Lisa Mergens

Pain Points in Your Practice? You Need a Diagnosis…Stat

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We all have them: an area or two in our lives or businesses that are a constant source of irritation. Whether they are a dull ache or a sharp stab, they wear us down as we try to identify the origin and find ways to remedy them. When we look at any organization we see that these pain points are either persistent or emergent in nature, though persistent pain points can spin off emergent ones as by-products. You Need to Identify the Source of Pain Just like diagnosing a medical or dental disease, the first step in remedying your business’s …

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Company Culture: What are You Cooking Up?

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(Content originally published on SWYP DENTAL July 2018) Every business, regardless of size has one- a company culture. It is the intangible life force of an organization that affects productivity, morale and customer service. What forms company culture is a hotly debated subject in the world of business psychology. One camp firmly believes it stems from ownership while another group contends culture is determined by employees. I sit in the middle of the debate. Culture: It’s a recipe Initially, when a business opens its doors, the vision of the owner drives the vibe: are they uptight, upbeat, or uplifting? Those …

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New Team Member? Start with Trust

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Over the course of my time studying, developing and working with leaders and teams, I’ve referenced the need for leaders to build a solid level of trust with their team. It’s inherent upon anyone in this position to have it- if they don’t trust you, they’re certainly not going to follow you. Which leads me to an area I haven’t written on to date: creating an immediate sense of trust with a new employee. New Employees are Nervous We have all had an opportunity to be “the new kid” on the block: whether it was in school, as a member …

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Are You Seeking Work-Life Balance? You’re Not Going to Find It

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During a recent conversation, a colleague and I came around to the topic of work-life balance. We were trying to coordinate our schedules to meet up and were 2 months out before we could find matching time. Has this happened to you? It does for me on a regular basis. Between running a business and pursuing an advanced degree, I’m swamped. Now add in being a mother to three older -but still reliant- high school and college kids and managing a home, it’s easy to see where my calendar is full. The thing is: I’m grateful. When my children were …

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Making Sense Out of “Assessment” Tests: Are You Using These for Employment, Culture and Employee Development?

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In an effort to find the “right” employee, many dental practices have sought to utilize “assessment tests” in their hiring process, while others have tapped into the variety of these resources to help current and future team members discover their personality “type”. The purpose of this article serves to help you make sense of what is available, their strengths and weaknesses and hopefully serve as a guide should you choose to use one. Assessments: A Brief History As far back as Hippocrates, humans have sought to describe one another. In fact, Claudius Galenus, or “Galen” expounded upon Hippocrates’ postulation by …

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Are You an “Event Manager” in Your Dental Practice? Drama, Conflict and Underperformers

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Imagine a scenario where a team member consistently does something that is disruptive to productivity or profitability: maybe you’ve mentioned it on multiple occasions and told them what they should be doing or you’ve simply avoided the conversation altogether simply because you don’t enjoy “confrontation”. As these incidents accrue, so, too, does your frustration level and eventual anger, along with your disengagement from the individual: you’re done. You’ve had it, you’re at your wits end. One of two outcomes are about to happen and this is what I call “event management”: you’re either going to blow up or you’re going …

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Your Leadership Mission: Creating a Contagious Positive Culture

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In a recent conversation, I referenced the open-loop limbic system and how the actions of others can easily affect another individual. This particular exchange surrounded a family situation, but it set me to thinking about work teams, positive culture and the chemistry involved in creating a productive environment. The Basic Science Behind Creating a Positive Culture The limbic system is a set of complex pathways in our brain responsible for instinct and mood. It’s the control center for emotions (anger, pleasure, fear) and drives (hunger, sex, care of offspring). It supports behavior and motivation. The limbic system allows for external …

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Are You “Ghosting” Your Employees? Leaders Who Avoid Difficult Conversations

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Over the weekend, I took a phone call from a woman who was being ignored by her boss. The backstory is fairly involved, but the gist is that the employee has, by all accounts, gone above and beyond her job description during a very difficult few years at the office. This employee offhandedly asked her boss for a particular “perk” which would not impact the company financially but would help her out. The boss, after first agreeing to it, changed his mind and then reacted poorly: Since then, he has refused to speak to the employee, effectively shutting her out, …

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