Does your dentistry team feel out of focus and feel unhappy? Does not work with collaboration and needs a cohesive approach? This article will focus on eight effective team building activities that will boost employee engagement and will empower your team to provide excellent service to patients.

We have carefully crafted these team-building activities for work that can get your team to promote a focused environment with no strict guidelines. By using these team building activities, your practice will bring positivity to your working environment and engage your team to create further opportunities for team bonding.

 

Indoor fun team building exercises

Incorporating fun games and team building exercises into a working environment can have several mood-lifting impacts on a dentistry team. It guarantees team participation and allows them to become more productive as they progress with their dentistry career.

 

Organising Virtual Teams

Organising activities for remote teams can be a challenge, but they require teams to be creative-minded. In return, these can foster team cohesion and help maintain team morale. They are useful in scenarios when dentists need to reach a bigger audience from a small space.

Integrating fun activities can make a dental practice a more enjoyable place to work. Office trivia games, which consist of dentistry facts and knowledge, can be played for competition as well as for educational purposes.

 

Scavenger Hunt

A scavenger hunt in a dental office can be a fun way to encourage teamwork among team members. It starts with dental-themed riddles, which are incorporated into small tasks, usually consisting of daily operations. The hunt ends when the first team finds the last item. It concludes with a segment where participants can share their experiences and discuss the challenges they face. Teams can also be rewarded with a prize, which is optional.

 

Themed Dress-Up Days

Themed dress-up days can be planned where staff can wear costumes based on different seasonal events, movie characters or a random colour theme. This activity adds an element of fun to a working day, which makes the dental practice environment more enjoyable. Sharing photos of themed days on social media can attract new talent for the future as well.

 

‘Two Truths and a Lie’

This classic game is best for team members to familiarise themselves with each other and share interesting facts, which increases team bonding. It comprises three simple statements which each member has to say. The rest of the team has to pick which one is a lie. This can lead to lots of laughter and surprises and can build connections. This low-cost fun activity is a very effective way to break the ice and add some light-hearted fun to the environment.

These fun team-building activities can contribute to stress reduction when a team works together and lead to relaxed and happier employees. 

• Most dental practices have a short list of employees.
• It’s likely that each team group would consist of 2-3 members. 
• Splitting employees into small groups helps faster decision-making and saves time.
• With fewer people, resource allocation can be more strategic and give members to take on leadership roles.

By conducting a team building game, the office can recognise who is the best team leader and who can manage responsibilities. Games and activities allow teams to work together as they are not held in a strict workplace environment. They help new members to understand about team communication as well as the company culture. Fun team building exercises help dental practices to become stress free and offer a great source of motivation.

 

Outdoor events and team building activities

When employees work too much at an office, they get frustrated. In such circumstances, having an outdoor adventure can give each team member a sense of belonging. Some of these activities include the following.

 

Participating in Community Centre

Team building events can be useful when teams head over to a community centre. They can spread awareness about oral health by distributing free toothbrushes and printed material. As a result, this reflects their involvement and connection with the public and strengthens the reputation of the company as well.

 

Workshop on Communication Skills

Workshops can enhance team communication in the dental practice team. They can be held in a local park or an open garden. Those taking part are split into small groups and assigned different patient scenarios. Each team must role-play the patient-staff interaction to improve their communication gaps. Participants can understand the importance of non-verbal cues and learn to apply stress management techniques.

 

Mini Golf

A bit of healthy competition can boost morale and help build a positive team spirit for a dental team. Teams learn to assess different situations and make decisions which are directly applicable to their roles in the dental practice. When team members enjoy a shared activity, they bond together on a personal level. As a result, this translates to a more cohesive work environment.

 

Monthly Lunches

Arranging monthly lunches can help your team share their experiences and make them feel relaxed. They are not confined to any workplace restrictions, share experiences and feel valued. Moreover, monthly lunches can also be used to celebrate birthdays and milestones. This tactic fosters a sense of unity and belonging and makes the team feel closer and valued.

 

Do all team members like these fun oriented team building exercises and activities?

Team building activities and games can have a significant impact on how team members are willing to prove themselves in the dental practice. It is important to understand that each employee might have their interests apart from their skills. So before planning these outdoor team-building activities, their preferences should also be taken into consideration. This point creates a lasting effect on every employee and does not make them feel left out, as well as the rest of the team.

 

Have regular meetings

Holding morning team meetings on a regular basis provides a good opportunity for employees to share and discuss team goals and address areas where they face challenges. When they share updates and communicate about opportunities, it ensures that everyone is on the same page and moving in the same direction. 

