Management Monday – Nikki Berryman

Every Monday, Nikki Berryman – licensed Practice Management Consultant for Laura Horton Consulting – posts about her current plans and experiences as the Business Development Manager for Pure Dental Health in Cornwall –

‘This has been another really busy week at Pure and I have also been writing a pre-dissertation report for my Social Science degree, which involves a lot of reading and research.

To say I have been under pressure is an understatement… I have been at my desk from about 5.30am, then off to work, returning to my desk until about 10pm every night, and working all weekend at home for the last few weekends. A huge workload, and so much more still to do.

It got me thinking about work/life balance and that word “stress”. How often do we say that we are “stressed”? And do we really mean it or do we simply need to prioritise our time more effectively? ‘Real’ stress can be very serious, it is not an illness but a ‘state’. However, if stress becomes prolonged or excessive, mental and/or physical illness can develop.

So, what can we do to alleviate stress in the workplace? I think there are 5 very obvious things we can do, but when we are “stressed” these are often the first things to go out the window!

1) Eat well – by that I mean good, nutritious food. Drink lots of water and stay away from caffeine.

2) Take time out even when you are under pressure, it is so important to take a break, you will perform so much better if you are rested.

3) Delegate -don’t be a martyr, ask your team for help, that is what they are there for.

4) Find a mentor, a professional ‘buddy’ – someone you can talk you and ask for advice.

5) Get some exercise – the biggy – make sure its something you enjoy and preferably outdoors to get some fresh air.

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Anyway, it’s Saturday lunchtime so I’m off to practice what I preach, a long run followed by lunch and a visit to the hairdressers! Then back in the study tomorrow…

Have a great week everyone!’

Nikki Berryman

Providing dentists and their dental team with training programmes to increase results with proven successful methods.

Photography training, Treatment Coordinator Implementation, Practice management training, helping dentists and their teams with wow factor examinations and treatment presentations.

Visit the website today to see how we can help.

Management Monday – Nikki Berryman

‘We had our annual Fire Safety Training here at Pure Dental last week.

We use a local company that take care of all our Fire Protection needs from our alarm system, fire blankets through to our on-site training. They provide a really excellent, comprehensive service that I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend.

However I have the overall responsibility of audit, maintenance and review procedures. This involves scheduling maintenance/repairs of all equipment, scheduling training, carrying our quarterly risk assessments, reviewing the Fire Prevention Plan, monthly fire alarm ‘practice’ and daily testing of the alarms.

Of course in terms of CQC, these procedures need to be carefully documented and audited. So how do we as PMs keep on track with ongoing audits and reviews of our management procedures? The answer is robust systems – time management systems and scheduling systems.

Implementing effective systems in your practice will save so much time – I have already scheduled out 3 days next month to review all risk assessments, review and make changes to our Recruitment and Selection procedures and to review the Team Training Plans. Systems ensure control and efficiency. Are all your systems up to date?’

Nikki Berryman

Providing dentists and their dental team with training programmes to increase results with proven successful methods.

Photography training, Treatment Coordinator Implementation, Practice management training, helping dentists and their teams with wow factor examinations and treatment presentations.

Visit the website today to see how we can help.

Management Monday – Nikki Berryman

‘Another fab week at Pure last week, culminating in Jeremy and I travelling to London on Friday to listen to Chris Barrow talk about Implant marketing, at a seminar hosted by Bio- Horizons at Portland Square.

It was a great session and lovely to meet such a fab group of people. I thought that we had a fairly good handle on marketing techniques at the practice, but as usual there is always something new to learn.

This got me to thinking about training and in particular, personal development for practice managers/business managers. I’m sure that you have robust training and development plans in place for your team, but what about yourself? When did you last assess your strengths and weaknesses? The business of dentistry is rapidly changing and developing and so we need to ensure that we are always one step ahead of the game.

Alongside more formal courses and training, ask yourself this; whose blogs are you reading? What newspapers are you reading? Ask for recommendations for books in leadership / development /management; are you networking outside of the practice? Do you have a mentor? If not, get one and ask him/her for honest feedback on your performance and where your strengths and weaknesses lie.

So, a challenge for today – start thinking about your own Personal Development Plan…’

Nikki Berryman

Providing dentists and their dental team with training programmes to increase results with proven successful methods.

Photography training, Treatment Coordinator Implementation, Practice management training, helping dentists and their teams with wow factor examinations and treatment presentations.

Visit the website today to see how we can help.

Management Monday – Nikki Berryman

‘Morning everyone. Is it just me or does the year seem to be going really quickly? Mid-March already!

I don’t know about you but the lighter mornings and evenings allow me to cram a little more into my working day, which I guess can only be a good thing.

This week saw the launch of the Pure Study Club for 2012 after a very successful series of events during 2011. The first speaker was Nigel Reece from Dental Design Ltd. Nigel spoke to our group for a couple of hours about internet marketing, websites, SEO, pay per click Google advertising and of course social media.

However, one of the most important factors of any kind of marketing is ROI (return on investment). There is absolutely no point at all spending money on any kind of marketing activity without it a) being planned and budgeted for, and b) calculating the ROI.

Knowing your numbers and what works for you in terms of marketing investment will allow you to become much more focused and streamlined in your marketing strategy. Marketing only works if it is planned, budgeted, reviewed and assessed; poor & uninformed marketing is probably worse than none at all.

Have you got a marketing strategy in place for your practice?

Have a great week!’

Nikki Berryman

Providing dentists and their dental team with training programmes to increase results with proven successful methods.

Photography training, Treatment Coordinator Implementation, Practice management training, helping dentists and their teams with wow factor examinations and treatment presentations.

Visit the website today to see how we can help.