“Make your vision so clear that your fears become irrelevant”

Kerwin Rae

Introduction

Creating a vision for your dental practice ( or any other business) is extremely important in alleviating any confusion and doubt you may encounter in the management of your enterprise.

Once you have a clear vision of where you’re going and what you want to accomplish, things will start ” opening up.” You simply need to follow the blueprint while utilizing your purpose and core values as the vehicles on which you will ride over the “finish line.”

Of course, there is no true finish line. It will keep moving and changing as you evolve and grow.

In this article I list 10 rules you have to be aware of, and utilize in forming and adjusting your vision;

1. Define your Mission

Clearly define the purpose and goals of your practice. What are you trying to achieve and why? Get clear on why you exist and what is it you are trying to accomplish.

2. Look to the future

Consider what you want your business to achieve in the long term, and create a vision that reflects those aspirations.

3. Get input from stakeholders

Involve key stakeholders such as employees, patients, and partners in the process of creating a vision for your practice. Their input may provide valuable perspective and insight.

4. Be specific and measurable

Make sure your vision is specific and measurable so you can track your progress and make adjustments as needed.

5. Make it inspiring

Create a vision that inspires and motivates your team and stakeholders. It should make them enthusiastic and ready to do whatever needs to be done to achieve that vision.

6. Align it with your values

Make sure your vision aligns with the core values and purpose of your practice. Of course, a prerequisite to that is that you have already fleshed out and articulated your purpose and core values and all of the employees know them by heart. After all, that is how you avoid the chaos of running a busy practice.

7. Communicate it clearly

Once you’ve created your vision, make sure to communicate it clearly to your team and stakeholders, and ensure that everyone is on board and understands their role in making it a reality.

8. Review and revise

Review and revise your vision regularly to make sure it remains relevant and achievable. Also, to make sure that you are still on the right path towards achieving the vision.

9. Use it as a guide

Use your vision as a guide to make decisions and set goals for your business.

10. Bring it to life

Create a plan of action to bring your vision to life and ensure that everyone is working towards the same goal.

Conclusion

The main thing is to realize the need for a vision for your business. You should have a short term vision ( a year) a medium term vision ( 5 years) and a long term vision ( 10 years.)

A vision has to be articulated, understood, agreed upon and with that, it can guide your actions.

Depending on its length of time, the vision document has to be reviewed periodically ( yearly in the case of the long term vision,) and any adjustments have to be made to it then.

If the vision is well crafted, minimal to no changes will be needed and it will simply be utilized with possible minor tweaking.

At a minimum, it will increase the sense of control over your practice.

Abe Jarjoura D.D.S., M.S.

Founder: Dental Care Team Group

Founder: Control “Freaks”- A Group for Dentists Who Want to Smile More