Raise your hand if this is you: as soon as you enter the workplace, before you’ve even had a chance to grab a cup of coffee and get settled in, your team are already vying for your attention reminding you of the numerous tasks that you need to do right now! Already, so early in the morning, tasks start piling up making it easy to get overwhelmed very quickly.

So how do we get back our control? By huddling up!

A morning huddle is a daily meeting involving all the dental staff with the purpose to align the team. You do this by laying out a plan for the day to make sure everyone is on the same page. Each person is given an allocated time to discuss the running of their day and what they need from the other person in order to achieve their goals. This establishes a clear game plan so there is no confusion with the expectations of the day. Much like a choreographed dance, everyone knows their part.

Generally, it only takes 15 minutes before work starts, to sit down with each person and get aligned. However, this could be more or less depending on the size of your team or the complexity of the discussion. It’s best practice to have all of your information and materials, such as your daily run sheet or relevant x-rays, ready to go. Try to know exactly what you want to say before you sit down for your conversations, as you’ll be more effective given the short time that’s been allocated to you.

Another helpful tip is to use a ‘Morning Huddle Checklist’. A checklist gives you an opportunity to flag something you may have usually missed and allows for a better (de)brief of your patients from the previous, current, and following day.

Here is an example of a Morning Huddle Checklist:

Yesterday’s Patients

– Has everyone been re-booked correctly? – Were there any cancellations/UTA/FTAs, reasons and follow up? – Do we need to order any stock or instruments?

Today’s Patients

– What treatment is planned for today? – Are special equipment or materials needed? – Do we need consent forms, post-op kits, demo models, documents, medication, before & after photos, referral letters to be written, Dr certificates, etc.?

Tomorrow’s Patients

– Is everyone confirmed? – Has lab work arrived? – Have components been ordered?

A much more comprehensive checklist is available on Level Up as part of our Systems Starter Pack written by Dr Cigdem Kipel that you will get for free upon sign up.

Getting to work 15 minutes earlier to huddle up could be the key to a less stressful, more productive day. What do you think? Worth a try? Let us know in the comments below!