I would say at least 8 out of 10 times and probably 9, either Team Members or Doctors come to me saying their morning huddles are disorganized, pointless, ineffective or don’t even happen.
And when anyone on the team has any of those feelings then you can be darn sure they won’t be showing up with the right attitude as a positive participate and attribute to the team.
Now, it’s true, most of the time huddles are all of those things that I mentioned. It ends up being more of a lecture from the doctor or a recitation of the schedule or a complaint session about yesterday.
Huddles should not be complicated or time consuming. They are very simple and critically important.
I like to follow these four parts…
1. Every Team Member contributes by stating their goals for the day; not vague and general but specific about what is actually in the schedule or supposed to happen.
2. That includes having completed detailed chart reviews prior to the huddle; whoever owns that patient for the day, gives their assessment on remaining unscheduled treatment or opportunity for diagnosis.
3. A quick run down of new patients (which should be pre-blocked and already managed by the treatment coordinator), last minute emergencies (again pre-blocked and allocated) and other opportunities with any patient coming in.
4. And finally, a positive, reassuring, upbeat, “go team” from the leader; motivational and focused to specific results that are expected by the end of the day.
All that really matter is: you have a daily goal of treatment and money that is suppose to be created today. You have “X” number of people in the huddle that are the only way possible that goal is going to happen. The point of the huddle is to ensure and assure every person has his/her proper assignments for the day that are tied directly to the overall goal for the practice.
I’ve never seen a column of hygiene that couldn’t contribute $5,000 of something for the treatment creation. I’ve never seen an Assistant not have at least $5,000 and probably closer to $10,000 of potential treatment remaining in the mouths and treatment plans of the patients being seen today. This includes post-ops, re-cements, try-ins, deliveries and adjustments; just because someone finished with one phase of treatment doesn’t mean they have achieved optimal health.
Certainly, and above all else, I’ve never seen a day of dentistry without some one shot at a larger (at least an arch, if not a full mouth or cosmetic based) case that could and should be cherry picked from the patient flow of the day and moved into a comprehensive exam or some records or diagnostic work-ups. Never. Not one day on the earth in your practice does some patient not desire more. They are just waiting for you to take the lead and move out of the hustle-and-bustle of the day and actually make something happen.
A successful huddle ends (and starts the day) with everyone knowing exactly how they will hit their daily goals and who is responsible for what.
Try this and witness overnight magic…
And then, practice the discipline required to be deserving of success and repeat it every single day. No champions win without preparation before every game. Regardless of how many times they have done it before, today is a new day – everyday.
If you fall short of your daily goal, it’s not a team problem or a patient problem or even a doctor problem (and certainly not my problem). It’s a lack of discipline problem and not doing what’s necessary to engineer your day for success. You can pretend all you want but there isn’t anything accidental about building multi-million dollar independent practice. It happens a day at a time, a patient at a time, a huddle at a time.
