It’s time to listen and hear your team.
One of the most valuable assets a Doctor has is his or her team. Team members have a wealth of knowledge and when encouraged to share this knowledge, wonderful things can happen. Team meetings if organized properly can facilitate team ownership. When the team is empowered, the growth of an organization is unlimited. Unfortunately, many team meetings are demoralizing instead of motivating. Ten of the most common mistakes made when having or organizing a team meeting are:
- Team meetings are held during a time when the office is regularly closed
- Team meetings are not compensated
- Team meetings are held at the end of the day
- The doctor facilitates the team meeting
- Team meetings run off topic
- No decision or action plan is created
- The meetings start late
- The meetings run overtime
- Meetings are canceled
- All agenda items address concerns in the practice
It is important when trying to integrate team meetings to understand that at the beginning before you establish team ownership, team members will not understand the importance of the meetings. During this phase, it is important to organize the meeting during regular office hours. Team meetings need to be compensated and should be held in the morning when team members are fresh.
Days that are usually scheduled off are not a good time, as most team members will not be focused on the task at hand. It is never a good idea for the Doctor to facilitate the team meeting. This is a role that most team members expect and usually, there is little team involvement, as they are expecting the Doctor to make most of the decisions. The Doctor’s role is to encourage feedback, to ask for opinions. Team members will provide the Doctor with valuable information that will allow the Doctor to make informed decisions based on the overall information provided.
The facilitator needs to ensure that the meeting stays on topic assign team members to be responsible for implementing new ideas and creating target dates for completing. There is nothing more frustrating than having team meetings, brainstorming great ideas and then doing nothing with those ideas. This is when team members feel that having team meetings is a waste of time.
Actions sometimes speak louder than words. It is important to honor team meetings and ensure that they start and end on time. Team meetings are a commitment to the team that says loud and clear I value your opinion and what you have to say is important!
All rights reserved. No part of this work may be reproduced in any form, or by any means whatsoever, without written permission from Transitions Consulting Group Inc. If you would like further information about Transitions Group Inc.’s services please telephone 800-345-5157, email: info@tgnadental.com.
