Effective Dental Practice Management: Engaging Your Team

Key Takeaways

• Build a collaborative team culture by setting clear goals, defining roles, encouraging open communication to help enhance teamwork and patient care.
• Invest in ongoing training and recognition to help support professional growth, improve morale, and strengthen team relationships.
• Lead by example and address conflicts promptly to create a respectful, trusting environment where every team member feels valued and engaged.

Dental team alignment can be an essential component of quality dental patient care and daily operations. Successful dental practices prioritize collaboration among their people and strive to build a happy team that works together effectively, from dentists to front desk managers, dental hygienists to dental assistants.¹

Developing a strong team dynamic through dental practice management takes time, intention and action. Many strategies can contribute to keeping team members connected, from clear goals and communication to ongoing training and performance rewards.

Establish Goals and a Clear Vision

Collaborative culture is a strategy and commitment to ongoing dental team development. Conduct an honest evaluation of the strengths and weaknesses of your team dynamics and set a clear vision that identifies your expectations when it comes to team alignment and working together to achieve shared goals, whether that’s stronger patient care outcomes, improved patient conversions or more efficient practice performance.

• Define mission, vision and values. Clear core values reflect a commitment to teamwork, excellence and patient care and can help establish the foundation of a successful dental practice.
• Communicate goals and expectations. Establish clear, achievable goals that can help team members effectively carry out responsibilities and contribute to the success of the practice.
• Involve your team in setting goals. Create a sense of belonging and motivation while enhancing team performance and culture by asking for every person’s input in goal-setting for the practice.

Foster Open Communication

How your dental team communicates with patients about dental treatment is often related to how you communicate with your team about their job, and that nurturing begins behind the scenes.

• Schedule daily team meetings. Regular team meetings are one part of fostering open communication. Setting a clear agenda, encouraging participation and following up on matters can help keep your dental team on the same page and aligned toward shared goals.
• Use clear and direct messaging. There is no room for nuance in a dental office. Use clear and direct messaging verbally and in written communication so there is no doubt about your instructions or intentions for every appointment, procedure or financing message.
• Encourage feedback and active participation. Dental team collaboration is built by reinforcing that each member of your team has a voice.² Cultivate an environment where everyone feels comfortable communicating openly and honestly, sharing ideas and feedback and raising concerns.

Make Every Meeting Effective

Just as every chapter of a book should forward the plot, every meeting at your dental office should be worth your team’s time and energy, with plenty of beneficial takeaways.

• Have a daily team huddle. Allow team members to highlight challenges on the schedule and ask for support — for example, an anxious patient’s needs could put a team member behind. Teammates can step in to assist, which can help build goodwill.
• Schedule monthly team meetings. There will be times you need to review more detailed or complex information or get specific in areas that don’t involve the entire team. Monthly or quarterly meetings can be scheduled for separate departments.
• Plan dental team-building exercises. Consider team-building activities off-site at collaborative locations like a ropes course or escape room, or work together to create content for your practice’s social media account. Informal and formal gatherings can help improve dental team coordination and strengthen relationships.²

Define Roles and Responsibilities

There are clearly defined tasks in a dental practice depending on a person’s title. These roles, though, do not exist in a vacuum. Staff synergy is about supporting one another as needed, trusting that tasks will be carried out as indicated and working toward a shared purpose.²

• Outline specific duties for every team member. Don’t assume every team member will stay in their lane, especially if their roles overlap with another person. Clearly delegate responsibilities so everyone can carry out their tasks.
• Avoid overlap and confusion. Pay attention to your team and identify where people excel. For example, budget talk can be overwhelming for patients. Identify team members who can handle financial conversations effectively and allow them to take the lead in explaining topics such as dental financing.
• Regularly review roles. Staff synergy is essential, particularly when it comes to patient treatment, like the dental assistant who knows which tool the dentist needs before it’s requested. This knowledge is invaluable, so only update roles as needed.

Provide Ongoing Training and Development

Opportunities for professional development can go a long way toward supporting your dental team’s growth and happiness. These offerings show your commitment to each person’s success and achievement of personal career goals.

