Two Ways to Get the Most From Your Team

I’ve said it many times: great practices are about more than great dentists. Great dentists supported by great teams almost always drive them. Great teams emerge when they are allowed to excel.

It’s easy for people in a dental practice (or just about any business) to become compartmentalized and focus on their own narrow interests within the broader picture. However, there are a couple of things you can do to pull people out of those boxes and get them collaborating dynamically, so that you all benefit from each other’s wisdom.

1. The weekly case conference

 How much does your team really understand about what you do for patients? You attend all these great courses where you learn incredible new things, but often the team isn’t aware of the level of dentistry you provide. This is how you let them know.

Select at least one case per week and walk your team through it, explaining the diagnosis, the rationale behind your chosen treatment plan, and how the procedures work. Invite questions. Show examples. Do demonstrations. If you want your team to speak convincingly to patients about your skills, they need to really internalize what you do.

2. The two-a-day patient profiles

This exercise involves selecting two patients per day (one in the morning and one in the afternoon) — typically patients who are in for hygiene and have unaccepted treatment options or known evolving conditions that require a new comprehensive discussion. Gather intelligence. Share what you each know about the patient and strategize.

What approach is most likely to get them to move forward with their oral health care? Who should take the lead? You’ll be surprised how much you will learn from your team in these sessions, and the concentrated focus in that meeting will pay off with a great patient visit later.

Your team is by far the most important resource you have as a practitioner, and the value of that resource multiplies the more you become a real, aligned team. These are just two examples of how you can systematically leverage that “people power” in a way that raises the level of possibilities for you, your team, and your patients.