Tips and Ideas for Successful Monthly Dental Team Meetings

Tips and Ideas for Successful Monthly Dental Team Meetings

Hello Friends,

How do you feel about monthly team meetings? Do you avoid them? Do you feel like they’re a waste of time? If you do, you’re not alone. In fact, I may have heard a few doctors say they’d rather… go to the dentist than conduct a team meeting. 😉 Sorry, that was bad.  It is true though that many people have had enough bad meetings that they dread team meetings to the point of not having them at all.

Why are regular team meetings so important?  Because when conducted effectively they help to keep the team all on the same page and working toward the same goals and mission which leads to success.  Isn’t that what we all want?

Proper Planning Prevents Poor Performance

Betty Hayden Consulting Dental Coach

Which reminds me – in addition to monthly team meetings, daily huddles are critical to having more productive, happier, and less stressful work-days. If you’re not holding daily huddles or if you need some ideas to help them be more effective please visit here: Dental Office Morning Huddle Agenda Tips and Ideas

Some offices choose to conduct more frequent team meetings and/or weekly department meetings and that is totally fine but knowing that so many offices are not regularly conducting monthly meetings or not even yearly meetings – we’re taking baby steps here by recommending they get started with monthly team meetings.

Here are some tips and ideas to help you conduct effective monthly meetings.

how to conduct effective dental team meetings

Schedule – Schedule your monthly team meetings well in advance.  If we don’t reserve some time each month for the meetings life tends to get in the way and crowd out any opportunities to meet as a team.

How much time should you reserve? Ideally, one and a half to a two-hour block of time but if you can’t spare that much time to start, reserve one hour.

Assigned Leader – Rotate who leads the monthly meetings so it isn’t always the same person.  There is no reason for the meetings to only be conducted by the doctor or the office manager. Give everyone on the team the opportunity to take the lead on this.

Preparation – Post the date of the next team meeting as well as an agenda sheet. Encourage the team to add to the agenda.  All team members should arrive at the meeting on time and prepared to contribute.

At the start of the meeting record:

  • Today’s Date:
  • Team Member’s Present:
  • The meeting note-taker is:
  • Meeting time-keeper is:
  • Who will pass notes to team members not present:
  • Next months meeting will be conducted by:

TO BE CONSIDERED

Open with Positive Comments & Commendation (2-5 minutes)

  • Each employee must contribute a positive comment/experience about someone or something in the office.

Role Play / Training (5 minutes) – Topic Suggestions: Telephones, Treatment Plans, Financial Presentations, Hand-Off, New Product/Service, Etc.

Agenda Items (15 minutes) Topic, Name of Person, the Estimated time needed to discuss

Note: If you see that there is an agenda item written down to be discussed at your next team meeting and it is something that can be handled prior to the meeting or it is something that needs to be addressed with an individual employee please don’t save it for the team meeting – take care of it now.

Growth – Ideas for Improvement  (5 minutes)

Potential Stumbling Blocks – Concerns (remember to bring a solution with your concern) (5 minutes)

Numbers – Goals Vs How We’re Doing (5 minutes)

  • Production
  • Production Per Visit
  • Collections
  • Pre Appointment Percentage
  • Reviews
  • New Patients
  • Daily Open Chair Time

What’s Going On – Office News/ Office Happenings (2 minutes)

Marketing & Relationship Building – Marketing Status & Upcoming Plans  (5 minutes)

Action Items –  What? Who? When?  What is the Action Item? Who is responsible for making sure it happens? When will it be completed or is it ongoing?

Have you ever decided to implement a new idea and nothing ever happens with it? Most often this is because the expectations weren’t clearly defined and no one was assigned to see it through to completion.  We must work together to gently hold each other accountable for accomplishing the action items.

Meeting Conclusion – Closing Commendation & Positive/Happy Video or Quote – each month a different team member is assigned to contribute the next meeting’s positive/happy quote or video.

A few more tips and ideas…

Atmosphere – The atmosphere for these meetings should be warm and welcoming. This is a safe space where team members aren’t afraid to share their thoughts and ideas.

