Every Monday Nikki Berryman – our Business Development Manager at Pure Dental – posts about her plans and experiences from the past week.

‘On Friday I was chatting to a friend on the phone about the team here at Pure and talking about what makes a great team. So I thought I would start the week by publicly acknowledging my team of girls at Pure Dental.

Any practice owner and/or manager will understand the importance of having a great team; as they will no doubt have had experience of working in an environment where the team is unhappy or dysfunctional (haven’t we all?) and have realised how problematic this can be in a small business.

Let me tell you how I feel about the girls. They are smart, funny, loyal, hardworking, caring, they genuinely love our patients, they ‘get the job done’, they don’t bitch, they smile, they are motivated, they ask questions, they want to be involved. I am a manager who absolutely understands and ‘gets’ the fact that our fabulous practice wouldn’t be where it is without our ‘Team’.

Thank you girls!’

Every Monday Nikki Berryman – our Business Development Manager at Pure Dental – posts about her plans and experiences from the past week.

‘Is it just me or does it feel like you, as a PM,  are constantly just chasing your tail?

I was lucky enough to visit Belfast last Friday to speak at the Ultimate Practice Managers’ workshop with Laura Horton. One of my sessions was on ‘Effective Time Management’ and it transpired that many PMs feel the same.

We are pulled in all directions. The demands on our time by dentists, our team, suppliers, HTM01-05, CQC, patients, finance, marketing, equipment, IT, TCO…blah blah, the list goes on. Is it any wonder then that 80% of stress-related illnesses in the workplace are due to poor time management?

The key thing here I think is working out what is a ‘demand’, what is ‘necessary’, what is ‘urgent or important’, what can be delegated and what is a distraction.
Do you have a ‘to do’ list? Do you have workstreams for bigger projects? How well do you delegate?

One of the simplest things that you can do to manage your time more effectively is to write a ‘to do’ list, prioritise your tasks and build in distraction time.
Try it today and you will be amazed at how much more organised and focused you become.’

Every Monday Nikki Berryman – our Business Development Manager at Pure Dental – posts about her plans and experiences from the past week.

‘Morning All! It’s a very quick update from me as this week is going to be really busy!

Today, we have Jem Patel and his team from JSP Media at Pure to film footage for a new practice video for our website. I’m really looking forward to this, we’ve had great feedback about Jem and the videos he has produced for other practices always look great.

I am also in the process of re-writing the text for our new website which is due to be launched in about 2 weeks; and my key focus here will be making sure the dialogue is as patient-friendly as possible, no ‘dentist’ speak allowed!

On Thursday I will be flying to Belfast to give a Practice Management presentation to the lovely folk in NI along with Laura Horton, which I am really looking forward to.

Phew Is it Friday yet??’

Every Monday Nikki Berryman – our Business Development Manager at Pure Dental – posts about her plans and experiences from the past week.

‘Hope you all enjoyed a relaxing Easter break and spent some down time with friends and family.

I had a lovely weekend filled with a little work but lots of fun! Friday night was spent catching up with a very old school friend Geri and her partner Jez, whose wedding I’m going to in a few weeks – much gossip, laughter and wine, the best of nights!

Saturday saw another visit to the hairdressers to be pampered and then a night out with our friends Sara & Grant for an Indian and more fun.

Easter Sunday was the ‘hen-night’ of our Clinic Manager, Olivia, and as you can imagine, I don’t think we stopped laughing & dancing all night…

So, Monday?? Well, Monday was recovery and relaxation. Today back at Pure, rejuvenated, refreshed and ready for another great week with the Team…’

Every Monday Nikki Berryman – our Business Development Manager at Pure Dental – posts about her plans and experiences from the past week.

‘This has been another really busy week at Pure and I have also been writing a pre-dissertation report for my Social Science degree, which involves a lot of reading and research.

To say I have been under pressure is an understatement… I have been at my desk from about 5.30am, then off to work, returning to my desk until about 10pm every night, and working all weekend at home for the last few weekends. A huge workload, and so much more still to do.

It got me thinking about  work/life balance and that word “stress”. How often do we say that we are “stressed”? And do we really mean it or do we simply need to prioritise our time more effectively? ‘Real’ stress can be very serious, it is not an illness but a ‘state’. However, if stress becomes prolonged or excessive, mental and/or physical illness can develop.

So, what can we do to alleviate stress in the workplace? I think there are 5 very obvious things we can do, but when we are “stressed” these are often the first things to go out the window!

1) Eat well – by that I mean good, nutritious food. Drink lots of water and stay away from caffeine.

2) Take time out even when you are under pressure, it is so important to take a break, you will perform so much better if you are rested.

3) Delegate -don’t be a martyr, ask your team for help, that is what they are there for.

4) Find a mentor, a professional ‘buddy’ – someone you can talk you and ask for advice.

5) Get some exercise – the biggy – make sure its something you enjoy and preferably outdoors to get some fresh air.

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Anyway, it’s Saturday lunchtime so I’m off to practice what I preach, a long run followed by lunch and a visit to the hairdressers! Then back in the study tomorrow…

Have a great week everyone!’