How to Make Your Dental Team Successful: 5-Step Guide

November 3 2021 - Successfully managing your dental team requires a significant amount of work and planning. From your dentists and dental assistants all the way to the reception staff, everyone has a key role to play in your practice - which is why team management is so important.

Every dental practice has different goals. Some want to provide the best possible service and care to patients, whilst others want to boost profits and ultimately grow their patient numbers year by year. Whatever goals you have for your practice and team, the following is a 5-step guide for success that is sure to help you.

Step 1: Focus on consistent training

Your staff need to be trained consistently, especially now that the dental industry is becoming increasingly modernized. For example, many dentists are now being trained to provide cosmetic procedures (such as Botox) in addition to their standard, everyday procedures like scaling and polishing. Also, dental practices are starting to incorporate automated booking systems and other modern tech solutions, which your team will need training to understand.

Dental training is either done face to face or digitally. Can face to face training be better than eLearning?

Step 2: Create a productive and happy working environment

Every dental practice needs to prioritize productivity. From the waiting to the dental office, there should be focus on fast and efficient handling of patients so that the appointment times don’t overlap and cause a build-up in your bookings system.

However, your working environment also needs to be happy and warm - not just for the sake of your team but for your patients, too. This will allow your team to perform better whilst making your patients feel more relaxed when they are in your hands.

From relaxing waiting room music to giving your team consistent breaks throughout the day, there are lots of ways you can create a positive working environment.

Step 3: Provide targets

Every month, each member of your team should be given specific targets to reach.

For example, your reception staff should aim to provide excellent customer service whilst avoiding any unwanted patient backlogs. Furthermore, a common monthly goal for dentists is to ensure the majority of appointments are completed on time without delay so that profits can be maximized and patient approval levels are high.

Step 4: Ensure all your staff are well equipped

The dental industry is highly reliant on equipment.

Your dentists and dental assistants need to have everything they need stocked up, from suction cups to backup scalers in case any go faulty.

Reception staff should have fast-performance phones and computers for handling patients and their queries fast and efficiently.

Step 5: Hold monthly feedback meetings

At the end of every month, you should gather your team for a detailed meeting after work to discuss any feedback that they have. For example, one of your dental assistants might feel as though they’re being rushed when asked for equipment; or a reception team member might feel like another phone employee is needed due to the volume of calls you’re receiving.

• More Performance Management Articles