Dental Tribune United Kingdom Edition

W hen I first heard about the book Man- aging a Dental Prac- tice: The Genghis Khan Way, it was when the news came out that it had been shortlisted for the 2011 Diagram prize for the oddest book title of the year. At the time my thoughts turned to imagining the heads of er- rant dental team members on spikes in the staff room as ‘an example’; or raiding the prac- tice down the road and carry- ing off anyone in the waiting room in the latest drive to boost patient numbers! Of course my imagina- tion had run away with me; instead of focussing on the more gruesome aspects of Khan’s regime, author Mi- chael Young discussed the Mongol’s strategies and ruth- less tenacity as qualities need- ed for managing a successful dental business. The book is aimed at any- one with an interest in man- aging a dental practice; from newly qualified students with an eye on one day own- ing their own practice, to experienced practice manag- ers looking for new insights into efficient systems, and single-handed practitioners wanting to gain better control over the business side of their practice. Easy read Genghis is very easy to read and broken down into four main sections: Preparation, People, Planning and Poli- cies &Procedures. Included throughout are Young’s own experiences – both where he went right and wrong – to help illustrate his points. In Preparation, Young is very adamant that you shouldn’t make any important decisions without discuss- ing them with family, friends, peers who may have already gone through the process of buying their own practice and professional advisers such as the bank or IFA. In fact, teamwork and not isolating yourself is a central theme throughout the book. He also discusses the level of research needed to be done before de- ciding taking the leap into ownership is the right move for you. People is a big focus in Genghis, and Young devotes a large chunk of the book on both getting the right team around you and laying the right foundations for effec- tive team working, as well as managing patients and en- suring that they are central to the whole practice’s ethos. To quote: To ignore your patients is to ignore the future of your busi- ness. Inside and out When discussing the role of the practice manger, Young takes a very pragmatic look at the business needs of the practice coupled with the den- tists’ own desire to mix man- agement with clinical consid- erations. His own approach was to have an outsider on the inside and an insider on the outside – he employed a prac- tice manager who he shared the day-to-day running of the practice, but broader management issues were dis- cussed with his wife (a bank manager) then with his prac- tice manager. Planning is another ma- jor section of the book, with the section broken down into Business; Strategic; Finan- cial; Marketing; and Disaster! Young sums up the impor- tance of planning in the first paragraph of this section (and nicely ties our mentor Geng- his in as well): To extend the military met- aphor of Genghis Khan at the head of his Mongol hordes, managing your practice is very much like leading an army. If you and your prac- tice are going to survive then you and your employees must all be heading in the same direction, with the same ob- jectives and with the same strategy. There will be times when you may be staring defeat in the face, when you have to reduce your fighting force and regroup. You may from time to time have to resort to guerrilla tactics to preserve the integrity of your army. You must know the type of terrain you are fighting on and what the enemy plans to do next. He looks at planning for all aspects of the business, helping you to be in con- trol and have the ability to spot problems before they arise. He places a heavy emphasis on maintaining tight control on the financial side of the business, mak- ing sure resources are used wisely. Policy The last major section is Poli- cies and Procedures. The title alone is enough to frighten most dentists into a ball on the floor, but Young tries to take away the fear by ex- plaining why these are neces- sary and what the differences are between the two. In ad- dition to tips on writing poli- cies and procedures, Young also looks at writing prac- tice manuals and the need for good clinical governance; something that will make everyone’s relationship with a certain Commission which looks at Quality and Care go much more smoothly! The final part of Geng- his is an acknowledgement that change is difficult for people and that it needs to be managed carefully to ensure that any changes made are successful and embraced by everyone at the practice. Taking control can be the dif- ference between enjoying what you do and being over- whelmed by it. Young con- cludes the book with a little poem he wrote before he ‘un- locked the secrets of practice management’: Monday morning The weekend’s done Off to work No time for fun. Friday night My work is done Off to home Too tired for fun. Secret formula Managing a Dental Prac- tice: The Genghis Khan Way is a practice management book that has been written in such a way as to make it easy for the reader to pick out the elements relevant to them; yet still read coherent- ly as a whole. There are no secret formulas here, just practical advice told in an honest manner that aims to help readers avoid expen- sive and stressful mistakes. And no heads on spikes, how- ever there is always the sec- ond edition...DT Managing like a Mongol Dental Tribune reviews a book about dental practice management with a most un- usual mentor... ‘Managing your practice is very much like leading an army. If you and your practice are going to survive then you and your employees must all be heading in the same direction’ Michael Young with his book, Managing a Dental Practice the Genghis Khan Way Book Info Managing a Dental Practice: The Genghis Khan Way 150 pages Paperback ISBN-10 1 84619 396 6 You can receive a 15 per cent dis- count on the price of Managing a Dental Practice: The Genghis Khan Way by going to http://www. radcliffe-oxford.com/books/bookde- tail.aspx?ISBN=1+84619+396+6 and using discount code DXDT11; alter- natively you can buy the book from Amazon. 9Book ReviewFebruary 6-12, 2012United Kingdom Edition