Effective Staff Meetings in the Dental Office
 

Every dentist would like to have an office staff made of efficiency and teamwork, but what are the first steps toward this goal?
We have all learned the benefits of staff meetings; communicating changes in protocol, rewarding positive behavior, solving issues, etc.  But many of us have also experienced the pitfalls of the staff meeting; an open floor to air complaints and criticisms can be more destructive than productive.  Consider the following steps to a more effective and productive staff meeting.

Set a specific amount of time for the meeting.  If you schedule a 90-minute meeting, you may figure that you’ll get through approximately 60 minutes of material.  If you need more than 90 minutes this indicates that you need to have staff meetings more often.

Meeting frequency.  Meeting quarterly is a good starting point.  The frequency of your staff meetings will be dependent on staff size, changes in protocol/training, and office issues.

Involve the staff.  This is often overlooked yet so effective.  At least one week before the meeting, ask the staff to submit any topics they would like to have discussed.  Once you have outlined an agenda, take the staff involvement a step further.  For example, if you want to present the new protocol for sterilization, ask a staff member ahead of time to prepare a short (5 min) presentation at the staff meeting.  By sharing control of the agenda, your staff will feel ownership and involvement.

Have an agenda.  A clear outline of what you want to cover is essential to keeping you on track.  It is advised that you begin the meeting with something positive, then get into the most important topics right after.  The issues that are not time-sensitive should be placed at the end of the meeting.

Positive topics.  One great way to begin your meeting is a team-building activity.  There are a myriad of books and also websites full of great ideas for team-building and ice-breaker activities.  Even a staff that has worked together for years can benefit from group activities like these.  Another option is to start the meeting with “gold star awards.”  This takes a little more focus on your part to have noticed specific tasks that each member of your staff has done well over the last month, but you may be surprised how one positive comment to each staff member will increase job-satisfaction and even camaraderie. 
 

Keep the negative issues to a minimum.  Staff meetings are often used as an opportunity to change poor behavior.  Any topics that you need to present to correct behavior should apply to more than one or two people.  If it applies to only one person, it should be discussed privately with that staff member, not made a topic for the whole group.  For example, if you are having an issue with a tardy staff member, the staff meeting is not the time to address it.  Only if you are having a tardiness problem with three or more staff members is this appropriate.

Stay on topic and on time.  Don’t be afraid to gently guide comments back onto the topic.  Simply stating, “let’s get back to the _____ issue,” will usually work.  If it seems there is a topic that will need more time than allotted, feel free to table it until a time that more attention can be spent on it.  This way, you are acknowledging that the topic is important to your staff and needs more attention, but also keeping to your agenda.

Ending the meeting.  End your staff meeting by thanking everyone for their input, suggestions, time and effort.  Announce when and where the next staff meeting will take place and remind the staff to submit further topics to you for that next meeting.

Snacks!  Every staff likes a snack.  Something light like pretzels or cheese and crackers can help make the meeting a little more social.
 
 

Holly Wales
Corporate Manager
Drs. Akers, Stohle & Borden, Ltd.

Next Issue: October 2010