Is Your Friendship Bracelet Broken? Building Unity and Morale in Your Dental Office
When a group of individuals is gathered, especially for long periods, it is common to see division, gossip, and disagreements.
The dental setting can be very stressful, often leading to difficulty with staff members working together as a team. When this happens, addressing the issue head-on and working towards problem-solving greatly improves morale, resulting in a more efficient and effective workforce.
In our office, we implemented the following mottos:
- Work smarter, not harder
- Have the same expectation from our most experienced employee as our least experienced
- Be a friend
Once these became a part of our vision, we noticed a complete 360 change in how we work together and our overall morale.
Creating Unity
One of the ways our office strives to tackle the stressful environment that leads to strife is by having a united front. One small change we focus on is to refer to the entire office, doctors included, as a team instead of a staff or group of employees.
Using the word team makes each feel valued, respected, and part of a whole as opposed to being just another person on the payroll ledger.
We even made an acronym for the word:
- T stands for togetherness; we are together for thirty to forty hours a week, so we have committed to being united and, more importantly, being friends.
- E is for efficiency; efficiency reduces stress, which leads to a more harmonious environment.
- A is for attitude; a good attitude can significantly impact the overall group morale.
- M is for motivation; a motivated and driven team fosters efficiency and unity.
Showing the Love
You will be hard-pressed to find one team member working against another in our office. Since becoming a team, each department has made a concerted effort to work together quickly and efficiently.
Because it is very easy to feel overworked and underappreciated in a busy office, we strive to make each other feel as loved as possible. We work hard to find ways to bond and forge strong and genuine friendships.
Here are a few examples of how our team “shows the love.”
- Monthly potluck lunches, where we each bring food or beverages and block extra time off for lunch to fellowship with each other.
- Celebrating holidays, especially Christmas, where we meet for breakfast, go shopping together, and play a healthy game of Dirty Santa.
- Our doctors buy gifts for each team member’s birthday, and the “birthday girls” pick out their favorite dessert for us all to enjoy together.
- Celebrate important life events and band together when life gets hard.
- Recognize the big and small victories at work by having a brag board in our break room where we post a note highlighting the strength of our fellow team members.
- In our locker room, each team member has their own basket, and we give each other small gifts to show each other a little token of love throughout the year.
Being a united and friendly team is vital to the workplace. By finding the right team, everything else falls into place. Through all of this, we found that when each team member truly feels valued, the work ethic improves significantly, and people don’t dread coming to work.
About the Author
Chasity McCord, RDA, MAADOM
Chasity McCord, RDA, MAADOM, has been in dentistry for 10 years. She started her career as a Dental Assistant. Chasity transitioned out of the clinical team 3 years ago to become the Office Manager for a pediatric dental office in Gadsden, Alabama.
Chasity was inducted into the AADOM Fellowship program in 2022 and received her Mastership during the AADOM 2024 Conference in Las Vegas, Nevada.
