Team Meetings Like A Pro

Staff meetings are the opportunity for the team to refocus and create winning action steps. Think of it this way, has a major league baseball team every made it to the World Series without intense practice session? Staff meetings are your ‘practice sessions’, time off the field to improve your game, review the tapes, and discover new strategies.

Our core belief is that anything which causes stress to us or to our patients is a ‘training opportunity.’ There are no defects in people, only in our systems. By candidly discussing stressful situations, we can minimize the stress and increase our standard of living.

Guidelines: 

Scheduling / Duration: Staff meetings should be scheduled once per week for one hour. Minimize distractions: no food, no telephone, a note in reception area for patients, meet in the quietest place possible.

Weekly meetings are preferred in the beginning because of the volume of information needing to be reviewed, and limited implementation time. As your team matures, you can move to a twice per month, two-hour format.

Facilitator: Elect a meeting facilitator. This is a person who can follow the agenda and keep the conversations moving forward. This person typically is not the most ‘verbose’ person in the group. If the facilitator, has a topic that needs discussion, pass along the facilitation duties to someone else.

Minutes: Notes from the meeting should be kept in a staff meeting binder. Organize these by date. The facilitator my take notes, or request someone else.

Time Keeper: Discussion items will be placed on a central agenda, along with the time needed for discussion. Time keeper is responsible for keeping the team on track so that all topics are covered. If a topic needs more time than anticipated, it is the timekeepers responsibility to acknowledge the overtime, and make a request: either vote to extend the discussion, table it until next week, or request research and bring back solutions to next staff meeting.

FORMAT:

Week 1 Management Meeting. Team reviews previous month’s targets.

What worked?

What didn’t work?

Where were opportunities we missed?

How did we ‘play’ with each other in the process?

Review Goals: production scheduled for current month, open time, accounts receivables, and  any challenges that may need to be addressed in the coming four weeks.

Week 2 Training. In-service training lead by a team member.

Mastermind at least 8 –10 topics that need training. Take one topic per month. Have the BEST person in that area bring information to the team.

Example: Computer scheduling, financial options, digital photography,  impression technique, scripting, etc.

Topics will arise throughout the year.

Week 3 Marketing Meeting.  Review internal and external marketing efforts.

Number of new patients, new patient flow during the day, exam process, RISK factors,  Relationships.

Are we gaining the appropriate number of new patients? Are we retaining patients? What can we add to our customer service efforts? What external marketing efforts are coming up this month?

Week 4 Training. Invite vendors and suppliers to provide CE.

This can include new product review, computer training, current product technique. This meeting can also be used to share information gained from outside CE courses, conferences, and journal articles. OSHA, HIPAA, and CPR updates can also be presented in this timeslot (will need to extend time).

Week 5  Clean Sweep. Several times per year, the month will have a fifth week. Use this to tour the office as if you were a patient. Start at the parking lot, inspect every area of the office for chipped paint, worn carpet, dust, clutter. Are you portraying your best image?

Agenda: 

We encourage active participation from every staff member, regardless of length of service with our company. All ideas are great ideas. Our ultimate outcome is to provide outstanding patient care with a spirit of teamwork. Please provide candid feedback regarding what is working and not working within the practice.

What worked well this week?

What did NOT work this week?

Suggestions for improvement?  Please be prepared to present possible solutions during the staff meeting.  Use the W3 Form to make sure you have follow through with action steps.

What                                                                           By Whom            By When

_________________________________________           ___________       ________

_________________________________________           ___________        ________

_________________________________________           ___________        ________

_________________________________________           ___________        ________

_________________________________________           ___________         ________

_________________________________________           ___________         ________

General Meeting Format: One Hour

Intro 10 minutes: Acknowledgements. What worked well? Who needs to be acknowledged?

Focus 40 minutes:    Facilitator frames the meeting based on the topic of the week (ie: management, marketing, training). New business may be added to the agenda worksheet that needs immediate attention and override the current week’s topic (with the doctor’s permission).

Wrap-up 10 min: Facilitator reviews the highlights of meeting, action steps to be taken, and person’s responsible for each action item.

Asks: Is there anything else that needs to be shared so that we can continue to fully focus on our patients?

Week’s One & Three  Business Meetings: 

Supplies:

Copy of trackers for every team member (suggested everyone have their own three- ring binder for staff meetings).

Production / Collection figures from previous month

New Patient Flow

Accounts Receivable

Production Scheduled for current month – each provider

Open Time available for each provider

Intro 10 minutes: Last month we exceeded our goal (or met our goal). How did we create that success? Who needs to be acknowledged?

Focus 10 minutes: Could we have provided even more care? What would have had to happen in order for us to do that, and maintain a quality work environment?

Topic 35 minutes: Management Mtg: Review the numbers from previous month, review the forecast of current month. Do the actual figures match with our perception of success?

Marketing Meeting:

Review new patient flow, emergency patients, conversion of emergencies to new patients. Marketing return on investment. Customer service. What are our  patients saying?

Week’s Two & Four Training Sessions

Utilize a similar format.

Facilitator focuses the meeting, introduces the topic and speaker, moves the action forward to support speaker. Wrap up on a positive note and congratulate team for improving their skills.

Conclusion

When these skills are used consistently and teams and doctors stay focused on the agenda topics, your team meetings will go from amateur to pro with weekly practice.