Trying to decide whether or not to bring your whole team to a dental conference can be tough. There are the upfront expenses to consider — travel, registration, and time out of the office. It’s easy to get caught up in calculating the cost of the investment. Before you get carried away, consider the following 5 ways in which you’ll see a huge return — and at the end of the post, we’ll suggest a creative way to pay for it.
Dental Team Building ROI #1: Reduced Turnover
“Train people well enough so they can leave, treat them well enough so they don’t want to.” The world-renowned entrepreneur and founder of the Virgin Group, Sir Richard Branson, famously touts his leadership philosophy that happy clients are the result of happy employees. He states that if you take care of your employees, they’ll take care of your clients, and highlights that just one unhappy employee can ruin the brand experience for numerous customers.Treating your staff to the perk of experiencing a dental conference as a team retreat is an investment that shows them they’re important and appreciated. An employee that feels appreciated will give you and your patients years of dedicated service.
Dental Team Building ROI #2: Fosters Partnership
Engaging your full dental team in professional development challenges them and allows them to grow with you. It empowers them as trusted partners in your practice, giving them ownership of their roles in helping to grow the business together.Investing in your employees encourages them to invest themselves back into the practice. If they feel connected to the impact they can make in their job, you’ll see a noticeable increase in their output. How amazing would it be to have your entire team as dedicated to your practice as you are?
Dental Team Building ROI #3: Builds Rapport
Dental office team members generally have very limited interactions with one another on any given workday. In a large or busy practice, some team members may rarely interact with each other at all.Team-building outside of the office allows your and your staff to connect and collaborate in ways that otherwise wouldn’t be possible. This can lead to better ways of working together through improved lateral thinking and problem solving. The opportunity to come together outside of the normal dental office environment builds and strengthens bonds between team members.
Dental Team Building ROI #4: Increased Efficiency
The field of dentistry is constantly experiencing exponential advances in knowledge, techniques, and products. You may not want to adopt every new practice you learn in every course you take, but when you find something that excites you it can be really difficult to get the whole team on board if they don’t know where you’re coming from.When the whole team attends a live dental continuing education course together, you’re learning the same things in the same way at the same time. It’s so much easier to implement new systems and processes with everyone on the same page.
Dental Team Building ROI #5: Smarter Purchasing
Having your whole team with you makes testing new products and services that much more meaningful. You can get feedback from everyone that will actually be using it, so you can make a more informed decision about whether or not it’s right for your practice. And if you do decide to make the plunge and try a new product or service, you can save by taking advantage of specials and promotional pricing that vendors usually offer at conferences.
Pay For It With A Team Retreat Fund
Looking at the total cost for taking the whole office on a trip may seem overwhelming at first. With a team retreat fund, you create additional clinical days on the schedule where employee wages and production goes into the fund. Everyone contributes extra time and effort in order to enjoy the reward, which is it’s own team-building exercise. Use the following worksheet to help set up a team retreat fund for your office, and happy conferencing!
Dana Myers is a dental hygienist who serves on the Smiles At Sea crew as Exhibitor Concierge, Ship’s Log contributor, and purple-haired fun-enhancer. Don’t miss our upcoming events! Check out our Cruise Specials!
