Holding an effective and motivating team meeting (or team huddle) is essential to the health of your orthodontic practice, creating an environment of enthusiasm for the day and the challenges you, as team members share. Orthodontic teams that keep an eye on the future always produce at a significantly higher level, and they’re far more efficient as well. NOW, let's talk about YOUR team meetings - Are these done in the morning or the evening? On patient days or weekly, or not as frequent?
Take a moment to read these quick tips provided for an effective team meeting below:
Establish a routine. Morning, mid-day and/or evenings (or all three depending on the load of your schedule).
Have a clear direction. Create a template, a point-person to run it and have the facts readily available (written down on the huddle template) for a quick and facts based huddle.
Typical facts: Weeks out (the weeks to avoid scheduling for next visits). Available appointments for debonds or starts. Are the lab cases ready? Review the NP's as a team, discuss how you could make it a same day start! Review any patient alerts for the day and establish how these will be handled. Production/collection numbers, and establish best times to schedule any emergency appointments that arise that day.
Stay positive. Attitude is everything. Always start or end your team meeting on a positive note. Celebrate your production numbers, a WIN from the day before either with the schedule, or how a situation was handled. It could be a positive quote or something positive about a team member. You will be amazed at what a little positivity can do to start the day off on the right foot!
The power of words. What you say during your #morninghuddle depends on what your team needs. However, keep in mind that the purpose of the team huddle is to "check-in" with your team. Keep each update short and on-point.
Here are some ideas of what to share during the huddle:
What has the team successfully accomplished this past week?
Review tasks or priorities for the day/week/month.
Recognize and praise any team member accomplishments.
Share personal project wins.
Share collection goals.
Important client updates.
Share any roadblocks that you need help in (team members should help after the huddle, not during!)
You shouldn’t try to communicate all of these things during your huddle. Start with a few of these items and ask your team to stick with them.
You shouldn't try to problem solve during the morning huddle. Problem solving requires discussion and a thorough review of all information and options. In other words, it requires time!
Since your morning huddle should be short, you should always schedule a separate meeting with only the team members concerned. If they’re not directly involved with the problem you’re trying to solve, why would you waste time in involving your entire team during the huddle?
Show up! Make it mandatory, for both the doctor(s) and ALL team members to participate and be present at these meetings. In the off chance someone is out sick or running late, the meeting template is a good resource for catching them up to speed with what was missed in the meeting.
The best #orthodontic offices are always looking into the future and handle the problems today that can potentially develop into bigger problems tomorrow. This is accomplished not by the orthodontist or office manager doing all the talking, but by each team member taking ownership over their area.
The need to always be progressing has never been more apparent in today's rapidly evolving orthodontic practice and our industry. At #Orthomasterminds we have developed a catalog of training videos that will allow you to accomplish your continuing education goals from wherever you are!
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