Managing Dental Office Conflict

No one likes conflict but it’s a part of life, especially in the workplace. Anytime people work in a close environment, conflict is likely to arise. When handled incorrectly, conflict can cause anger, headaches and a whole other slew of problems. But, when handled correctly, conflict can strengthen your team and open new lines of communication. 

Below are 4 ways to successfully manage conflict in your dental practice:

1. Describe The Issue – Resist rushing to action whenever a conflict arises. Spend some time analyzing the conflict. When discussing the conflict with your employees, avoid making people the problem. The behavior is the issue, not the employee. By doing this, you prevent anyone from feeling defensive.
    
2. Describe The Perspective Of Each Person – Always avoid choosing sides, even if you do have a strong opinion on the issue. This will make you seem unapproachable and impartial. To gain the trust of your employees, you need to distinguish agreeing with someone’s point of view and empathizing with it. You don’t need to agree with someone in order to understand where he or she is coming from.
    
3. Identify A Win-Win Outcome – To solve the conflict between your employees, you need to work toward a common objective. To do this, it’s important that you find a shared interest between the employees. This won’t necessarily be the solution to the problem, just the common goal to work towards.
    
4. Develop A Plan – Have each employee offer suggestions on how to manage the conflict. Once you’ve discussed the best option, develop an action plan. This includes identifying who will do what and when and how any future misunderstandings will be handled. Be sure to check back with the employees to make sure things are going according to plan.

Don’t expect that things will be handled perfectly the first time conflict arises. It will take time for both you and your employees to effectively handle communication and conflict.

For help on managing conflict in your office, please speak with one of the trained dental consultants here at CTC National! We want your practice and your employees to thrive!