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NERNESS ENDODONTICS NEWSLETTER
MAY/JUNE 2024 EDITION
02 “Implementing Your Core Values” Expert tips on integrating your core values into your practice and implementing them in your
day-to-day operations. By Dr. Andrew Nerness
04 “Team Member Highlight”
Marketing coordinator Angela Rambo enjoys supporting our outreach to referral partners and helping implement our core values every day. By The Nerness Endodontics Team
04 “Photo of the Month” Dr. Nerness’ latest snapshot. By Dr. Andrew Nerness
“ELEVATING THE ENDODONTIC EXPERIENCE”
In the September issue of this newsletter, I shared the value and importance of defining my practice identity (who), vision (what), mission (why) and core values (how). Establishing these elements has many far-reaching benefits. 1. Clear Priorities for Decision Making. Once these elements are in place, they provide clarity around priorities for decision- making. This not only helps me to lead the team with consistency, it allows me to delegate more and empowers the team to make more decisions on their own. 2. Cohesion and Alignment. These elements cultivate cohesion and alignment within a team by providing a common framework of shared goals and behavioral standards that everyone on the team understands and commits to. This foundation ensures everyone is strategically aligned, reduces friction with everyone moving in the same direction, and strengthens interpersonal bonds among team members. 3. Culture. A positive, healthy, and vibrant team culture is the result. A positive team dynamic adds tremendous value to the patient experience. When a team is aligned and working well together, they are happier and the patients can feel and benefit from it. A positive culture also adds value to the team’s experience, which improves staff retention. And finally, a great culture improves the doctor’s experience. It enables the doctor to stay focused on patients and dentistry, free from the distractions of confusion and drama, allowing them to deliver the best possible clinical care and patient experience. HOW HAVE OUR CORE VALUES EVOLVED SINCE THEY WERE INITIALLY ESTABLISHED? When I first started my practice, our core values were Love, Hope, Gratitude, and Commitment. Last year, after some deliberate introspection and reflection, I removed “Commitment” and selected two new values that better represented core convictions and fundamental beliefs: Continual Growth and Unwavering Integrity. Then, I added a descriptive adjective and a tagline to each. This made the values more actionable and brought them to life. For example, “Love” became “Loving Care” with the tagline “We love our patients. You will love our care.” IMPLEMENTING YOUR CORE VALUES ANDREW KEYNOTE
We are a values-based team of responsive caregivers committed to our patients' holistic well-being. Identity Who
To set the standard of endodontic care while leading, training and encouraging the greater dental community to elevate theirs Vision To provide hope-filled solutions with cutting-edge treatment in a loving, responsive environment of service Mission What Why
Core Values
How
Loving Care We love our patients. You will love our care. Hope-filled Solutions We provide the solutions. You will experience hope.
Continual Growth We love to learn. You will receive the best endodontic experience. Unwavering Integrity We are committed to our quality, values and word. You will reap the benefits. Humble Gratitude We know you chose us. You will know how much we appreciate that choice.
Elevating the Endodontic Experience
HOW HAVE WE IMPLEMENTED OUR CORE VALUES INTO OUR PRACTICES’ DAY TO DAY OPERATIONS? Last year, I also decided that I needed to find additional strategies to incorporate these values into the forefront of our day-to-day operations. I wanted the core values to have a deeper impact. I realized that if I was serious about cultivating a great culture, I needed to allocate time for developing it: annually, monthly, daily, as a team, and individually. After brainstorming, this is what we came up with: 1. Display Your Core Values in the Practice. Showcase your core values as beautiful artwork on your clinic walls, serving as a constant visual reminder to you, your team, your patients, and anyone who walks in. Currently, we have a relatively small display of our core values in our break room. However, we plan to create larger display of our updated core values and taglines on the wall opposite our treatment rooms. 2. Culture Camp (Annually). Host an annual team culture camp to explore, define, and cultivate your core values on a deeper level. At your first culture camp, engage the team in exploring and defining each core value for the first time. What type of culture and work environment does the team envision and wish to create for themselves? What cultural standard does everyone want to create? It is important for everyone to be present and actively contribute. Before starting, set up a large pad of paper mounted on an easel in the front of the room. Ask for a
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3. Culture Manual. Create a culture manual that contains and defines your vision, mission, identity, and core values. Dedicate a chapter for each core value and list all the specific examples that emerged from the culture camp. Revise the manual annually to include new examples. Integrate the culture manual into your new employee training program. 4. Core Value-of-the-Month Board. Create a bulletin board in the breakroom to display the core value of-the-month and invite team members post notes with specific instances where they observed or experienced another team member exemplifying that value throughout the month. Then read these notes in your monthly team meeting. Assign one team member to manage the board. (See example in photo.) 