Every week I show up right here and come into your life, into your morning huddles and I strive to give you some provocative things to think about, talk about and act upon that are outside of the normal daily routine; for good reason because routines are a double-edged sword.
You have to have them in structure, in concept, in flow but not in content.
The best athletes do the same thing every single day as their routine to success. Yet, they would never do the same thing every day in the game or competition. Otherwise their competition would know exactly what their plan is and beat them at their own game.
They would never do the ‘same thing’ in their workouts because their bodies would get used to it and stop responding. They would end up reaching a point of diminishing returns.
You have to keep it fresh, new and different.
The routine is the structure – the fact that there is a meeting, that it has parts to an agenda – but not what happens inside of the meeting, you have to change it up.
That is what I do right here every single week and if you are a good student (kind of like you ask your patients to be good patients), and if you are a good leader you would listen and take what I give you every single week to change up the discussion and get everyone thinking differently.
This is so important because it keeps everyone on their toes, sharpens the focus and ensures that no one, including you, gets complacent.
So, for your huddles, which we have been through again and again, the key is opportunity for the day, strategy for each patient, something that would obviously change every single day and therefore requires preparation. This should never become monotonous because there are different patients and visits every day all day long.
For your other meetings however, there are simple rules that you must follow in order for them to be effective and these meetings must, simply have to, change every month to keep it alive and the team engaged…
1. They have to be scheduled and occur (this is sacred time)
It’s so easy to put them off or to miss one month or to be gone this week. You can’t let it happen. No team member would not show up on pay day and no month should go without a meeting
2. You have to get everyone involved
Each person must show up with something to say, contribute, add in, talk about, report on. Dentistry is a team sport and every player matters. If they don’t matter, they don’t need to be on the team
3. Hone skills, role play and work towards mastery
The biggest thing missing in a meeting every month is PRACTICE. Most are just times for complaining or talking about things that should be addressed daily in the end of day debrief or weekly in the check-ins – not monthly. Worse, the doctor shows up with something new to present when all of the basics are still sub-par
4. Know your numbers
Show me a practice where everyone knows, is responsible for and owns their numbers and I will show you a practice that wins wins wins. Alternatively, I can promise you not much winning is going on and very painful plateaus or flat out losing is occurring when this is not the case.
5. Let people shine
Pick out winners for the month or people doing great to highlight them and/or let them share their victories with the rest of the team. You must share the love, pass the baton, let others drive and you’ll be amazed at where they take you.
That’s a few things to think about for your monthly team gatherings, meeting and training sessions.
More next week on growing leaders and creating an environment that cultivates winners who are hungry for success and dedicate themselves to never ending improvement.
