When you think of project management, many people tend to picture teams in large corporations working on large-scale projects. You may not be aware that many dental office processes are actually projects as well. You may not feel the need to understand how project management works, since it’s assumed that a small dental office can handle everything themselves.
However, proper planning is required even for small projects in small dental offices. An investment in planning upfront can make the entire project much easier to implement and more effective in the results you get. There are many benefits for you, as a small dental office, in learning the basics of project management and the stages that a project goes through.
First, let’s define exactly what a “project” is, since the term is so wide-ranging. A project is something that:
- Is temporary. In other words, it has a definite beginning and end.
- Is unique. It has a specific set of operations designed to achieve a particular goal.
- Has boundaries – in terms of cost, time, performance, resources and scope.
- Satisfies customer objectives and goals, whether directly or indirectly.
Once a project is identified, there are three key phases in its life cycle:
- Planning
- Implementation
- Closure
One major area that suffers when a project is not carefully planned is communication. When small projects are not managed, key communications such as status updates can easily be missed. This can lead to all kinds of problems, such as confusion over deliverables and deadlines. In a worst-case scenario, this lack of communication can alienate team members and cause them to become disengaged.
There are a number of useful tools you can use in project planning in your dental office. The tools mentioned here are just a sampling of what’s available. These are tools that have a generally good reputation among project managers and can have a great impact on your dental team projects.
One tool you can use is a Gantt chart. A Gantt chart is a bar chart that provides a graphical illustration of a schedule. It helps you to plan, coordinate, and track specific tasks in a project.
“Asana is the easiest way for teams to track their work and get results. From tasks and projects to conversations and notifications, Asana enables teams to move work from start to finish.”
“Online project management software. Easily manage your projects and team online. You’ll love the powerful features including privacy control, Gantt charts, sub-tasks, iPhone, iPad and Android apps.”
“Trusted by millions, Basecamp is the leading web-based project management and collaboration tool. To-dos, files, messages, schedules, and milestones.”
“Infinitely flexible. Incredibly easy to use. Great mobile apps. It’s free. Trello keeps track of everything, from the big picture to the minute details.”
“Get access to files anywhere through secure cloud storage and file backup for your photos, videos, files and more with Google Drive.”
“Make project management easy and collaborate from virtually anywhere with the right tools for project managers, project teams and decision makers.”
Now to you… do you use a project management tool to run your dental office or in your personal life to make sure things get done? If you do, what is your favorite tool to use?
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