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The Five Key Components to Team Synergy by Jen Butler, M.Ed.

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Team drama is a serious stressor for many orthodontists. The result is that we have a large number of orthodontists who are frustrated by the people they employ and depend on.

This is not a stressor to be avoided or put on the back burner, but too often that's exactly what orthodontists do, and they end up paying mental, emotional, and financial cost for it.

Here's how to cope.
To have the kind of team you've always wished you had—one that doesn't complain, push buttons, expect more while giving less, and be a constant financial drain on the business—requires a committed effort to build team synergy. Synergy is the creation of a whole that is greater than the sum of its parts.

An ortho team that works without team synergy uses a huge amount of effort to create very little in the way of positive results. The only way to have what you want from your team is to build and maintain team synergy by using this simple formula and its five components.

Component No. 1: Inspiration
Inspiration is the internal connection a team member has to his job that propels him to achieve, independently of his leaders and managers. When a team member is inspired, she is eagerly engaged from within her role, and exceeds expectations with high morale. In addition, the team member is also proactively looking for ways to experience personal growth in and outside of her designated position. When you think of your team members, how many can you say this describes?

Inspiration is created. It cannot be bought, threatened, or dangled like a carrot. Teams need to know they have a purpose at work, and it's not just to make profits. Here are two ways to build inspiration.

Inside out
Since inspiration is an internal drive, the only way to build it is from the inside out. And the "inside out" of your business is your VMPM, or vision, mission, purpose, mantra. Your VMPM is the inner structure of your business that, when leveraged, offers your team and patients a deeper emotional connection to who you are and what you do. In the absence of a VMPM there are only bricks, mortar, task lists, and money—none of which inspire people. If you want to create synergy with your team, you must have an active and manifested VMPM.

Three R's, not two
Often, ortho owners, managers, and consultants talk about the importance of having 2 R's: roles and responsibilities. What's missing is the third R: respect. People are inspired when they know that the role they play and the tasks they complete make a difference in the lives of people around them. You can convey this by respecting their timelines, needs, value, and place on the team. It's more than recognition for a job well done and tasks completed. It's truly respecting your team member as a person and viewing him or her as an equal partner within the business.

Component No. 2: Trust
Due to the dynamics, function, and purpose of a orthodontic team, trust is a key component in creating team synergy. The importance of trust is often talked about within an ortho office because of the nature of the work performed. Where teams get confused is in thinking that the act of being transparent (around patient education, costs, communication, etc.) is the same as building trust. Researchers in behavioral and organizational psychology find this to be far from the truth. There is a clear first step to building trust, and that is with our common threads.

Our common threads
Research shows our level of trust with someone is equal to the number of "threads" we have in common. For example, when you meet a new patient you both are going through a psychological and emotional process of categorizing each other. It's the ultimate "sizing up." As you uncover more information about one another, it either reinforces or inhibits the trust sense. As the common threads pile up (you have kids of similar age, live in the same neighborhood, attend the same organizations, have the same values, etc.), the trust sense grows exponentially. To build trust you have to spend time and conduct activities that encourage sharing. If you can articulate the common threads you have with each of your team members, you're on your way to building team synergy.

Component No. 3: Communication
Effective communication plays a significant role in building and maintaining team synergy because it serves as the delivery tool for the other components. If team members participate in high levels of communication—such as understanding, active listening, problem solving, conflict resolution, and asking empowering questions—synergy rises and discord falls. To increase effective communication within the team, start by understanding each team member's communication style.

Understanding communication styles
There are four communication styles, each with its own characteristics, advantages, disadvantages, and patterns. When the team is educated and trained on their own communication styles, this knowledge expands their awareness around their own communication needs. When a member knows what she needs, she can easily let others know what works for her. Also, when the team understands each communication style of each of their members, they are able to increase their versatility and modify the way in which they approach a situation.

Component No. 4: Will
Will is the internal drive and energy a person applies as he takes action. You see a team member's will by how quickly, thoroughly, or efficiently he approaches his work. Team synergy soars when two parts of will are present.

Equal parts of self-determination
When each team member brings an equal part of self-determination to the practice, the heavy lifting of building, running, and maintaining a successful practice is shared. There is no one person doing more or covering for another. She can rely on her colleagues to meet expectations while giving maximum loyalty. He sees his job as an opportunity for personal growth, and not just a linear checklist of responsibility.

Level of effort
Will is expressed through level of effort. With three different levels of effort, team synergy is only established when the highest level is achieved unanimously. The lowest level of effort is intended effort, one in which a person tries or wishes for an action to happen. A moderate level of effort is when one has attempted effort. In this level, some effort is extended, but little is given to preparation and follow-through. Committed effort is the highest level, in which team members are focused and give all their energies to moving forward.

Component No. 5: Reason
Reason is the last component necessary to create team synergy. Skills, knowledge, abilities, competencies, and experiences are the elements that make up a team member's reason. For team synergy to develop, each member must have similar levels of each element present so professional services and patient care are consistent within each department.

Next steps
Every office has the potential to build team synergy. Follow these first few steps:
  1. Ask each of your team members to read this article. When they know better, they do better.
  2. Carve out time in your daily huddle to focus on one component every day. Even baby steps get you there.
  3. Identify a Team Synergy Captain who will spearhead activities, meetings, discussions, and events that nurture everyone's connection. Or, instead of one person being the captain, have each team member choose a component to help develop throughout the team.
Team synergy must be attended to, nurtured, and cultivated on a daily basis. It requires time, energy, patience, intention and focus from each member of the team. But you will find that the payoff is worth it. It can save your sanity­—and your practice.



Jen Butler has been working in the area of stress management and resiliency coaching for more than 25 years. She is founder of Jen Butler Inc., a SMART (Stress Management and Resiliency Training) firm offering comprehensive programs to help doctors and teams stress less. To reach Jen, email her at Jen@JenButlerInc.com or (623) 776-6715.


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