5. Team Meetings (Monthly). In your monthly team meeting, review the previous core-value-of-the-month. Take turns reading each note from the bulletin board. Add any favorite new examples into the culture manual. Then, introduce the new core value-of-the-month by reading it along with examples from the culture manual. 6. Individual Touch-Base Meetings (Monthly). Incorporate culture into monthly touch-base meetings between the office manager and each team member. Identify and celebrate strengths and identify areas where they see the most opportunity for personal growth. Reference the culture manual to refresh on examples if needed. 7. Morning Huddle (Daily). Begin your morning huddle by reading the core value of the month and its tagline. This keeps it top of mind and fuels ongoing ideas onto the Core-Value- of-the-Month Board throughout the day. 8. Website & Marketing Materials. Update your website and marketing materials to include your identity, mission, vision, and core values. If you are still in ideation mode and are looking for assistance sorting through ideas to narrow down your practice’s identity (who?), vision (what?), mission (why?) and core values (how?), I recommend Kimberly Oden, owner of SIFT, who also happens to be my sister. If you are looking for support to implement and transform your culture or host your first culture camp, I recommend Judy Kay Mausolf, owner of Practice Solutions, Inc. I hope you found these action steps and this glimpse into our teams practice helpful. We appreciate your partnership and hope to be a valuable resource to you. Thank you for your partnering with us at Nerness Endodontics. I am committed to providing the best endodontic experience for your patients. -Dr. Andrew Nerness
volunteer writer and rotate the writer throughout the session. Order in lunch and incorporate some participation prizes for fun. Begin by selecting the first core value to explore and write it at the top of the pad. Then, using a collaborative, 'popcorn- style' brainstorming method, answer the question: If this core value were demonstrated, what specific behaviors, practices, or decisions would be observed between team members and toward patients? Generate as many examples as possible. Take as much time as needed, filling as many pages as necessary until ideas stop flowing. Once complete, move on to the next core value. During future annual culture camps, repeat this process, and additionally, review the descriptions from the previous year. Finally, have everyone select 1-2 areas where they see the most opportunity for personal growth, write them down on a sheet of paper, and then take turns sharing with the team. Following each culture camp, designate a team member to take photos of the notes on the pad and transcribe the core value descriptions into your culture manual. Investing this intentional time every year will equip the team to stay aligned on the expectation for the type of culture they want to create.
Core Value-of-the-Month Board
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Angela Rambo is excited to join our team as our new marketing coordinator, and we are thrilled to have her. “I feel blessed to be a part of the team. My coworkers have been incredibly welcoming,” she says. Angela brings to her job more than 17 years of experience in graphic and web design, marketing, content writing, editing, and event planning. "The core values that underlie our culture, including integrity, hope-filled solutions, growth, gratitude, and loving care for patients and each other, are evident," she says. “Everyone in this office strives for excellence, and everyone genuinely cares about each patient and each other.” Angela is looking forward to supporting the continuing education programs and special events Nerness Endodontics offers for referring partners and staff members. She will also help plan events, lunches, meetings, and other gestures of appreciation to show gratitude to referring dentists. She is looking forward to facilitating staff outings WELCOME, ANGELA! TEAM MEMBER HIGHLIGHT OUR NEW MARKETING COORDINATOR AIMS TO SUPPORT OUR GOALS AND OUTREACH
and retreats and helping to plan future professional events, including an OSHA training on March 28, 2025. Angela was raised in Hudson, Wisconsin, and her husband, Tim, is from Fresno, California. They lived in California for 11 years. The couple’s decision to move back to the Midwest in 2012 was a lifestyle choice. “My husband and I wanted to raise our kids in the Midwest,” Angela says. “We like the values and atmosphere here.” She and Tim have two sons — Elijah, who plays first base for his college baseball team, and Ethan, who plays on the offensive line for his high school football team.
Angela loves spending time with her family and is active in her church. She and Tim live on 3 acres in a rural area, where she enjoys watching birds and nurturing countless houseplants. “I have way too many,” she says. “My boys tease me about it.” She also cares for the family’s two dogs, a German shepherd named Lucy and a fluffy little
rescue dog named Rocco. A former fine arts graduate, Angela enjoys painting and photography. Pictured is a set of her recent bird paintings. She also is a skilled cyclist and has participated twice in Bike MS, a two- day, 150-mile road trip to raise funds to fight multiple sclerosis. Congratulations on joining our team, Angela. We are so glad you are here!
Do you have patients enrolled in your in-house membership plan? Just mention it on the referral slip, and we will honor your restorative discount! WE HONOR MEMBERSHIP PLAN DISCOUNTS!
Do you have a patient you would like to discuss with Dr. Nerness? He reserves time each day at 8:30 a.m. for you! Dr. Nerness values your partnership and hopes to be a resource for you. You are invited to reach out to our office to schedule a phone conversation at your convenience. ASK ANDREW
Photo taken by Dr. Nerness in Zionsville, Indiana
NERNESSENDODONTICS.COM ○ 651-777-7744 2945 HAZELWOOD ST. STE. 330, MAPLEWOOD, MN 55109
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