Bite-sized dental wisdom in under 2 minutes.
In business, I’m strategic with delegation. I’ve seen it backfire too many times not to be.
In my personal life? I delegate anything I possibly can. Someone else mows my lawn, cleans my house, and even cooks my meals. Why would I spend my time on things that don’t require me when I could focus on what only I can do?
Business, though, is different.
I’m a firm believer that you need to understand the task yourself before delegating it, especially if you’re hiring someone with little experience who actually needs training. I’m not saying you need an IT degree to delegate your server setup, but if you hire Jimmy, the 18-year-old family friend, to be your IT “specialist,” you better have written the handbook on setting up those computers.
That’s the trade-off.
If you’re deficient in a skill, then pay someone who knows their stuff. And usually, that isn’t cheap.
Same goes for your insurance coordinator, treatment coordinator, marketer, whatever. If you can’t write the training guide, then you either need to learn it well enough to train it or pay for someone who already knows what they’re doing.
But what do we do in dentistry?
We hire cheap, with minimal experience, and tell ourselves, “We’ll just train them as they go.”
So unless you have a six-week Chick-fil-A-style training program sitting there ready to go, you’re probably getting screwed.
Here’s how it usually plays out:
You get busy with patients.
The “training book” you have is really just a few scattered how-to docs.
They ask questions.
You answer with yes, no, or worse, “Let’s go over that later.”
They learn to stop asking.
You start avoiding the front because you know something is off.
Then you get frustrated when tasks aren’t getting done right.
Now you’re worried about the unemployment filing before you’ve even fired them, and you’re already dreading starting the whole process over again.
Sound familiar?
That sounds fricken stressful.
And honestly, that’s on you. Not “culture fit” or whatever else helps you sleep at night.
It’s a lack of training and poor resources.
I’ve been there. More than once.
So here’s what I’ve learned:
If you’re going to hire someone without much experience, the training manual needs to come from you.
Sound like a shit ton of work? It is.
But if you want it done right, here’s the process:
Do it yourself. Figure out the steps needed to get the job done.
Document it. Write down those steps, then test them by following them yourself - or better yet, have someone else on your team follow them and show you where they get stuck.
Delegate it. Have your new hire follow the steps, give feedback on what needs clarification, and tweak as needed.
Now you actually have a training protocol instead of making it up as you go.
Or sure, you can hire someone with 20 years of experience who “just gets it done.” But that comes with its own downsides too: old habits, culture fit issues, and plenty of confidence in doing it their way.
The takeaway:
Don’t delegate to an inexperienced hire until you’ve built the training.
And if you don’t have the skill (or don’t want to learn it), hire someone who does.
-Dr. Alex
