Running a Successful Dentistry Staff Meeting
Staff meetings generally see a collective groan when they’re thrown on the schedule. They’re often held before or after hours, and ironically seem to fall when everyone is incredibly busy. There are simple strategies you can take to ensure a productive staff meeting, however. Let’s discuss a few you can implement into your practice!
Make them Regular
Staff meetings that are only called on an emergency or as-needed basis can quickly turn into dreadful events. Regularly occurring meetings, ones in which you’re talking about a range of topics—not just the “bad news”—won’t form a pit in your employees’ stomachs when scheduled. To put it another way, staff meetings should not only be scheduled when there is a problem. Calling your group together to point out weaknesses or criticize job performance is a surefire way to deflate office morale. By holding your meetings at a regular cadence, they’ll be more productive and valuable.
Set an Agenda
There is an unspoken rule in the corporate world that if a meeting invite doesn’t include an agenda, there’s no reason to attend. Your time is valuable, your staff’s time is valuable, and people want to know how their next hour or so is going to really be spent. To keep everyone on the same page, outline a clear agenda in advance of your staff meetings. Mention how long the meeting will be, the topics you’ll cover and how much time is allotted to each, and what you expect everyone to come away with at the meeting’s conclusion.
Topics to cover can be anything from new refrigerator policies to how well your practice is performing. It’s great to keep employees updated on the growth targets you’ve set, if there are any key areas that need improvement, etc. The staff meeting is the perfect place for these discussions. Additionally, good news and praise should also be highlighted—your staff want to know the work they are doing is paying off!
Gather Feedback
This one is twofold. Use your meetings as a venue to solicit feedback from your staff on how your dentistry practice is running. It will make your employees feel heard and respected. It’s also a no-brainer, since you’re not likely to have as close a pulse on daily operations as they do. When workers feel like their opinion matters, moral can skyrocket.
Additionally, gathering feedback on the staff meetings themselves is critical. You have to make certain these sessions are useful to those in attendance. Every so often, as your employees what’s going great, and what are areas of opportunity? The last thing you want is to have regularly scheduled staff meetings that don’t serve any purpose to those they’re aimed toward.
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