The Successful Equation for Team Morale
My main priority as a Practice Administrator is having a happy team!
The equation I have come up with is quite simple: Happy Team + Happy Patient = A Successful Practice. Period!
If you and your team have a cohesive mindset about positivity, then your practice should thrive.
But that may not always be the case. In the event there are differing mindsets amongst team members, then the question is: How can you get everyone on the same page? Ask yourself these questions:
- How is your team morale (especially after the last year)?
- How is your patients’ morale?
- How is your self morale?
Well….. let me tell you where you can start.
Self Morale
You, as the leader, must show everyone that you have it together and you have a positive mindset.
How exactly do we do that during these hard times, you ask?
Well, by simply taking care of yourself.
Do something creative, exercise, read a book, enjoy a hobby, or just do something that makes you happy. This will trigger endorphins in your brain and it will spill out into your daily life and to those around you.
We are always putting everyone else in both our home lives and work lives first, but you must be a little selfish to start this journey to achieve a positive mindset. Don’t feel guilty when putting yourself first. You must remember that you are doing this to help yourself, your family, and your teammates.
Remember the old saying, “If momma ain’t happy, then nobody’s happy”?
This is exactly what I am saying.
Team Morale
How do we accomplish this?
Safety
Your team needs to know that you are there for them. They need to know that you have done everything in your power to make them feel safe and secure in the office, and that you have taken all of the safety protocols necessary to do so.
Stay up-to-date on the weekly CDC recommendations, and keep your team informed if any of your practices or policies are to change. Maintain open communication with your team about everything COVID-19 related.
Keep everyone informed of the vaccine recommendations. If you can, sign up everyone on your team to receive the vaccine. You cannot force anyone to get it, but you can make sure that you have provided the path for them to have access to it.
Bring FUN Into The Office
Celebrate all of the little and big things in your teammates’ lives. Birthdays, work anniversaries, bridal showers, and baby showers.
At our office we probably “celebrate” too much, but by doing so, it allows our team to feel like one big, happy family.
Change up your staff meetings by adding a quick game.
For example, at one of our winter meetings, everyone wrote down their guess for the date that we were going to be getting our first snow of the season. The person who guessed closest to the actual date won a gift card! You could do other dental-related guessing games, like having your team guess how many items are in a jar—maybe CEREC blocks or cotton rolls! Having a chance at winning a prize is a great morale booster.
Another game we played was called Superbowl Squares. We had four winners for this game; one at the end of each quarter. We had our team members taking pictures of the game board and everyone was texting back and forth to each other during the Superbowl.
We also celebrate March Madness at the office and everyone completes a bracket. We create a life-sized bracket that takes up an entire wall in our practice, and we put up a basketball hoop for our patients to shoot for different prizes. Every Thursday during March Madness we all wear our favorite college team shirts! We give out stress balls, which look like basketballs, to each of our patients who miss a basket, so everyone goes home a winner.
Our employees and patients look forward to this time every year. We even have patients who make sure that their appointments are scheduled during March Madness time. That is how much fun we try to make it for everyone.
I could go on and on about the different things that you can do to increase the morale of your team as a whole. Just take some of these ideas, make them your own, and watch the magic happen!!!
Patient Morale
This one is pretty easy if you do everything correctly.
If your patients feel safe from the beginning of their visit, from the check-in process (which consists of a wellness screening and temperature check), through a safe and thorough dental visit followed by an easy check out process, then your patients will feel that you care about their safety and well being.
Make sure your patients are surrounded by pleasant, satisfied employees. This all goes back to making sure that your team morale is high, and your patients will feel the energy of happy teammates.
Your patients can actually feel the energy of your office, so make sure that it’s positive. Make their “patient experience” one to remember. This point is extremely important. You want your patients to feel at home, like you are welcoming them into your living room. Continue this experience all the way from check-in to check-out.
If you do, your patients will remember.
These patients are the ones that give you the five-star Google reviews. They say how “safe” they feel, how they “love” the employees, “great dentists,” and they “feel like they have found a dental home.”
If you do these things, I guarantee that you will feel the positive energy flow in your office.
You will know that your morale is back, the team morale is back, and your patient morale is high! Take these tips and come up with your own successful equation. Make it simple and make it easy. You won’t be disappointed!
