When it comes to practice management, most dentists are chronic worriers, and it's easy to see why. During office hours, you have to spend the bulk of your time chairside with patients. You're unable to see what's happening in the practice beyond the mouth you're looking into at that moment.

So you worry. You worry about whether there are gaps developing in the schedule that you don't know about. You worry about whether your team will notice those gaps, and if they do, whether they'll find ways to close them. You worry about whether all the strategies you discussed at your last team meeting are being implemented in the right way. Since you can't change the nature of the business, you have two choices: continue to worry, or have someone do your worrying for you.

This is where a good office manager can make all the difference – if you define the role in the right way. Too often we are vague about what the job is ("keep the office running smoothly") and vague about how we measure success ("if I'm not hearing about problems, she's doing well").

By taking this passive approach to defining what should be a dynamic function in the practice, you're cheating yourself and your office manager. You're denying a loyal employee the opportunity to take on a more fulfilling, meaningful role. You're denying yourself the peace of mind that comes from knowing you have an advocate in the practice who is driving your agenda, and who is actively growing the business.

I know how important this is because I see it myself in my own business every day. I have an assistant who has been with me a long time. I don't just give her direction on things I want done; I also empower her to act in my best interests at her discretion. I know that there are many things she intercepts and deals with before it has a chance to get to my desk. She also knows what issues are important enough to bring to my attention, and she prioritizes them accordingly. She does a lot of my worrying for me.

Your office manager should not just be an administrator, but also an ally and an advocate. While you are busy with patients, your administrator should be your eyes and ears – and your voice in the practice. Having the right office manager with the mandate to lead means more than just having someone who can keep the paperwork up to date. Having the right office manager means being able to outsource your worrying to someone you can trust.


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Commenter's Profile Image John Sweeney
April 11th, 2013
Great post Imtiaz... This has been my downfall for years now. I have had two office managers in the past 7 years and had to fire both of them.. I'm not proud of that and I think it speaks to your point about "vague". I was definitely exactly how you described and I do see that I never gave them a chance to succeed. However, it is very hard to find an office manager who has true leadership skills. Most dentists hire their office manager based on how many years experience they have in dentistry. Then, they say, here, I want you to run the office, etc... I have found this doesn't work because many times we aren't hiring the right person with the right leadership skills. I can't tell you how many times I have heard team members of other offices at meetings complain about how bad they hate their office manager. It's almost an epidemic. I don't have any right answers when it comes to this. I'm trying to do it all myself because I have been burned too often when I hand over the reigns. It's really weird how the dynamic changes when you pass over control to someone other than one of the dentists. I completely agree that their should be an office manager, however, I obviously don't know how to go about finding the right one and leading them myself to help them succeed...