Sally McKenzie, CEO McKenzie Management Printer Friendly Version

Dreading The Staff Meeting?
Do This

Well here it is—time for another staff meeting. You know the drill. Everyone comes together at the appointed hour. (Actually, most of them stroll in within five or ten minutes of the appointed hour.) They take their designated spots around the room. With props in hand—notepads, pens, coffee cups—they dutifully give the appearance that they are prepared to offer their undivided attention. That little charade lasts for roughly three to five minutes.

Soon a glance around the room finds arms locked across chests, one person gazing at the ceiling, another staring at the floor, a third stifling a yawn and the fourth eyeing a stain on the doctor’s coat and wondering how she might suggest that the scheduling coordinator undergo the Rorschach test. Virtually everyone is wondering when the doctor’s going to talk about something important, like raises or vacation time.

Staff meetings are desperately needed, yet deeply despised. The common lament from doctors is, “I’ve tried staff meetings but everyone expects me to do all the talking.” Conversely, team members will assert, “We give input but nothing ever changes.” Oftentimes staff meetings can’t produce results because there isn’t a system or a standard established. Is it any wonder that dentists and dental teams dread staff meetings?

So is it time to abandon this tired business ritual? No. In fact, I recommend you invest  more energy and effort in it. Why? Because most critical business decisions are made in meetings. Such is the case when it comes to the business of dentistry. It is in staff meetings that the team identifies and solves problems, examines areas of responsibility/systems, establishes policies, presents information, motivates and educates one another, exchanges ideas—all of which are vitally important not only to building a thriving practice but also maintaining one.

But how do you create effective meetings? First, look at them not from the standpoint of revenue lost but rather the potential for significant revenue gain. Second, treat meetings as you would any other system. Establish expectations and standards.

Monthly meetings must have an agenda that includes items the practice is continuously monitoring. Specifically, you want to discuss all areas affecting the profitability/success of the practice. For example: numbers of new patients, recall, collections, treatment acceptance, production, accounts receivables, unscheduled time units for doctor and hygiene, uncollected insurance revenues over 60 days, overhead, etc.

One person—not the dentist—is responsible for compiling and distributing the agenda to doctor and staff in advance of the meeting. However, this person is not in charge of developing the entire agenda. That task is the responsibility of the full team.

Post the agenda in the break room or other area where staff will see it frequently and can add items as they come up during the month. Issues that arise regularly in the daily huddle but require more discussion go on the monthly agenda.

When putting the final agenda together, put the most critical issues highest on the list. Determine how much time you will spend discussing each matter, avoid getting bogged down on unrelated topics and insist that team members come prepared to discuss the items listed.

Each month, rotate a facilitator (someone other than the doctor) to guide the group in discussion. Talk about only what is on the agenda. First, cover the key systems. Individual team members should report on their specific areas. The group can discuss if the practice is on track with its goals. Are there system barriers that are preventing specific areas and the practice from achieving goals? Use the collective problem solving skills of the team to develop strategies to identify solutions to problems occurring in key systems.

Seek input from everyone, and don’t be afraid of conflicting views. The facilitator should ask questions such as, “How do you feel about this? What is your reaction? As the patient, how would you respond? What are the advantages of this approach? What are the disadvantages?” Team participation is essential to the success of not only the meeting but also in implementing recommendations that may result from discussions. Delegate responsibility and establish deadlines for completing tasks identified during the staff meetings.

Evaluate the quality of your monthly business meeting on these points: Were the discussion topics known prior to the meeting? Did everyone participate in discussion? Did anyone dominate the meeting? Were minutes distributed after the meeting to document what was discussed? Were recommended actions given deadlines for completion? Was each topic given adequate time? Were there outside interruptions? Did the meeting start and finish on time?

Run correctly, meetings are the most effective means to identify and solve problems, share information, exchange ideas and motivate each other.

Sally McKenzie is CEO of McKenzie Management, a nationwide dental management, practice development and educational consulting firm. Working on-site with dentists since 1980, McKenzie Management provides knowledge, guidance and personalized solutions that have propelled thousands of general and specialty practices to realize their potential.

Interested in speaking to Sally about your practice concerns? Email her at sally@thedentistsnetwork.net or call 1.877.777.6151.

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