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Building Your Dream Team by Rebecca Grimes

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by Rebecca Grimes

The 1992 Olympics was famous for its basketball “Dream Team,” which featured Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson and Larry Bird. For your practice, wouldn’t you like to assemble a comparable Dream Team of talented employees? The goal might seem unrealistic and impossible, but rest assured, it can be done. Regardless of the size of your practice, you can have a Dream Team by following a few simple steps. Whether you are a small, startup practice or a multi-location statewide practice, learning to attract the right team members will result in a happier team, a happier doctor and a better-functioning practice.

A Group Effort

You should be searching for the most talented, most productive individuals who are the best fit for your practice. If you are hiring a new team member, the task should be a group effort. For example, bring one or more members of your current team in for at least part of the first interview. If you have inherited a team, begin by evaluating each team member, and then the team as a whole. Where there are issues, correct them immediately. If the issues don’t improve, it may be time to part ways with individuals who do not fit with your overall initiatives and goals.

Talent

Make sure you announce job openings with sufficient time to identify top candidates and vet them. Hurrying this part of the process can lead to judgment errors, and lead you to inadvertently make a bad hire. Encourage feedback from your current team, ask tough questions during the interviews and do not assume someone’s talent will miraculously develop after he or she is brought on board. This is often unlikely. Top talent doesn’t usually appear at your doorstep. It must be lured.

Productivity

References are a must when hiring for your Dream Team. Be sure to ask for at least two references, and always make contact with both of them. Your conversations with references can be short. Simply inquire about the best qualities of the potential new team member. If high productivity is not part of the feedback, you may want to call another reference for a different opinion or reconsider the candidate.

Fit

Your current team is likely the best judge of how well the new hire will fit into your practice. Let your team interact with your potential hire, and ask for their detailed feedback afterward.

Build Trust

Your team should know you are accessible and interested in their work and professional progress. They should feel they can trust you, and in return, you will feel you can trust them. Make meetings a regular part of your practice: daily morning meetings, weekly group meetings and monthly one-on-one meetings. These interactions are important for keeping lines of communication open. They give team members a time to express concerns and feel independently heard. They will also offer your team an opportunity to share new ideas and take ownership in operations. Teams without strong bonds often form cliques or alliances, which can cause a combative, unfriendly and unproductive environment. Negative environments unfortunately do not stay behind the scenes but emerge during interactions with patients. Circumvent the problem by maintaining a strong, happy and engaged team by taking the time to build trust and relationships.

Give Recognition

Recognition is essential to develop, engage and encourage team members. Several forms of recognition are appropriate, including bonuses and financial incentives, but realize that people are motivated by more than money. It is human nature to want to feel appreciated. If an employee does something extraordinary, let them know and let their co-workers know as well. Praise team members at every meeting. Praise and recognition achieve two goals: 1) it gives a team member who’s done a good job a moment of public recognition and 2) it incentivizes the rest of the team to strive for their own moment. Give recognition and reap the rewards!

Turn Problems into Advantages

Difficult moments will happen, and no team (Dream Team or otherwise) is excluded from occasional mishaps or misunderstandings. Use these moments to teach team members to consider multiple viewpoints and to expand their thinking. Allow them to understand while it may be impossible to like every work situation or even everyone you work with, it’s important to respect all individuals and situations. Respect will get someone much farther in life and in business than personal preferences will. Using respect as a framework to solve problems may allow your team to build stronger bonds after a conflict than they had before it happened. Ultimately, your team will learn to resolve conflicts on their own.

Practice What You Preach

If you demand perfection but produce sloppy work or if you require a uniform but consistently violate your own policy, your team will notice. They will possibly resent you or even revolt against you as a mentor and against the rules you create. Realize that your team will emulate what you do: if you want a punctual staff, be on time yourself. Show your team what outstanding work is and how a proper uniform looks. In an effort to please you and be recognized, they will usually fall in step.

Although building a “Dream Team” can take time and dedication, it is possible. And you’ll find that the benefits of higher morale and increased productivity will have been worth the effort.

Rebecca Grimes is the Vice President of Human Resources for OrthoSynetics, Inc. Grimes leads the Human Resources department at OrthoSynetics in the areas of benefits administration, employee relations, policy development, employment law concerns and compliance, departmental planning and performance management.

Grimes has a law degree from Florida Coastal School of Law in Jacksonville, Florida, where she focused on Business Transactions and Employment Law. She also earned two Bachelor’s degrees from Georgia Tech in Atlanta, Georgia, in International Business and Foreign Languages.

Orthotown Magazine
September 2025
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