From the minute you walk through the door at a dental practice, it’s go, go, go! Dental practices have a high rate of turnover because of the personal dynamics of team members. When you hire new team members, how do you train them, or do you even train them at all?
Some practices may have a nicely organized training manual to train new hires but how can an ever-evolving practice keep up with all the new duties, systems, and procedures while allowing everyone access to learning these important processes?
We all learn differently, not everyone is analytical in that they can sit down to read a manual and instantly understand all aspects of a dental practice. Most of us don’t even take the time to read directions on the box of a microwave dinner, how can we expect new hires to read an entire manual and retain all the information?
What is the one way you can train your team efficiently, yielding successful results; allow your team to learn and grow, while understanding your visions?
Simply put – go digital!
Create a private YouTube channel that you can control, as far as the content, and even change passwords, should an employee leave the practice. YouTube is free! Plus, no more wasting money by reprinting out-of-date training manuals.
Include a broad range of ideas, but get specific with the details
First, begin by organizing your thoughts and ideas. You don’t have to be a movie star to make these informative, 2-3 minute videos. Be sure to split up information for each department specifically, but also create content to benefit everyone in the office.
If you are not sure where to start, here are some topics to get your ideas flowing:
- How to read an EOB
- How to welcome and sign-in patients
- How to check patients out of the office efficiently
- Setting follow-up appointments
- “How-to” videos for patients (oral care, using certain products)
- “How-to” care for a product (mouth guards, removable prosthetics)
- Philosophical beliefs about the importance of airway screenings, or why taking patients’ blood pressure during appointments is essential
- Risk assessment
Team goals – what they are and how your team will achieve them
Another idea is to make a video discussing general practice conduct – discuss the culture of your practice, what you believe in and why you believe what you do, as well as the standard of care for patients. Even a video of how to clean out the break room refrigerator may prove useful.
Least we forget about leadership videos, which are essential for every team member. These videos may include the value of leadership, management, and even why continuing education is beneficial for the whole practice. There are certainly some exceptional leaders out there; ones that your vision may align with such as Zig Ziglar, John C. Maxwell, or the Disney culture. Point being, find ideas from leaders that align with your visions and how you want your practice to grow; incorporate those ideas in your leadership videos.
If you still find yourself struggling to decide on which topics to include, check out the video tips section of your practice software. Dentrix, a popular practice software, offers great video tips that can be helpful.
Get everyone involved
Team members could even make their own videos that highlight their goals for learning, and career advancement, which helps everyone understand each other and to grow beyond the practice, together.
Obstacles, and how to overcome them
There are no doubt thoughts going through your mind like, I don’t have time to make videos, or how am I going to get everyone to watch them? Honestly, it takes only five minutes to make a video and even less time to watch one! These training videos will ultimately alter the course of your practice!
To help implement the videos, simply walk around the office and have everyone log into the YouTube channel together to watch some videos. Ensure everyone knows how to access the videos, and even show them how to upload as well.
Cost effective method of training
A YouTube channel is by far the cheapest, most effective method of creating an operational manual that is ever changing. It is a matter of getting the information out there for your team. You can train your entire team with these videos. Plus, it gets everybody thinking about the bigger picture and how the practice can operate more efficiently.
What’s the cost of training?
We’ll leave you with this analogy. Training a new hire costs approximately $19,000. Why is it so costly, is it worth the investment? Pause for a moment, and think about it; what would it be like not to train employees? Imagine the amount of money that would be lost by not investing in employees by properly training them, and how it would affect the rest of the business.
When we start thinking about training, don’t focus on the cost of the actual training, but what it costs not to train your team.
For a consultation, contact Bryant Consultants today by calling (877) 768-4799. We provide consultation, training, and coaching to help improve the operations of your practice so that you can provide exceptional results to your patients. No office is out of reach for us; we will even come to you!
