Connie Hopper looks at ways to make sure your morning huddle is effective and enjoyable…
It’s a good idea to have a morning huddle, but it’s an even better idea to have a plan that ensures they’re effective. Sometimes an idea like a morning huddle can be set up with the best of intentions, but without any real structure and, therefore, they make little real difference to how the practice runs, and enthusiasm about having them wanes.
Below are some fresh ideas about what items you could put on the agenda to not only reinvigorate your huddles but also make sure they are worthwhile:
Think about the day ahead in terms of the potential it has, whether that be in terms of increasing the number of people on your membership plan, filling available slots with your treatment coordinator, gathering patient testimonials, etc.
As part of the above it can be worthwhile reviewing the previous day and anything that was particularly successful. You can even try rating the day before on a scale of one to ten, and thinking about ways to make the coming day’s rating even better.
Look at challenges and celebrations for the day. Identify any patients that are booked in that you know may be difficult and have a plan as to how you will mitigate this. On the positive side, find things to celebrate – this could be personal like a team member’s birthday or work anniversary, or professional, such as the number of new patients or positive patient feedback.
Rotate who leads the huddle on a weekly or monthly basis so that everyone feels involved and to allow people to bring a different approach to the way in which the meeting is run.
Discuss any current marketing campaigns so that everyone is aware if a particular treatment is being promoted or discounted, and discuss how they are performing. Also make sure the team knows about what the next campaign is and when it will start.
Create a theme for each day, and make sure some of them include something fun! For example Tuesday Teasers, where you pick a topic and have a quiz with a silly prize – which could be something based on practice policy or around a certain treatment, or just a fun general knowledge quiz to team build; or Whiter Wednesdays where you identify any patients attending that need to top up their whiter smile kits and set targets; or Feedback Fridays where you discuss the week, the financial targets and any management issues.
