What is the definition of a team? Cathy Jameson describes a team as “a group of leaders working cohesively towards a common goal.” If you are a practice that wants to win over your competition then you must have a team that is working together. I know you have heard this saying before: “You are only as good as your weakest player.” Everyone in the practice has to be engaged and on the same path in order to win patients over. So how do you get and keep your team on the same path? Here are some recommendations:
Performance Reviews
To make sure that you have the right team, it’s important to provide regular performance reviews. A person does not know where they can improve if they do not get feedback. Many times this simple and important meeting is overlooked because of time, but this is the most beneficial use of time that you could spend with a team member!
Team Meetings
Are you having consistent and productive team meetings to discuss what’s going well in your practice and opportunities for improvement? If you are concerned about having a meeting because of loss of productivity, you are probably losing more productivity by not having one at all. Regularly scheduled team meetings give you and the team an opportunity to discuss and evaluate what’s going on in your practice and the larger dental community.
Morning Huddle
The morning huddle is the best system to start each day. Efficient communication is the key and the morning huddle has efficient written all over it! If the team is not taking time to do an effective huddle, then the team is not taking time to adequately plan or care for their patients.
Continuing Education
An educated team is a motivated team: the more you learn, the more you know. A team that can participate and is encouraged to have continuing education is more satisfied within their workplace. That leads to a higher level of patient satisfaction as well.
As you begin evaluating and implementing a more team-centric approach in your practice, be sure to track your practice objectives. You may be surprised how much your practice can improve the patient experience and the bottom line by communicating more regularly and consistently as a team.
