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The benefits of morning huddles in the dental office

The benefits of morning huddles in the dental office

A morning huddle in the dental office can offer several benefits, including enhancing communication among the team, better office efficiency, and improving team morale.

5 advantages of the morning huddle

We want to start the day right, and we want this to be a chance to motivate the team, to help coordinate and organize plans for the day and to keep everyone informed.

1. Improved communication

Improved communication ensures the whole team is on the same page: discussing  appointments, specific challenges or needs ahead.

This can help to have fewer misunderstandings or gaps in communication.

And it also helps efficiency. By knowing the schedule, we can anticipate what’s needed for more complex or longer appointments and make sure time and resources are allocated.

2. Team collaboration

Team collaboration is important and the huddle is an opportunity for the team to share thoughts about and how to improve patient care. And teamwork gives a focus on the patient care, making sure we all know what the patient needs ahead of time and how to personalize their care, making sure nothing’s overlooked.

3.Problem solving

If there are any problems, the morning huddle offers a chance to plan for minimizing disruptions later in the day. And it can boost morale because it helps set a positive tone for the day.

4.Helps set goals and accountability

The huddle provides a chance to review any goals, and to help track progress and help hold each other accountable for these responsibilities.

What should be covered in a morning huddle?

The morning huddle can help the quality of the service that we provide. But what should be covered?

Review the day’s schedule

Topics like reviewing the day schedule and any changes in the schedule. 

Be sure to have a discussion of needs that different patients may have. Make sure that any lab work or lab cases that are needed for patients are ready. 

Make sure that we have supplies ready. We can review the production goals.

If there are any daily, weekly, or monthly goals that you’re trying to achieve, They can be reviewed. 

If there are things that aren’t scheduled that you may have an opportunity to look at doing today, or getting scheduled – that can be discussed. 

Looking at the previous day’s performance, and looking at upcoming appointments for the next few days to plan ahead.

 Plan for any scheduling conflicts.

If there are tight times during the day. Be clear on who’s going to do what and when.

Plan the day’s schedule

How to handle any cancellations or no-shows. Which patients are on the short call list? If there’s a cancellation, who do we need to call in?

Team member updates

If there’s information or announcements that need to be shared.

Celebrate successes or milestones.

Highlight great patient feedback and reviews and address any patient concerns.

And just celebrate successes. Include something motivational, a great quote of the day can really help uplift everyone.

So how long and how often should we have huddles?

Huddles should probably be held daily, ideally before the first patient arrives. And the meeting should be short. No more than 10 or 15 minutes.

You may want to try meeting while standing up so you don’t get too comfortable. And you don’t want the meeting to take too long.

Start on time and end on time to keep things efficient. Who should be present during the meeting? You should have a meeting facilitator to lead the meeting and prepare the agenda.

It could be an office manager, dentist, someone who helps keep things on track.

But that responsibility can rotate through different team members.

Depending on the topic, there can be different people to present different topics.

There may be someone from the front office that represent or that helps present information on certain patient related updates and certain schedule information. Maybe a hygiene representative can discuss patient care and treatment information, the doctor representative can also cover specific treatment information.

And all team members should have a chance to contribute for maximum effectiveness.

Be sure to have an agenda ahead of time and stick to it.

Having a clear format can help make the meeting process run more smoothly and efficiently.

Encourage everyone to participate.

All the team members should have a way to contribute. Focus on actionable information for the day ahead. Take turns, rotating leadership roles to keep the meetings engaging, and always end on a positive note to help motivate the team for the day.

By implementing these practices, dental offices can use morning huddles to start each day, to help be more organized, more informed, and motivated to help provide excellent patient care. 

3 thoughts on “The benefits of morning huddles in the dental office”

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