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Get more out of staff meetings

Productive staff meetings are an essential part of running a dental practice. They are the best way to communicate with your team and make sure everyone is up to speed on new systems and procedures. But meetings also take time out of your schedule, which makes it important to do them right.

Find the appropriate meeting frequency

Some offices meet every week, some monthly and some every quarter. Try out different meeting times to see what works best for your team. Choose a time when all staff can be present without interruptions and ask everyone to put away their phones.

Prepare an agenda

Keep your meetings on track by planning topics to be covered in advance. For each meeting, designate a notetaker to jot down minutes for anyone who couldn’t attend. Working through a planned agenda helps employees see the value in these meetings.

Design different meeting types

Letting your team know the purpose of a meeting ahead of time provides the opportunity for everyone to prepare and participate. Some effective meeting types are:

  • Training meetings for introducing new equipment and systems
  • Goal-focused meetings for setting goals and monitoring progress towards existing goals
  • Teamwork-building meetings, where staff work on projects together 

Keep huddles productive

Staff will be more open to longer meetings when you have a daily huddle that is quick and effective.

  • The primary purpose of a morning huddle is to set the tone for the day.
  • Cover potential hiccups in today’s schedule and highlight how the team successfully handled challenges yesterday.
  • Create a simple “huddle checklist” for each department, covering the information they need to prepare each day.
  • Use the same huddle format each day for consistency.

Meetings matter

Meetings are a great way to address small issues before they turn into big ones, which helps office morale and employee retention. If meetings lead to real solutions, your team will quickly get on board.

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