370: One Amazing System to Improve Your Team Communication - Angela Heathman&Courtney Dalton - a podcast by ACT Dental

One Amazing System to Improve Your Team Communication

Episode #370 with Angela Heathman & Courtney Dalton

Did you know that your team members are actually craving communication with you? They want to know how they're doing, where they stand, and just have an opportunity to communicate. One of the best systems to improve communication is with a team member check-in, and Kirk Behrendt brings in two ACT Dental coaches, Angela Heathman and Courtney Dalton, to share how to create this system. You don't just want to attract and retain the right people for your practice — you also want to grow them! To learn how by improving communication, listen to Episode 370 of The Best Practices Show!

Main Takeaways:

The people component is important in your practice.

Your team members are actually craving more communication with you.

Team member check-ins should be frequent, short, quick, and casual.

Have team members run the agenda and the meeting.

Let your team know you care about them with your behavior.

Quotes:

“[The team member check-in is] a time for self-reflection. So, the team member will come prepared. They’ll fill out some highs and lows personally, professionally, where they feel they have strengths within the practice, and then where they feel like they can identify some opportunities of growth or of improvement. It’s typically quick, maybe 10, 15 minutes or so. They give all that information to their doctor or their doctors, and it sparks this really great conversation about, ‘Here’s the value I see in you. Here’s where I think and agree that you're doing really well. And I agree, here’s where we can maybe give you some tips or help you improve,’ and the doctor can give some really constructive feedback as well to help to continue to encourage growth in that team member. And then, the cycle continues. When you leave it, you schedule your next one so that there's never a question from that team member, ‘Where do I stand? Am I doing well? Am I not doing well?’” (5:30—6:29)

“What we’ve learned over the past few years is that employees really want more constant, less pressure type of feedback. So, that's how and why we adapted the check-in like Courtney was talking about, more frequent, short, quick, casual. Your team members really want to have that time with you.” (7:03—7:24)

“[Team members are] usually craving that communication, and they're always usually a little bit nervous [about the team member check-in], because a lot of them haven't had that one-on-one time before. So, before the first one, they might be a little bit nervous, ‘I'm kind of scared going into this.’ And then, they find out, ‘Oh, this is no pressure. This is just a conversation.’” (10:04—10:24)

“I remember being an employee at a dental office and never having a review the entire time that I worked there. So, I can kind of speak to that too, that we want to talk to you. I would always ask, ‘Am I going to have a review at some point?’ And I was always told if I don't, that that's a good sign. But that's not a good sign. You want to have these conversations so your employees aren't wondering.” (10:28—10:58)

“The team members are actually craving communication. That's 110% true. As a clinician, when you go that long, it’s a year — or sometimes, more likely, more than a year — between your reviews, you have no idea where you stand, if you're doing well, if you could be doing something differently or changing your perspective on something. By having that frequent cadence check-in, you know that the doctor and you have this really great open dialogue, and that craving is satisfied because you just know. And it’s not always about getting a pat on the back. And it’s definitely not always financially related. It’s really just about, ‘I want to be seen. I want you to look at me, talk to me, and just really

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