Building a High-Functioning Team

As a business grows and people are hired, how they interact and behave becomes critical to that organization’s effectiveness and health, both financial and mental. Very few dentists studied human resources management or organizational behavior, but most have led or been on a dysfunctional team at some point in their career. When I ask dentists who own their practice what their primary stress point is, they invariably say, “Managing my staff!”

This article, the first in a series, addresses why teamwork is vital to any practice. The objective is to learn how to overcome team dysfunction and develop strategies to build an effective team that achieves its goals with a minimum of drama and wasted energy.

First off, why is teamwork important? Because teamwork is the fuel that allows common people to attain uncommon results:

• Effective teams deliver higher profits.
• Cross-functional teams solve problems faster.
• Teamwork is a fundamental component of successful organizations.
• Group learning > individual learning → synergy.
• Teams naturally integrate performance and learning.

“Interdependent people combine their own efforts with the efforts of others to achieve their greatest success.”  –Stephen Covey

Creating a team that regularly wins isn’t about being a cheerleader. It is about subtly ensuring everyone on the team understands and agrees to the goals and process to achieve them and will support each other. Motivational speeches don’t have a long-term effect, but a vision that your team buys into can sustain hard work and progress toward goals. This enables you to retain your best employees.

The #1 factor in increasing the level of highly satisfied and engaged patients in your practice is...The level of highly satisfied engaged EMPLOYEES in your practice.

Teams are most effective when:

• Team members can bring experience and approaches from a range of different backgrounds.
• They have enough people to do the job, but not so many that people get lost (5 is an ideal number of people).
• They have representation from involved functions and departments.

“Coming together is a beginning. Keeping together is progress. Working together is success.” –Henry Ford

Characteristics of High-Performing Teams

Teams willing to address the five dysfunctions can experience the following benefits. High-performing, cohesive teams are comprised of people who:

• are comfortable asking for help, admitting mistakes and limitations, taking risks, and offering feedback.
• tap into one another’s skills and experiences.
• avoid wasting time talking about the wrong issues and revisiting the same topics over and over again because of lack of buy-in.
• make higher quality decisions and accomplish more in less time with fewer resources.
• put critical topics on the table and have lively meetings.
• align the team around common objectives.

In a popular business book The Five Dysfunctions of a Team, Patrick Lencioni identified the following problem areas:

1. Absence of Trust

2. Fear of Conflict

3. Lack of Commitment

4. Avoidance of Accountability

5. Inattention to Results

Let us look at the first dysfunction an absence of trust.The fear of being vulnerable with team members prevents the building of trust within the team.

“Trust is knowing that when a team member does push you, they're doing it because they care about the team.”  –Patrick Lencioni

Members of teams with an absence of trust:

• conceal their weaknesses and mistakes from one another.
• hesitate to ask for help or provide constructive feedback.
• hesitate to offer help outside their own areas of responsibility.
• waste time and energy managing their behaviors for effect.
• dread meetings and find reasons to avoid spending time together. 

In subsequent blogs, we will explore the other team dysfunctions and how to overcome them.

About the Author

Frank Manfre, BS, is Key Account Manager for Ivoclar Vivadent based in Atlanta. He has more than 12 years of experience in the dental market and has worked as an executive in both profit and nonprofit corporations. He serves as a business coach and consultant focused on building highly effective teams, leadership development, strategic planning, and business development. He serves on the board for the Georgia Dental Laboratory Association and is a regular contributor to the Journal of Dental Technology and Inside Dental Technology magazine on the topic of business management.