Reduce the Drag — Part 1

Small operational shifts that make dentistry smoother right now

I once watched a film about an aviation pioneer who became fixated on a surprisingly small detail: the rivets on his aircraft. He wanted them perfectly smooth. Not because one raised rivet would bring down a plane — it wouldn’t — but because thousands of tiny imperfections across the surface created aerodynamic drag. That drag wasted fuel and reduced performance.

One rivet didn’t matter. A million rivets did.

Dental practices work the same way.

Rarely does one catastrophic mistake define the day. More often, it’s the accumulation of small inefficiencies — unclear communication, inconsistent systems, minor delays, and tiny interruptions — that quietly drain time, energy, and focus.

This series is about smoothing those rivets.

Why nothing changes

Most practices do not lack ideas. We attend CE courses. We talk about improvements in meetings. We all agree that “something should change.”

And yet, months later, very little has.

In many cases, the problem is not effort. It is lack of follow-through.

Over time, I have come to believe that management has four basic responsibilities. When even one of them is skipped, progress tends to stall.

The four responsibilities of a manager

1. Gather the data

Not impressions. Not opinions. Measured reality.

If you are not tracking it, you are guessing.

2. Organize the data

Raw numbers scattered across conversations are not useful. Data needs structure — even if it is just a simple daily log in a spreadsheet.

3. Analyze the data

Patterns matter. Percentages matter.

Where is the breakdown happening?
Is it consistent?
Is it predictable?

Without analysis, we default to vague encouragement instead of targeted correction.

4. Develop an action plan

This is the step most often skipped.

An action plan is specific and measurable. It assigns responsibility, defines a testing period, and creates a clear follow-up point.

Without this step, discussion replaces improvement.

A practical example: the five-minute seating rule

At one point, we set a simple goal: seat patients within five minutes of their scheduled appointment time.

Instead of debating whether we were “usually on time,” we decided to measure it.

Because we use Virtual Intercom (VCom) for internal communication — and each message includes its own timer — we could see exactly how much time passed from the moment a patient entered the office to the moment they were seated. VCom is built to help practices communicate discreetly and stay coordinated without disrupting patient interactions.

vision

When the assistant called for the patient, the timestamp was visible. The receptionist recorded that time on a master sheet and cleared the message from the system. At the end of the day, she spent five minutes calculating the percentage of patients who had been seated within five minutes of their scheduled appointment time.

The timed messages gave us the raw data.
Recording them gathered and organized the data in one step.
Calculating the percentage analyzed the data.

Then something interesting happened.

Ninety-five percent of patients were already being seated within five minutes during the measurement period.

The team looked at the number and said, “Only five percent off? That’s it?”

In this case, the action plan almost created itself. Awareness alone tightened performance. No speeches. No lectures.

Now, when I glance at the daily percentage, anything under 98% stands out.

As the practice leader, my primary role was not to demand better behavior. It was to build a simple system to collect, organize, and analyze reality.

Once the numbers became visible, the team adjusted naturally.

That will not always happen. Often, Step 4 requires more deliberate design. In future installments, we will explore what to do when awareness is not enough.

But it starts here.

What to do right now

If there is a recurring frustration in your practice, pick one measurable variable.

Not five. Not three. One.

You might think of it as a WIG — a Wildly Important Goal — from The 4 Disciplines of Execution.

Examples might include:

• seating time
• hygiene exam duration
• room turnover time
• case presentation follow-up rate

Track it carefully for two weeks. Do not correct anything yet — just observe.

Organize the information simply.
Calculate a percentage, or whatever unit of measurement makes the most sense.
Review it briefly as a team.

Then ask:

Does this require an action plan — or is awareness enough?

Reducing drag does not require sweeping reform. It requires completing the cycle:

Gather.
Organize.
Analyze.
Act.

Smooth things out. Bring peace. One rivet at a time.