Stay in Control and on Topic – If you find that the team is going off-topic or a subject is taking longer to discuss than planned, please either bring everyone back on track and/or move that subject/topic to be discussed at a later date.   It is all too easy to lose control if we are over-discussing a topic because we don’t have 100% agreement from all team members… that’s not likely to happen so make a decision and move on.

Employee Conduct – Everyone not only arrives at the meeting on time, but they are also prepared to contribute.  Cell phones should be put on silent and away. We respect the person talking by not talking over them, not interrupting them or whispering to another employee.  Oh, and this isn’t the time to catch a quick nap.

The start of the new year is the perfect time to create a new habit for the team – regular monthly team meetings!   If you have questions or concerns about monthly team meetings – please reach out to me. I’m happy to help.

What are your practice goals for 2020? I would love the opportunity to work along with you and your team to help you set and exceed your practice goals. If you would like to schedule a complimentary telephone consultation to learn how our coaching program works, please email me at bhaydenconsulting@gmail.com.

Are you receiving my free Dental Leadership, Practice Management, and Marketing Ideas in your email inbox each month? If not, please follow today or send me (bhaydenconsulting@gmail.com) your email address and I will send you an invitation to follow. This way, you won’t miss a single idea.

Yours for Greater Success,

~Betty

dental practice tips and ideas from Betty Hayden Consulting

Dental Practice Management Tips and Ideas for January

Dental Practice Management Tips and Ideas for January

Hello Friends,

Approach the New Year with resolve to find the opportunities hidden in each new day. ”    ~ Michael Josephson

December is a great time to find and create opportunities for growth in the New Year. Make your to-do list for any wanted and needed improvements to your office including setting your production, collection, treatment, continuing education, and new patient goals for the new year. Do include your team in this plan, ask them what their ideas are to make 2018 a more productive and happier year for all! People are more likely to support that which they help to create.

Here are some Practice Management Tips and Ideas to get you started:

January Dental Practice Management Ideas from Betty Hayden Consulting

Hygiene Continuing Care & Incomplete Treatment:

Insurance Maximums: Many of your patients’ dental insurance maximums renew on January 1. Phone your patients with a friendly reminder of their renewed benefits and make a reservation for them to come in for their hygiene visit or incomplete treatment with the doctor. Include reminders on your social media pages.

Inactive Patients: It doesn’t help anyone to have a file cabinet or computer full of inactive patients – Get them on the schedule. January is a great time to send We Miss You Reactivation Letters to your patients. For a sample letter, please email me at bhaydenconsulting@gmail.com.

Hygiene Patients: Are you pre-appointing hygiene visits? If not, January is a good time to make this a goal for the office. While you have the hygiene patient in the office, schedule their next 3, 4, or 6-month visit. Avoid saying “would you like to schedule your next appointment?” Some will say no. So instead, say this: “Let’s go ahead and schedule your next visit.” Assume they want to schedule their next visit. By the way, your entire team needs to be on board with pre-appointing your patients. It can be done! 

If you’re struggling to have a productive and effective hygiene department – I can help you with this.

National Clean Off Your Desk Day: Jan. 8th ~ Clutter represents indecision. Make a decision to get rid of the clutter! That includes any sticky notes attached to computer monitors, coats/sweaters hanging on the backs of chairs, and fast-food drink containers sitting out on the counters. While you’re at it, go ahead and attack the cabinets & closets. Say goodbye to the clutter!

National Compliment Day: Jan. 24th ~ Compliment a fellow team member when you catch them doing something “right”. Compliments boost morale.  (Tip: You don’t need a special day to do this, everyday compliment & reward the behavior and actions that you want to see more of. )

There you have it, a few dental practice management tips and ideas for January. I hope that you find them helpful. What are your goals for 2018? I would love the opportunity to work along with you and your team to help you set, and exceed your practice goals. If you would like to set up a complimentary telephone consultation, please email me at bhaydenconsulting@gmail.com. 

Stay tuned for my dental marketing ideas for January – they’re coming soon!

Yours for Greater Success,

~Betty

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