A dream team meeting

By Laci Phillips

One of my favorite sayings is, “You’re never too old to learn.”

Lois and I were recently invited to help facilitate a team meeting, but it was like no team meeting I had ever attended. I learned so much!

The first thing that set this meeting apart was the fact that it was an annual meeting, and the entire team attended. The meeting did not take place in the office — it was at a beautiful home near a lake. The meeting was from 8:30 a.m. until 5 p.m., and it was catered. Okay, not that big of a deal yet?

There’s more.

The morning agenda was set aside to discuss the past year, the team’s goals, and whether or not they met those goals. They went over reports together — all 25 team members. They shared and celebrated the exciting news that even in this economy, they surpassed many of their goals for 2010. Did I say they celebrated? They did … with awards! They had awards for keeping the hygiene schedule full, for maintaining an accounts receivable balance less than 20 days outstanding, and for scheduling treatment. And, they celebrated five-, 10-, and 15-year anniversaries. The gifts were Nambe bowls with each person’s name and years of service on them. The group also played games and won prizes for knowing their team members.

Now I admit, Lois and I were not the consultants in this office. We were invited to work with the team in the afternoon and do some team building. What an amazing concept! They celebrated successes in the morning and had guest speakers in the afternoon, all while earning CE credits.

Now that is a team meeting!

Why do I tell you this? As I sat there in the morning observing this team, I took notes. I was there to teach a course in the afternoon, but I was learning from them. I was seeing, in action, what we all hope for — a thriving and successful team that actually likes each other. I also witnessed an excellent office administrator, the one who put the entire meeting together with the approval of the doctors.

If you knew this was the kind of meeting your office could have, that you could celebrate your successes and be rewarded for your time and effort, would you be inspired to do more? Would you be encouraged to stay with this office so you could celebrate a 15- or 20-year anniversary? It can happen to you! You could be the one orchestrating this meeting; you could be the one keeping the schedule full or collecting the money; you could be the one producing the dentistry. No matter what role you play in the office, you are part of a Dream Team. Now just realize your dream and make it happen. I look forward to hearing about your Dream Team meeting.

To read other articles on DentistryIQ.com from Laci Phillips, please click here.

Laci L. Phillips is the senior practice management consultant and a professional public speaker with Banta Consulting, Inc. of Grain Valley, Mo., as well as the Director of Partnering Sponsors with SCN. While going to college in southern New Mexico to pursue a life of communications, Laci was introduced to her first job in the dental industry as a chairside assistant 18 years ago. Her experience in the dental office as a chairside assistant up through the ranks as an office administrator enable Laci to connect with her audience and her clients. As a team and software trainer and a team builder, Laci has an effective way of teaching the entire team how to move in the same direction, while working as an individual. Through Banta Consulting, Laci provides her expertise to dental practices, both large and small, across the country and internationally. Laci lives in New Mexico with her husband and two children, and can be reached by e-mail at [email protected].