S1 Episode 2: The Green Flag Standard: Our Culture at Dentistry Support®

In this episode of Inside Dentistry Support, CEO Sarah Beth Herman emphasizes the importance of a strong, clear, and accountable team culture. She differentiates between 'red flag' and 'green flag' behaviors, explaining how the latter ensures tasks are handled with clarity, follow-through, and proactive communication. By addressing cultural standards like mutual respect, trust, and ownership of tasks, Herman highlights how Dentistry Support fosters a professional, reliable, and cohesive work environment that both team members and clients can depend on.

Transcript

  📍 welcome back to Inside Dentistry Support, where we keep it real, we keep it clear, and we keep it moving. I'm your host, Sarah Beth Herman, and CEO here, and today I wanna talk about our culture here at Dentistry Support, not just for this episode, but for the entire series of episodes that you'll be listening to as a team member here at Dentistry Support.

Now, if you've ever worked on a team where tasks float around, like unspoken expectations vague, you got it, or I got it, or I'm on it, and these messages just happen to rule the day, or accountability disappears into thin air, then this episode is for you. At Dentistry Support, we have many different standards.

We talk about cultural shifts that we've made as a team, brand statements, core values. But a standard that I wanna talk about today is called the green flag mentality. So what does that mean? It means that you show up with clarity, you follow through, you communicate like your team depends on it because they do.

This episode is about the culture that we've built that doesn't just tolerate greatness, it expects it, and not in a pressure filled burnout kind of way. I'm talking about a culture that is built on mutual respect, on trust, and on the confidence that comes from knowing that your team has your back because you've earned that trust by being a green flag person.

Let's talk about red flag versus green flag mindset. I wanna break it down for you. Red flag task behavior. So the kind of culture that we want to avoid is people that say on it with no follow up and no update, just texting or messaging on it. Another red flag behavior is not asking for clarity when you're unsure.

So if you don't know exactly what to do, you should ask for clarity. If you don't, you are exhibiting red flags all the way. Okay. Dropping the ball and hoping that no one notices. This is a huge red flag. You can't just forget about something. You have to continue to follow through. It is important that you take the time to listen to what your team needs, listen to what your offices need, and that if someone isn't taking care of something, you are noticing you are taking care of it, and we're not just letting it go by the wayside.

Hoping no one notices. We also don't want to be ghosting a task until someone checks in with you. If you are known for dropping the ball or just for getting a task even exists until someone checks in with you, you are a red flag mindsetter. And lastly, passing it off without owning the result. Don't start a task.

Don't pass it off to your team members. Don't just give it to someone else because you don't wanna handle it. And then when they do it wrong, you are blaming them. That's not the way we work here. Let's talk about the flip side, green flag task behaviors. This is our standard at dentistry support having a green flag mentality means that you acknowledge tasks with details, so you would say, yes, I can take care of that.

I'm gonna do blank by blank timeframe. Asking questions upfront. Clarifying ones, updating your team proactively. Hey everyone. I know we were working on blank. I just wanted you to know I'm still working on it. Now, you might think that's redundant or that doesn't make sense or it's annoying, but it's not.

Everyone on the team needs to know things are happening. Our brains and our minds can only grasp so much, and so we can't always remember every single little thing and minute detail that needs to get done. So we need each other to continually update on things we're working on Closing the loop. This is done, and here is what I did.

We wanna close the loop in every situation. If you hear of a task that needs to get done, you grab that task, you ask clarifying questions, and when you finished it, you say, this task is done. Here is what I did. This is called closing the loop, and lastly, owning the outcome. Even if you had to ask for help, if you didn't know how to solve something, but you solved it with the help of someone else, own it.

Let us know what happened. This mindset, it's not optional around here. It's the backbone of our culture. It's how we build trust. It's how we scale as an organization, and it's how we lead without micromanaging why these matters to you. Here's the truth. No one likes to guess if something got done. No one likes to wonder if a teammate understood the task and nobody thrives.

In a workplace where the loudest voice or the busiest calendar sets the tone. At Dentistry Support, our culture says, if you don't understand a task ask, that is strength. If you are late on a task, own it. That is maturity. If you are overwhelmed, communicate, that is leadership. This is a place where accountability is the love language of success.

In the next four episodes you'll hear in order, you will see that I have uploaded for the eligibility team, our billing and AR team, our phones team, and leadership. Today's episode, and this one you're listening to right now is the groundwork. It's the why behind our expectations. It's the culture that makes a remote company feel connected.

It helps us feel aligned and professional, and it's the reason our clients stay with us because they feel the difference. They feel our culture. If you want a real-world example, a red flag team member might get an email like, please verify eligibility on Mrs. Carter for her appointment next Thursday, and they might reply okay on it, and that's it.

A green flag team member will reply and say, confirmed. I'll verify PPO benefits for Mrs. Carter on July 12th appointment today, and I'll send back the breakdown with waiting periods and frequencies in about 30 minutes. Will you also need ortho verified? Now, that's the difference. It's not about being perfect.

It's about being present thorough and professional. And then once they've completed it, they'll say, I've completed eligibility on this, and here's what I found. Please let me know if there's anything else I can help you with.

I'll leave you with this. Being a Green Flag team member isn't about being the smartest, it's about being accountable. It's about being kind and consistent. This is the culture at dentistry support. This is what sets us apart. Let's keep setting that bar high together. And remember, when you build a culture where people don't need to chase each other for clarity, that's what's good.

When accountability becomes part of your identity, not just a checklist, that's good. And when your team doesn't have to guess if you've got it because they trust and they know you do. That's really, really good.  📍 I will see you guys on the next episode.