Team building and maintaining good working relationships.
Seeing as most of the population spend more time at work than they do at home, it is vital that we feel happy and confident when we are working. Team building is essential to reach these goals. Team building is a process that involves developing cooperation, motivation, trust and respect among the team members. Team members work well together when everybody is working to achieve a common goal. It is good to make a list of practice goals for which everybody plays a part in achieving, e.g. winning a dental award or reaching targets in order to receive a bonus. Regularly reviewing these goals keeps people motivated and working hard together to achieve them. Employers should encourage team members to make their own personal goals too- this is something that can be discussed in annual appraisals. By having personal goals, we are always working towards something positive.
Some examples of team building are:
• Monthly team meetings.
Having an hour long team meeting once a month allows everybody to sit down together and discuss any issues regarding the practice and team. Regular team meetings enables everybody to feel up to date with the latest news and gives people the chance to voice their opinions/concerns etc. Issues that are often discussed at team meetings are ways in which we can improve our performance and areas that can be improved, upcoming news and events and practice productivity. It is a good idea to have two people taking the position of facilitator and recorder for the duration of the meeting. The person facilitating can lead the meeting whilst the recorder can make notes and then write them all up and hand out minutes to each team member. At the following team meeting, the previous issues can be reviewed and hopefully be identified as resolved. It is a nice idea to have an extended lunch at a team meeting so that lunch can be ordered in, making the meeting an enjoyable experience.
• Morning huddles.
Morning huddles are a great way of preparing and motivating the team for the day ahead. Everybody should have a copy of their diary and can update the team on anything significant, such as, “Mr X has referred his wife for a consultation, we must not forget to thank him when he arrives” or “Mrs Y’s lab work is being delivered this afternoon.” Topics that can be discussed at morning huddles are practice daily productivity, issues with patients, phone calls that need to be made that day etc. If there are any new patients attending the practice then the team can be made aware of this. It is also a good idea to point out any particular patients that could be asked to pass on some referral cards to friends and family, e.g. “Mr X is coming for a review on his new veneers, maybe we could ask him to pass on some of our cards to friends and family who may be wanting a similar service?”.
• Regular training sessions.
It is a good idea to hold regular training sessions to keep everybody up to date and performing to the highest standard. Keeping everybody highly trained maintains confidence in each person, therefore maintaining a confident team. Regular training in the following areas can be beneficial to the team:
• Cross infection
• New treatments and techniques
• Patient communication and phone skills
• Practice promotion
• Team activities.
Team activities help keep relationships strong and build trust among team members. It is good to spend time with each other away from the workplace every so often as people tend to relax more and it is a good opportunity to find out more about each other. Team activities often include:
• Having a nice meal and a few drinks together
• Watching a show
• Going for a day out somewhere, for example, Alton Towers
• Visiting a Comedy Club
• Appraisals.
Having annual appraisals is a great way of the management team and team member communicating to each other about job performance and satisfaction. Appraisals tend to be conducted in a quiet, private, informal environment in order to put team members at ease. It is the duty of the employer to inform the team member on their performance in the last year and discuss possible strengths and weaknesses the person has and how weaknesses can be overcome. Team members need to be made aware of any aspect of their job that they are doing particularly well and also not so well because if their performance could be improved in a certain area then they need to be told in a friendly and constructive manner. Also discussed at appraisals are:
• Aspects of the job that the team member likes.
• Aspects of the job they do not like.
• Ways in which they could possibly improve their role.
• Any concerns or issues they might have.
• Their successes from the past year.
• Any further training or development they would like or feel they require.
• Professional and personal goals.
Strengths and weaknesses.
It is important to remember that everyone has their strengths and their weaknesses. In order to work well as a team it is vital that people are given jobs and responsibilities that they are able to do to a high standard. For example, there is no point in giving Miss X the duty of updating the website weekly if she has little experience with computers. This would make Miss X feel stressed and lacking in confidence. However Miss X is very organized and patient, so she would feel happy and confident doing the weekly filing and scanning of documents instead. When we have stressful days at work it is very easy to see each other’s faults and concentrate on them instead of the good qualities. This does nobody any good, it can make us feel inadequate and stressed if we know that only our faults are being noticed. Try to recognize the positive qualities of your colleagues and you will immediately feel better at work.
Communication.
Communication is the key to maintaining good working relationships. It is important that everybody knows how to communicate with each other effectively so there are never any misunderstandings. There is often hostility between people in working environments and a lot of this hostility can be put down to poor communication. Yes, there are bound to be people that simply do not get on, however with good communication, there is nothing stopping them working together as colleagues and reaching for the same professional goals.
Body language can say a lot when you are speaking to someone. It is important that you are looking into the eyes of the person you are communicating with. This signals to them that you are listening to what they are saying. It is also important that you show you are listening with your body language. If you are speaking to a colleague but have your body turned away and your fingers drumming on the table, the chances are that sub-consciously you are not listening and this really does come across.
If you are talking to somebody and they have said something important, e.g. your Dentist asks you to put something in the order book, and you are not listening effectively, then this could lead to problems. You could forget all about it or get to the order book and forget what product it was that needed ordering. If you know that you can be a bit forgetful then write it down. Writing notes increases our ability to remember things more accurately and reduces the risk of forgetting by 90%. Another way of increasing our ability to remember is by repeating the tasks that we need to do, so when the Dentist asks us to put something in the order book, say aloud, “I need to put that in the order book”.
It is wise to avoid cliques at work as this can cause possible conflict among team members. It can also lead to breakdown in communication. It is better to get on with everybody equally and treat everybody the same in order to prevent any upset or conflict among team members. It is fine to have a chat and a laugh at work but ultimately we are dental professionals and must conduct ourselves in a respectable, professional manner.
Seeing as most of the population spend more time at work than they do at home, it is vital that we feel happy and confident when we are working. Team building is essential to reach these goals. 
A Treatment Co-ordinator (TCO) is a member of the team who looks after patients with regards to their treatment plans and the fees involved. Basically, a TCO relieves the Dentist of the duty of discussing treatment and the fees involved in order for the Dentist to focus solely on delivering dental treatment. TCO’s are only really necessary in private practices where money is more of a concern to patients.
Following Sainsbury’s example, Tesco is planning to open the first dental surgery, within a supermarket, in Glasgow, Scotland.
