The benefits of morning huddles in the dental office
5 advantages of the morning huddle
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
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?
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
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.