This alignment reinforces the idea that employees engage in collective problem-solving and also promotes transparency among the employees. Team meetings are also instrumental in developing a positive work culture and also contribute to job satisfaction.

Similarly, team huddling is another interactive office where employees gather regularly in brief and focused meetings to discuss updates and strategies collaboratively. Team members may schedule these on a daily or weekly basis and design them to be concise so that key points can be quickly addressed without disrupting any daily operations. 

Team huddling ensures that problems are resolved swiftly. It is very effective in fast-paced environments such as offices where team members work with more focus and can visualise themselves to grow faster in a professional environment.

 

Celebrate the wins

Commending and applauding employees for doing the right things also makes them feel appreciated. So, this allows them to build qualities to lead by example and take matters into their own hands. As a result, this eases up the load on the lead dentist. 

Celebrating wins uplifts the atmosphere of an office and boosts team relationships. It also breeds success and motivates the employees to strive for continuous improvement. The process of celebrating wins also involves:

• Open communication in the form of success stories.
• Discussing success factors.
• Expressing gratitude.
• Even conducting productive conversations improves the overall communication of a whole team.

One of the best outcomes of celebrating wins is that it encourages team members to take risks, battle with challenges and grow together. A team that works consistently to achieve a common goal must also be rewarded as a whole. It helps the team bond not just on a temporal basis but also for long-run challenges.

 

Effective teamwork makes dreams work

Teamwork serves as a fundamental part of team building activity in a dental practice. That is because the collaborative efforts of the team contribute towards the overall success of the practice. A good team bond is important for delivering patient-centred care as it impacts the quality of care provided to patients. So, this, in return, plays a vital part in improving positive patient experiences and satisfaction levels.

• It also creates a strong foundation of trust between team members
• It is very crucial for team bonding
• New members of a team learn fast and adapt quickly to their roles and responsibilities. 
• Team members feel a sense of belonging and actively celebrate in office’s achievements. 

To ensure this type of positivity, the team must work with a collaborative approach without having any personal differences. Working better as a team not only benefits one team member but also transforms the working practice as a whole.

 

Offer rewards and incentives

Acknowledging exceptional performances through the monthly rewards can provoke a sense of friendly competition between employees as everyone on the team will try to push themselves to be on the top all the time. And when such achievements are celebrated, they create even more impact.

Appreciation through personalised gifts such as engraved pens, tools, handwritten notes and certificates can also add up to boost employees’ confidence and make them feel prestigious. Incentives such as these provide an avenue for recognising individual and team achievements.

Implementing a rewards scheme can also help reduce employee turnover. Employees who get rewarded are most likely to stay with the dental practice. This helps the dental practice to focus more on improving other areas rather than using extra resources on retention strategies. Rewards also help in bringing your team together as they drive as an important motivational tool.

 

Continuing education

If you invest in your team’s professional growth, every member of your team will learn to know more about your office and stay loyal to it. By emphasising education in your office, you give your team a chance to create a culture of continuous learning. 

A learning culture encourages team members to stay updated with all the new trends thus strengthening team dynamics. Education also solidifies collaborative team spirit and work together to solve problems in complex situations.

Educational events provide a big boost for team members to build networks beyond the office and connect with a broader community. As a result, this enhances the office’s visibility and provides new perspectives for everyone in the team.

 

Feedback sessions

If you organise monthly or quarterly appraisals, your team will be recognised for their great work. Doing so would also highlight the challenges which are preventing them from excelling in their roles.

The appraisers will carefully examine the problems faced by the team and provide expert analysis. These problems are resolved to ensure that existing and new team members refrain from repeating them. It’s very important to ask your team if they need any assistance so that their apprehensions can be addressed and resolved on a timely basis.

Appraisal sessions enable employees to reflect on their performance and contributions. Being self-aware helps every employee to develop more professionally and understand others’s working styles, strengths and preferences. As a result, this self-awareness adds up to stronger team dynamics.

When employees are hired in a dental practice, they bring their set of skills and achievements, which prove helpful when helping out other in their team. Appraisals can also act as a guide for future talent, which results in improved morale and better team coherence.

 

Which is the best team building activity for your office?

When it comes to team building, every activity is a great resource and has its benefits. Similarly, every office has its own goals, needs and targets and adapts its selection of these activities.

Some dental practices choose to omit even the most useful activities. Still, all the team-building ideas are implemented within the team from time to time. In that case, they cannot only benefit the team but also help your dental practice grow substantially in future. There is not just one activity that encourages an individual or an entire team to lead as an example because every activity is great in its way.

As a conclusion, it would be correct to assume that one team-building session doesn’t reap favourable results. A mix of valuable activities can help teams develop knowledge more quickly than others.