MAKING CONNECTIONS
Making a genuine connection and establishing trust is critical to your success at work. We all have the capacity to create an immediate human connection that results in trust and rapport, which in the competitive healthcare business can help you maximize every opportunity for success.
Patients want to connect with your personal side because that’s the side they trust. If those you serve immediately trust you, you can better focus on their health needs. If a patient’s family trust you, they will trust your opinion and believe in your expertise. If those you work with trust you, you can focus on your job and how to perform well. If, as a new employee, you quickly establish rapport with your coworkers, you will feel part of the group and become more productive sooner.
Creating an instant connection with someone is as easy as 1-2-3. The specific behaviours necessary to naturally create instant rapport and trust are outlined in the following three key steps:
Key Step #1
Choose an Attractive Attitude –
Our attitude is given away by our body language. The good news is that we can choose our attitude. Leave a negative attitude at the door and wisely select an attitude that is welcoming, enthusiastic, curious or resourceful. Attitude drives behavior. It’s your attitude at the beginning of a task that determines your success or failure.
Key Step #2 Send the Right Signals
Once again, body language is critical. What you do or don’t do speaks louder than your words. Choose body language that shows you’re open, honest and trustworthy. That means look people in the eye and smile. Remember that is the business that you are in – The Smile Business!! A great way to know that you are looking someone in the eye is to try to remember and make note of their eye colour.
Point your heart toward them, this opens your body language and sends a positive message.
Synchronize your body language, including your posture and rate of speech.
Key Step #3 Get them talking and keep them talking
Specifically that means, Make a short statement then ask open questions. Open questions begin with who, what, where, when, why and how. Then listen carefully to what your patient is saying. Tune the world out and tune your patient in. God gave us two ears and one mouth and we should use them in that proportion. Then give your feedback using positive language and display genuine interest.
We desire human connections. We need relationships. Dentistry is a relationship business. To understand that is to recognize one of life’s simplest truths: we need connections because they make our life rich and full.
References: Nicholas Boothman 2003- How to Connect in Healthcare in 90 Seconds or Less, excerpts used with permission
