
To establish a positive team culture within your aesthetic practice, employee engagement is key. Improving employee engagement is proven to enhance productivity, efficiency, accountability, morale and retention.
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To establish a positive team culture within your aesthetic practice, employee engagement is key. Improving employee engagement is proven to enhance productivity, efficiency, accountability, morale and retention.
Engaged employees are more likely to be self-motivated, have a clear understanding of their roles, recognize the significance of their contribution, have better job satisfaction and according to the Corporate Leadership Council, are 87% less likely to leave their jobs.
While there are many ways to create an engaged team, regular, routine staff meetings are critical to the foundation of your aesthetic practice.
Why Staff Meetings Are Essential
The objective of staff meetings is to build interpersonal relationships and have the opportunity to discuss what is working and what’s not. In addition, staff meetings help hold people accountable and facilitate open, transparent discussions about the next course of action. They help promote teamwork, collaboration and can also reduce the potential for miscommunication and misunderstandings. Holding regular, routine staff meetings can help ensure that everyone is in the know and updated on critical business issues.
Checklist for Conducting Effective Staff Meetings
Here are some tips to make your staff meetings effective:
- The entire team must attend, no excuses.
- Every team member in the respective department has the floor and opportunity to speak.
- Create an agenda to keep meetings structured and send the agenda out prior to each meeting. Send out a reminder at least a week prior to the meeting and an additional reminder the day before. Post a notice in the employee breakroom or a central location.
- Assign someone to take minutes.
- Have a sign in sheet.
- Have relevant handouts copied and ready to go.
- Start your staff meeting in a positive way - recognize the team or a team member for exceptional performance, share a positive review or testimonial, congratulate a team member on completing a certain project or training certification, etc.
- They must be held consistently on the same date and time every month (e.g., the last Monday of the month). Some practices choose to have them bi-weekly or weekly.
- Keep a binder or notebook with all meeting notes in it for reference.
- Use an icebreaker (motivating quote, sharing a win or ask a question to get the meeting off to a positive start).
- Introduce new team members.
- Establish ground rules or meeting etiquette (respect meeting start and end times, show respect for colleagues, come prepared with completed action items, no phones, stay solution-focused, etc.).
- Allow for open discussion, new ideas and collaboration with your team at the end (Remember, this is a meeting with your team, not a speech directed at them).
- Everyone must participate and contribute.
What NOT to Do at a Staff Meeting
- Don’t address specific issues with an employee during a staff meeting or single out any one team member unless it is to give kudos or recognition.
- Don’t make disparaging remarks or veto ideas – get curious and ask them how they envision their idea working.
Sample Staff Meeting Agenda
The following is a sample staff meeting agenda that you can take and personalize for your practice:
Staff Meeting Agenda (Weekly/Monthly)
Purpose of the Staff Meetin - This can include discussing what is working and what’s not; reviewing accomplishments or any ongoing projects; introducing new equipment, services, policies or people; encouraging team commitment to support each other and creating awareness and company alignment.
Previous Meeting Review
Review the following topics from the previous meeting:
- Any action items completed
- Any action items still in progress
- Any follow up items that need adjusting
Performance
- Take time to go over goals, as a company and each contributor.
- Goal % to goal
- If ahead, recognize accomplishments or successes exhibited by team members.
- If there is a deficit, find out why? What happened? What are the actions to take to improve?
- Recognize team members who consistently meet or exceed their daily goals and discuss what is contributing to their success.
- Acknowledge team members who exhibited exceptional customer service, achieving excellent patient satisfaction.
- Recognize team members who may have received a testimonial or review, mentioning their name.
Projects
Discuss ongoing projects with status updates and/or any changes and introduce new or upcoming projects.
- Project [NAME] that started on [DATE] has been completed and share the results - recognize team members involved.
- Project [NAME] that started on [DATE] is ongoing, share results thus far, ongoing action items, next steps and updates on deadlines - remind team members involved of what’s expected.
- Project [NAME] is a new project that we plan to start on [DATE], share the purpose, expected results and deadlines - assign team members and specify expected involvement.
Industry News
Review any relevant industry news, updates, press releases, etc.
- 1. Is there any local news or updates worth sharing? (e.g., updates to laws or regulations that may affect the practice, new competitor opened, competitor is now offering xyz, there’s a new business opening nearby that may be a good partner, etc.)
- 2. Is there any relevant industry news worth sharing? (e.g., updates on procedures offered, procedures receiving FDA approval, vendors launching large new media campaigns, procedures or products that may no longer be available, etc
Events
Review any past or upcoming events, share updates, progress, etc.
- 1. Event [NAME] held on [DATE] was completed, share the results - recognize team members involved.
- 2. Event [NAME] planned for [DATE] is coming up, share results thus far, ongoing action items, next steps and updates on deadlines - remind team members involved of what’s expected.
- 3. Event [NAME] is a new event that we plan to hold on [DATE], share the purpose, expected results and deadlines - assign team members and specify expected involvement.
Process Updates
Are there any updates to SOPs, the employee handbook, team compacts, lead management, the consultation process, the follow up process, etc.?
- 1. New or updated policies
- 2. New or updated Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs)
- 3. New or updated processes
Patient Feedback
Has there been any patient feedback that should be shared with the team, good or bad?
Team Training
Review any past or upcoming training, share updates, progress, etc.
- 1. Training [NAME] held on [DATE] was completed, share the results - recognize team members involved. What kind of training was it? If clinical, how will it help the business? If sales training, how will you hold people accountable?
- 2. Training [NAME] started on [DATE] is ongoing, share results thus far, ongoing action items, next steps and updates on deadlines - remind team members involved of what’s expected.
- 3. Training [NAME] is a new training that we plan to start/ hold on [DATE], share the purpose, expected results and deadlines - assign team members and specify expected involvement.
Financial Overview with Goals
Review current business financial overview, progress made since last meeting, projections (forecast) for upcoming time frame, adjustments to team goals, etc.
- 1. Current situation for the business financials (high level, perhaps in percentages compared to benchmarks)
- 2. Past, ongoing or upcoming initiatives to improve financial performance
- 3. Adjustments to individual or team goals
Next Staff Meeting Topics
Review potential agenda items for the next meeting, with expected time frame and/or date (next week, next month).
We hope you found this helpful and encourage you to incorporate team meetings and/or enhance them if necessary.
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Terri Ross is a world-renowned, practice management expert, thought leader and international speaker in the medical aesthetic industry. After 10 years of running a highly successful practice management firm, Terri disrupted the aesthetic industry by introducing APX Platform, a cutting-edge, business intelligence and on-demand growth and training solution to increase efficiency and profitability. Terri is an official partner and trainer with the American Medical Spa Association (AMSPA), and lectures all over the world for top aesthetic societies. She is a regular contributor to major aesthetic publications and hosts her own informative podcast, “In Touch with Terri: Trade Secrets for Medical Aesthetics.”