Do you start your morning in your dental office with a morning meeting or a morning huddle? It's been recommended by all sorts of people as a good way to start the day. You know, what we find is that less than 20% of all offices do it, and the ones that do often don’t do it in a thoughtful manner.

Now, we’ve been doing it for many years and have had many different iterations of running a morning meeting. What I’d like to share with you over the next few minutes is how we run our meeting and what our protocols are. These are just our protocols, and I’d be happy to send them to you if you email me. You can make your own protocols, but I think it’s important to have a set of protocols and to follow them.

In previous videos, I talked about the importance of protocols and that protocols are a guide. You’re not locked into a protocol unless it’s something extremely important—like having enough gas in the airplane if you’re flying to Europe. That’s an important protocol! Or making sure your anesthetic is up to date and you have the right antibiotics. Those are important protocols, but a lot of them are just guidelines for human behavior.

So, let’s dive in and talk about the importance of a morning meeting. What the morning meeting does is set an intention with the team for the day. A lot of doctors come in late, feeling harried and not present because they’re worried about getting patients in or they may have had a rough night. All that drama gets brought into the office.

We start seeing our first patient at 8:00 a.m., and our morning meeting is at 7:45 sharp. Most of the team gets there earlier; some arrive at 6:30 or 7:00 to do paperwork. I usually walk in just a little before 7:45, but I’m prepared for the meeting, as is my entire team. Some teammates have already checked in, had some coffee or something to eat, or restocked their rooms, so when we go into the meeting, we’re ready to begin the day.

How does it run? We all sit in a circle where everyone can see each other. In the middle of the circle, there’s a big screen showing the schedule for the day so the entire team can see it. We also have a to-do list visible, which may include things we didn’t get to the day before.

Here’s how the morning meeting works: we greet everyone, talk about the previous day, pull up the schedule, and review it. We discuss what went well, like if a patient had a birthday or if we were able to accommodate an emergency. We also look at what didn’t go well, such as a patient leaving upset because they didn’t receive the usual hygienist. We address those issues and decide if there’s anything we can do today to make that patient feel better.

After discussing the previous day, we focus on the current day. I’m not a big production-oriented person, and while we have a very successful practice, we don’t set daily production goals for the team. We don’t drill it home every day; instead, we just look at the schedule to gauge if it’s a busy day. We also check for any openings or cancellations that need to be filled and review new patients for the day. We discuss any special needs, such as X-rays, cone beam CT scans, or a tooth extraction.

Then we look at the hygienists’ needs for the day: do patients need X-rays, a doctor check, probing, or follow-up on recent surgeries? The administrative team, assistants, and doctors all understand what’s required. We also review any laboratory work needed for cases requiring immediate load and confirm that everything is ready for the day.

Once we’ve gone through all of that, we wrap up with something fun. I have a calendar with dad jokes, and they’re the silliest jokes you can imagine. Someone, usually a shy team member, reads a joke out loud, and we all have a laugh. Here’s one: “What time do most people go to the dental office? Tooth-hurty.” It’s silly, but it lightens the mood.

We recently started including inspirational quotes. We read one together, and it sets an intention for the day. Throughout the day, we may retell the dad joke or reflect on the inspirational quote, which really brings us together as a team. We start as a team, like a football team warming up before a game, with a motivational speech or an inspiring message.

I cannot overemphasize the importance of starting your day together as a team. It makes for a much more effective day. If you’re not doing a morning meeting, I suggest you try it. It can be short and simple, but it sets an intention, helps everyone be on time, and reduces stress. Then, you can be a gift to those you serve.