• Invest in continuing education for your team. In-office workshops, front office training sessions and dental continuing education courses demonstrate an investment in your team and can help enhance their performance.
• Offer cross-training opportunities. Foster dental staff synergy by creating a culture of continuous improvement. Encourage your team to pursue classes that broaden their abilities or offer cross-training opportunities to dental assistants, for example, so they can learn skills beyond typical chairside duties.
• Provide updates on new technologies and procedures. Innovations in dental care are important for practices to adopt as they are able, but it may be helpful to leverage tech to facilitate collaboration. Shared practice management software and communication tools support synergistic efforts and ensure every team member has the same information, whether that’s who is responsible for sterilization or who is doing restocking. Make sure all team members are trained on relevant software and task management systems so you can leverage the tools, and there is no question about responsibilities.

Recognize and Reward Teamwork

Staff appreciation can be big or small. One of the most important things is to recognize staff efforts when they are due. The little things can add up.³

• Celebrate achievements and milestones. Look for places to celebrate your team’s efforts and successes, like a sweet treat with every 25 new patients welcomed by the team.
• Implement a recognition program. Recognizing and rewarding collaboration and teamwork reinforces desirable behaviors and encourages others to do their best. Staff dinners or public acknowledgment of a job well done can bring a team closer together.
• Link individual contributions to team success. Don’t hesitate to highlight people individually for their contributions to or sacrifices for the good of the team.

Address Conflicts Promptly and Effectively

It’s natural for coworkers to disagree and have conflicts. Addressing matters promptly and constructively is critical to stopping problems from lingering. Your example can make it clear how you expect conflicts to be resolved.²

• Encourage conflict resolution. Make it clear you expect prompt, honest, constructive conflict resolution through open dialogue that respects differing viewpoints. Deliver this message kindly but firmly.
• Provide training on conflict management. Professional mediation may be necessary to help team members work together to find mutually beneficial solutions, whether their conflict is about hours, breaks or approach to procedures. Continuing education about conflict management is also beneficial.
• Foster a non-blame culture. Dental team collaboration is not possible without trust and respect. Build a foundation on reliability, support and transparency to help everyone respect each person’s contributions and value their unique perspectives.

Lead Your Dental Team by Example

Your role as the dentist or dental office manager sets the tone for your practice and dental team. When you demonstrate collaborative behavior, it encourages others to follow suit.²

• Demonstrate alignment in leadership behaviors. Many dental practices might have multiple dentists or co-owners of the practice. Make the hierarchy clear and work together to show dental team members that your leadership is in sync so you can build trust.
• Stay approachable and accountable. An open-door policy and active listening help facilitate an environment where team members feel their concerns, ideas and efforts are valued. Encourage conversation whenever you are free or by appointment, whichever you prefer, and be prepared to give all your attention to what is being shared.
• Show commitment to team goals. When you and your entire dental team have a shared mission, it brings out the best in everyone. Your practice’s core values focus you all toward achieving a common purpose and creating alignment.

The Road to Dental Team Collaboration

Establishing a collaborative dental office culture gives every member of your team a voice, confidence and the knowledge that they are part of a whole. Together, you can have a say in the present and future of your dental practice and how it operates. You can have the power to develop a foundation of trust and dental synergy among your people, so everyone knows they have each other’s back and you are all in this together.

A Dental Patient Financing Solution for Your Practice

Want to help more patients move forward with the dental care they want or need? Consider offering the CareCredit credit card as a financing solution. CareCredit allows patients to pay for out-of-pocket dental care costs over time while helping enhance the payments process for your practice.

When you accept CareCredit, patients can see if they prequalify with no impact to their credit score, and those who apply, if approved, can take advantage of special financing on qualifying purchases.* Additionally, you will be paid directly within two business days.

Learn more about the CareCredit credit card as a dental patient financing solution or start the provider enrollment process by filling out this form.

Author Bio

Elizabeth Weiss is a freelance writer and editor with more than 20 years of experience in content development for dentistry, orthodontics and cosmetic dermatology. She focuses on making healthcare topics accessible to readers and contributes to many fields, from family and estate law to industrial services and landscape design.

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