One of the most common questions dentists have about performance reviews (after covering wage-related questions) involves what to cover during the meeting. Performance reviews are ideal opportunities to learn more about your team, and by taking the time to gather insights about the person sitting across from you, you will make your team and practice even stronger.
For example, ask your team member how she prefers to be coached and how she likes to receive feedback. You may think you know what works best, but it’s not uncommon to discover your methods for providing coaching and feedback require some tailoring to achieve the best results.
You can learn a lot by asking the team member about her best contribution to the practice over the last year. What inspired her to take the initiative? In addition, ask the team member about an idea that would make the practice or team even better. Maybe it’s something she has heard about in other practices or maybe it’s a stretch goal that is not possible at the moment due to certain limitations, but it is possible in the near future. Performance review meetings can turn into great idea generators.
You can also use the review to ask how the team member successfully addressed conflict over the last few months. The conflict could have been a simple misunderstanding or something more significant. Are there any unresolved conflicts that need addressing? This is a good way to understand how well the team is interacting.
Since you are so busy working chair-side with patients, you do not have many opportunities to have productive conversations with your team. Consider integrating the aforementioned questions to make your next performance review even more insightful.