Episode #359: How to Deal with Cliques, Low Engagement & Bad Meetings, with Adriana Booth

You may be thinking, “I don't need a coach.” But after today’s episode, you may change your mind! Today, Kirk Behrendt brings in Adriana Booth, one of ACT Dental’s lead coaches, to talk about three common challenges in dental practices: clique-forming, low engagement, and bad meetings. And as she explains, it all comes down to leadership. Without a strong leader, you won't have a strong team. To find out how a coach like Adriana can help you and your practice, listen to Episode 359 of The Best Practices Show!

Main Takeaways:

• A strong team requires a strong leader.
• Know your core values, priorities, goals, and have ownership.
• You need to have consistent and frequent team meetings.
• Talk about your core values at each team meeting.
• Without team buy-in, you will have low engagement.
• Preventing clique-forming in your practice is your responsibility.

Quotes:

• “[Dentists] do not want to prepare for [team meetings]. ‘I don't know what to do. What are we going to talk about? How do I get my team to do any of this? I don't have time!’ That's what I hear.” (5:17—5:28)
• “I've yet to meet a client who doesn't give me the blank stare or the outright, ‘You are crazy,’ when I say, ‘You need to have a weekly meeting. Two hours every week.’ They're like, ‘Do you know how much I can produce in two hours?’ I do. But I know how much more you can produce if you focus on your practice every week, and you increase your communication, and you actually work on the business.” (6:07—6:33)
• “We call [clique-forming] a gang war, and it’s by department. It’s the hygienists against the assistants, the assistants against the admin team. And it’s only because we are not communicating well and working on things together. We’re allowed to separate, and everybody can have their own little gripes and their own little quarrels. But we’ve got to bring it together, and we’ve got to mix them up.” (7:16—7:40)
• “It’s our job to look over and see, ‘Oh, wait. Amy and Stephanie are always whisper-whisper.’ Amy and Stephanie no longer sit together. When we do an exercise, they're not in the same room. Let's split the clique up. And eventually, they start finding, ‘Oh, I have a lot more in common with this other person. Oh, we’re on the same page. We can work together and really get this plane up in the air again.’” (7:41—8:05)
• “[When you have low engagement], what's really going on is you have no team buy-in. What's your cause? What are your core values? What are they following? Where are your priorities? We have to have some structure and priorities and ownership.” (9:56—10:08)
• “[Core values] need to be so ingrained in your brain. And if you're like me and Kirk, our brains, they're in there. But sometimes, they just can't hold all the goodness. So, I need to have it in front of me. I like to have it on a shirt. I want it on my mug. I want to know it, breathe it, live it.” (12:19—12:37)
• “The first part is always going to be, ‘What is our focus?’ And our focus can't change every single week. We’re not going to hit results if we are always trying to catch a moving target. So, we need to sit down as a team, go through a fun exercise, get up out of your seat, brainstorm, mind map, and figure out, ‘What's going to be impactful to our practice? How can we measure it?’ We need to be able to see results.” (17:43—18:13)
• “We need to have a focus. We have to have priorities, and we need to be able to measure them. And we need a quick way to resolve problems when they arise. And I don't mean problems like, ‘Oh, somebody didn't stock the hygiene drawer.’ I mean, ‘Why aren't we hitting our goal? Why are we four weeks behind?’” (18:14—18:31)
• “Some of us are just very helpful, and then it looks like we want to take over and do everything. And that's not a bad thing. But it can be a little bit squashing to the energy of the room when other people are just a little bit less apt to jump in and volunteer or throw a hand up. So, I like to pair those people together. You can be an owner, but you can't be the owner of all the tasks. I'm going to pair up the quieter voices in the room with that person so that we get more engagement, but it’s maybe in a smaller group where their voice can be heard.” (20:38—21:12)
• “Leadership is not how you show up in a meeting, and how you are animated, or how you interact. It’s really just being clear. And being clear is being kind. It’s in a respectful way; it’s in a kind way. People are looking to someone to give them direction and to be consistent. And that's really what makes a great leader.” (29:54—30:21)

Snippets:

• 0:00 Introduction.
• 3:09 Adriana’s background.
• 4:43 Why dentists don't do meetings.
• 5:33 The importance of weekly meetings.
• 6:35 Why cliques form in the office.
• 8:06 How a coach can help your practice.
• 9:25 “I've tried to do these meetings.”
• 10:28 How to get buy-in from your team.
• 11:15 Core values in tangible form.
• 14:08 Talk about core values at every team meeting.
• 14:49 Core values means less drama.
• 17:07 The first part to successful meetings.
• 20:12 Balancing team members for engagement.  
• 24:19 Last thoughts.
• 29:05 The importance of leadership in coaching a great practice.
• 30:42 “I don't need a coach.”
• 33:25 Adriana’s contact information.

Reach Out to Adriana:

Adriana’s email: [email protected] 

Adriana’s Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/adriana.booth

Adriana’s social media: @adrimarieb

ACT Dental website: https://www.actdental.com/

Adriana Booth, BS, RDH Bio:

Adriana Booth is a Lead Practice Coach who partners with dentists and their teams to cultivate leadership skills, build practice growth, and streamline business practices. After spending nearly two decades in the dental industry working with top-notch dental teams, Adriana came to ACT to share her passion for professional growth, high-level training, and systems creation with our clients.

As a dental hygienist with a love for continuing education and personal growth, helping a practice become successful is at the heart of her passion for dentistry.

Adriana has a B.S. in Dental Hygiene from West Liberty University/O’Hehir University. By being involved in several Columbus Ohio study clubs, Adriana maintains strong relationships within her local dental community. She enjoys a variety of fitness activities, family time, good books, and at the top of her list, her fur babies.

“My favorite part of ACT Dental is being constantly surrounded by smart, dynamic, and all- around awesome people. Starting with our energetic leader, Kirk, our ACT Team, and filtering out into our ACT community, the “we before me” mentality is felt all around. Our vibe is “different” and is truly palpable at any event you attend within the ACT Community.”