to tell each other when they aren't able to do what they need to do, determine why that is, and come to a conclusion about how best to improve the situation. Effective Actions (EAs) and the Growth Card make this fast, easy, and ongoing.
Moving Parts
Effective Actions are outcomes we track to see how the group is working together. Each EA represents many smaller, subordinate steps. For instance, EA: "Patient left on time" requires many things — from making sure each team member is prepared for their day, to using efficiencies for treatment, and more.
Tracking these single actions lets us know how we are able to execute the collaborative care process — and where adjustments must be made. Measuring results allows us to adapt our approach to the outcomes that lead to happy patients.
Positive and Negative Reporting
We need both. By tracking how often you're able to make EAs happen, we can see your capacity. By comparing EA results to back-office numbers and patient feedback, we can understand in real numbers what it takes to make patients happy.
But explaining why you couldn't complete an EA is just as important. Taking a moment to analyze the situation and share your thoughts is how you do your part to make sure we never drift far from where we need to be.
Example: Front Desk
A real-world example: the Front Desk has EA: Answer the phone before the third ring. If the entire Front Desk team reports being too maxed out to make this EA happen consistently, it may mean we're growing and it's time to bring another person on board — good news that wouldn't have been discovered unless negative EA reporting uncovered it.
EAs Are Questions and Answers
Sometimes EAs are assigned when the practice needs to learn more about something. Sometimes they're assigned to help focus departments or individuals on outcomes that will help the practice adapt to patient needs. We have the tools to share information instantly and in an organized way — making the whole practice responsive to patients with unprecedented speed.
So swipe when you can do your EA, and speak up when you can't. You're helping the whole team run smoothly when you do.