All industries can benefit from better cohesion between teams, and your dental practice is no different. When dentists, nurses and support staff can work together more effectively, the patient experience can improve considerably.
When patients arrive at a practice and it becomes immediately obvious that the team don’t know each other very well, this can impact the whole experience. Communication can suffer when there is no sense of team spirit. And this often comes down to individuals not having a chance to get to know each other outside of the usual work environment.
This is where team building activities can be helpful. Practice managers can help to create a more relaxed atmosphere and boost productivity by simply investing time into team building activities.
Why is team building so important?
Dentists are independent by nature, but they also require a team around them to help them achieve their best work. When they can lean on their fellow dentists, dental nurses and other support staff, they can deliver an exceptional patient experience.
If you want your dental practice team to work together more cohesively, you need to think about how to break down barriers and encourage everyone to get to know each other.
There is a professional desire to be seen in a particular way, which means that dentists and other dental staff might not put all of their strengths on display in the workplace. This can lead individuals to overlook ways in which their colleagues can help them.
Team building can help individuals to show up and share their whole self in the workplace.
Team building ideas for dentists
Dentists are busy professionals, so you need to make sure that they see the value of the team building activities. The following are some tried and tested team building activities that can work well for dentists and other dental professionals. If you’re building a dental practice or if your dental practice is expanding, planning these activities could help to develop cohesion in your teams.
A building challenge
One of the most popular team building challenges that works across all industries is the building challenge. This usually involves creating a structure that can hold a particular item using limited objects.
The challenge might be to make the tallest or strongest structure, or it could be a floating or flying structure. Popular building materials include paper straws, uncooked spaghetti, paper and balloons.
This team building activity is great as it encourages people to listen to other people’s ideas. When they are working as a team and competing against other teams, it’s vital that everyone can listen to each other and evaluate the different ideas fairly.
A physical challenge
If your dental team is looking for ways to stay active, then a physical team building activity might be more effective. You could plan to take part in a long distance cycle ride, a marathon, or a fun run.
Everyone can work towards a common goal such as completing a physical challenge together. You could raise money for charity, or simply use the opportunity to raise the profile of your practice.
This will help to foster a sense of pride in their workplace while also building relationships outside of the work environment. It’s not about how strong, fast or powerful the fittest member of the team it, it’s about how well the team can work together to make sure that everyone makes it over the finish line.
A creative challenge
Dentistry is a precision-based field that heavily favours those with an analytical or scientific mind. This is why it’s essential for these individuals to get a chance to express their creativity.
Creative team building activities could include learning a new skill together, such as pottery painting or lino cutting. The team could also get creative in the kitchen and learn new recipes together.
Creative team building is a great way to foster deeper interpersonal relationships and allow everyone to get to know each other in a different setting and a new light. When individuals feel closer as a team, they will find it easier to work together. Professional differences can often be more easily overlooked when the individuals know and like the person behind the opinions.
