Where do you draw the line between constructive feedback and just outright complaining in your dental practice?
We’ve all worked with that one person who always seems to find the negative in everything. Chronic complaining with no offered solutions often leads to a miserable work environment for everyone in the practice. If ignored, it can lead to employee dissatisfaction and turnover.
On the other hand, when complaining is constructive — if, perhaps, it’s accompanied by ideas for solutions to a problem — that is considered feedback, and it can drastically improve the overall workplace environment for everyone.
Our experienced dental coaches at Bryant Consultants are trained to help you understand the root of various kinds of complaining in your practice and ways to correct it, which will lead to a peaceful, complaint-free dental practice.
It’s helpful to determine, first, the form of complaints in the office.
Let’s take a look at a few:
- The Productive Complainer — More commonly called “feedback,” this type of complaining can lead to a change in policies, procedures and/or behaviors that can promote a friendlier, happier, more efficient practice.
- The Venting Complainer — We’ve all been there: we just need to let off a little steam so we don’t blow a gasket. This could be a harmless way of complaining, except for potential consequences to and for the person having to listen. It could make him/her grow frustrated at a situation that was barely noticed before. It can also put the employee in the uncomfortable position of having to pick sides.
- The Chronic Complainer — When someone seems to complain about every, little thing, you’re probably dealing with an overall pessimistic person and/or someone who has a victim mentality. While these people can certainly be beneficial in pointing out problems within the practice, their behavior is exhausting to those around them, often leading to an uncomfortable work environment.
- The Malicious Complainer — Gossip and backstabbing are at the root of this form of complaining. It’s usually aimed at a person instead of dissatisfaction with practices and policies. Rarely does this type of complaining have an upside or benefit. Instead, it often results in a toxic work environment.
With all the various forms of complaining established, the question becomes: what can be done about it? Fortunately, we have a few suggestions to help you redirect complaints by helping change mindsets:
Changing victim mentality to personal ownership
The key to building a complaint-free dental practice is to change team members’ mindsets. Personal ownership for issues needs to replace any victim mentalities in the office. Instead of looking for excuses for why problems are occurring, team members need to think of ways to more proactively determine their part in any breakdown — and take ownership of how to correct it.
We can start to train team members to do this by working on a couple different things:
“How do I contribute?” — When a team member complains about something, here’s an example of how to respond: “I hear you, and it sounds really frustrating. Can you think of a way that, maybe even unintentionally, you’ve contributed to the problem or allowed it to continue?”
“I didn’t anticipate that, so now I’ll …” — Once someone can assume ownership — even just a little — in a breakdown or problem, then it’s time to explain how to turn that into a solution. For example: “I didn’t anticipate that task would take so long, so now I’ll get started on it earlier” or “I didn’t anticipate traffic would be so heavy on my way to work, so now I’ll start leaving my house earlier.”
Complaint challenge
Can you think of any fun ideas that might call team members’ attention to how often they’re complaining? Think of ways that would briefly interrupt their thoughts when they complain to help mark that moment in their minds. One person suggests handing out bracelets and switching arms each time you find yourself complaining. Sometimes, this helps bring attention to the problem, and team members will learn to correct it over time.
Chances are high that no workplace will truly ever be completely complaint-free. But it’s possible to change mentalities and the culture of your office. Knowing what kind of complaining is occurring — venting versus malicious, for instance — can help you formulate an action plan to address the in-office complaints.
And, of course, there’s value in some complaints when we view them as feedback. Make sure your team members know they can approach you with issues without judgment. Encourage them to have a solution in mind when they address a problem and communicate their feedback in a calm, positive way. This will lead to more and better communication in the office, which will only improve the overall work environment.
Hollie Bryant
CEO & Founder
