HAVING A VISION TO DRIVE YOUR COMPANY AND MAKING A GREAT CUP OF TEA. BY ASHLEY BYRNE, OWNER AT BYRNES DENTAL LAB Leave a comment
“We are going to be the best lab out there – that’s my vision, so let’s do this!” It’s probably a phrase that a lot of businesses and lab owners have cheered to their teams. I cringe with the admission to you all that I’ve actually said that to my team in the past too.
For any company to really go in a direction, it needs… well… direction. That direction should be a clearly marked out path with a strategy and plan to get there. The problem with most company owners is we either do not really know what the plan is, other than maybe to become bigger or more profitable; or if we do have a vision, we don’t really have a clearly marked out path to get there.
If we go back to the basics, all companies need growth and development. A company that is static is going backwards (or at the very least, being left behind). Dental technology needs a progressive outlook now more than ever as we continue our digital and high tech manufacturing evolution. More capital investment, rising costs and an increasingly challenging market means we need a clear vision of that company growth. This was really made clear to me when I attended a Straumann business event with some fantastic motivating and growth experts. They called it ‘Painting the picture’ and it was a bit of an epiphany for me.
The picture of growth should simply be where the company wants to be in 1 year, 3 years or even 5 years, but it must be a clear vision of what you want that company to be. The next stage is to work out how to actually get there. Let’s say, for example, you wanted to become 100% digital – what equipment do you need; what training; how do you work with digital clients; how do you market that service, price it and still turn a profit? Now this article is not about explaining how to do that. The vision and path is solely yours and there is no right or wrong vision, but this is part 3 of a series about the team and how to improve that in the lab.
So back to my cheer of “We are going to be the best lab out there”… on reflection, it’s a completely worthless statement. Best at what? Best at digital? Best on price? Best at making tea? It also conveys nothing to my team about where we are going and how we are getting there. If the statement was more like, “we will make the best tea in the industry” I could at least start by telling the team we are going to buy a new kettle, better tea bags and do some training on using a teapot. I jest, but you get the drift.
My painting of the future of Byrnes Dental Lab is in my head – I know the size, layout, volume and type of work, the digital shift, equipment investment, sales strategy, etc, etc. My painting is still not complete though. It needs detail – how do we fund the capital expenditure; what training is required to switch that to digital; how do we promote that and grow those sales. That and more is all added. Now the picture is complete but there is one major hurdle to cross. The team do not know what my picture looks like and if I am ever to get close to that idea painting in my head, I’m going to need the team on board in more ways than one. Imagine a group of highly trained athletes at the start line and the trainer tells you to run as fast as you can and we’ll win the race. The starter goes and the athletes run the fastest 100m ever, but there was no path and no guide to the finish line. They all dash off in their own direction and whilst fast, the end result is carnage and total failure. A business vision and painting is that race – it needs a trainer, a training schedule, a start line, a clearly marked path and a finish line. So when I share my picture, I need to break it down to the lab, the departments and then the individuals. Each stage must be explained in steps, not huge leaps of faith, so no one can get lost on the course. It’s also essential that the team understand that this is a team event. If one person wins and the others all come last, the team comes last. Dental technology isn’t for single heroes, it’s a team event and all the team need to have a 100% clear understanding of that.
So my last major vision meeting was not about being the best. I painted a vision of normal working hours, less stress, a calmer working environment that used technology to allow us to enjoy our jobs more and deliver the best product and value for money to our clients and their patients. I explained our investment plan and how each team member could help us to achieve this. The painting changes all the time so we meet monthly to discuss this as a whole team, as departments and as individuals where needed. The results have been incredible and now I understand the power of informed direction. We also make a pretty mean cup of tea by the way.
