Does your management consist of always putting out fires? The reason why you’re always trying to solve things frantically today may lie in how you do your dental office meetings in the morning.

Often morning huddles are being done but the dentist is solely running the meetings, and they are always just talking about what is being done today. And here lies two mistakes in doing it this way.

The dentist must never run the morning huddle. Now I didn’t say not to have one at all; I just said not to RUN it.

 What the dentist should do is have each staff member talk about his/her individual areas and how they will contribute to the overall office production for that day, week or month. Each person needs to run the show for his or her area.

The hygienist for example would look at all the charts of the patients coming in today and look at all the treatment plans that have not yet been done for these patients, any teeth or situations that were questionable the last time they were in and watch to see if it progressed at all and what she is planning on doing. She would explain this to the rest of the staff and the doctor so that everyone is coordinated.

The front desk should look at least five to six working days ahead and say how many openings there are and then when Mrs. Johnson comes in and has number 14 that still needs to be fixed, then everyone knows there is a slot for her. The hygienists or the doctor can help the front desk fill these slots.

What you are trying to achieve by having your staff members talk briefly about their areas is to have each staff member take ownership for their positions.

The best offices look into the future, and they are handling the problems today that can potentially develop into bigger problems tomorrow and beyond. And this is accomplished not by you running things but by each employee taking ownership for their area. A good place to start is in your morning huddle.

Kevin Tighe, Cambridge Dental Consultants, Senior Consultant, got bitten hard by the business and marketing bug during long summer days working at his dad's Madison Avenue ad agency. After joining Cambridge as a speaker in the mid-1990s, Kevin went on to become Cambridge’s senior consultant and eventually CEO. Cambridge Dental Consultants is a full-service dental practice management company offering customized dental office manuals. Frustrated? High overhead? Schedule a chat with Kevin at