How to Have Effective and Productive Dental Staff Meetings

In a busy practice, time is precious and the last thing you want is staff meetings that are a boring and unproductive waste of time. Staff or team meetings should provide something of value for each participant to implement in their work activities, and that will benefit both their working lives and the business itself.

The good news is that with a bit of forward planning you can have productive and efficient team meetings in your practice. It’s also good to be aware of the ways your dental practice management software can help facilitate this.

The benefits of staff meetings

When meetings are run well they provide an opportunity for sound communication. This would have to be one of the most vital aspects of any business – especially as research shows us that poor communication in a workplace frequently reduces productivity and worker morale, and increases the risk of absenteeism and turnover.

Staff meetings can provide staff members with the chance to feel they are an important part of the business and to have input into how it is run. Meetings can also be used for sharing information and ideas, for dealing with challenges and misunderstandings before they potentially grow into something much worse, and for running training sessions to improve the skills of all participants.

So considering all that, making your staff meetings as effective and productive as possible is definitely worth pursuing!

Four tips for effective dental staff meetings

1. Start by setting a purpose or goal for the meeting. This involves determining beforehand what it is you hope to achieve from the meeting. It also helps to keep the meeting on track, and to prevent the holding of meetings for the sake of it or simply out of old habit.

2. Determine the type of meeting you wish to hold. According to Dental Economics, there are four common types:

• The Huddle – a morning gathering of 10-15 minutes to discuss what is happening that day
• The Numbers Meeting – a review of the practice’s statistics and productivity
• Training Meetings – for learning new skills and techniques
• Teamwork Meetings – involving a more in-depth catch up and review of the practice, such as reviewing productivity goals, giving recognition, planning calendars and so on

3. Decide as a team on rules and guidelines for meetings. These might include such matters as punctuality, showing respect, being honest and genuine, and allowing others to speak. It’s important to allow for criticism and disagreement on issues in meetings, while not allowing personal attacks, rumour or gossip as these are not likely to lead to worthwhile outcomes.

4. Use meetings to share successes. Meetings should not only be about solving problems. It’s also important to celebrate achievements, share positive testimonials and to provide encouragement. 

How D4W dental practice management software can help

• Reporting feature – for instance reports on productivity, efficiency, accounts, and workflow help to save the time that would be required to produce this information manually, and reassure you that the information brought to your meeting is fully up-to-date.
• Appointment Book – this feature acts like an on-screen powerful diary and could be very useful for Huddle-style meetings or for planning calendars and treatment plans in Teamwork Meetings.
• Treatment File – this file records all clinical notes and could be used in meetings for planning, in discussions, and for staff training.
• Charting – features such as 3D clinical and periodontal charting could make excellent tools for training and discussions.

An effective and productive meeting is one where participants emerge feeling they’ve gained something, such as increased knowledge, information or skills. And there’s bonus points for your practice if meetings are something your staff actually look forward to!

Why not take the time to learn how you could improve your staff meetings, and to consider how an efficient dental practice management system could help make this happen?

Sources:

• https://intranet.ecu.edu.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0019/501634/Communication-practices-for-managers-Jan15.pdf
• https://www.dentaleconomics.com/articles/print/volume-96/issue-10/features/how-to-make-staff-meetings-work.html