Dentaltown January 2022 - 78

freeform and not about chatting; they aren't
meant to take the place of the daily coaching
and feedback conversations with staff.
The idea of the OOO is to remove
any barrier to communication that holds
you back with your team. Do that, and
effective time can then be spent where it's
needed-on the actual work. Many teams
are ineffective, not because they don't know
the work to be done, but because they're not
good at communicating what they're doing,
how well they're getting it done, what help
they need, etc.
Basics of the OOO
The primary focus is on the team member-not
you, not your work, not the rest
of the staff or waterfall issues. (Waterfall
issues are those things that cover the entire
office, and a team meeting would be the
correct place to discuss those things.) This
is specifically about the individual employee.
Always remember that if you end a OOO
meeting having talked more than your
staff member, then it probably wasn't done
correctly!
Roughly one-third of the meeting should
be for you and your coaching, and two-thirds
of the meeting is for the employee and his
or her primary focus.
Taking notes during the meeting and
doing follow-up are vital and will help propel
future OOOs.
While the OOO should be scheduled
regularly-before or after work, or over a
lunch period-I recommend not scheduling
it on Monday mornings, at the end of the
day or the end of the workweek. At those
times, the temptation will be to cut the
meeting short or rush to get it over.
Your staff will put as much importance
on these meetings as you do, and the meetings
should rarely if ever be missed. Few things
short of an earthquake should cause you
to miss one. If a conflict is unavoidable,
reschedule quickly and soon. I don't like
to have more than two or three in a week,
78 JANUARY 2022 // dentaltown.com
and never back-to-back, because I want to
be laser-focused.
These meetings should never be in
public. If you have an office, then certainly
that's the best place. Don't use conference
rooms, because you don't want interruptions
or wandering ears. Strict privacy is not
necessary, but you do want your staff to
feel comfortable talking.
Preparation for each meeting shouldn't
be overly time-consuming, provided you're
keeping good notes from meeting to meeting.
It's as straightforward as asking yourself
these five questions:
1. What notes do I need to follow
up with from the last OOO with
this employee?
2. What specifics do I need
to communicate?
3. What positive feedback can I give?
4. What adjusting feedback can I give?
5. What tasks or projects is this
staff member now ready to have
delegated to them?
By reviewing and noting these five
questions before each OOO, you're ready
to head into the meeting.
I use a series of questions to help prompt
the conversation and discussion. These are
very open-ended questions, and I don't
ask each one at each OOO. You may have
things you prefer to have on your list.
A few examples are:
* What projects have you been
working on?
* Any specific requests of me?
* Any expectations I'm not fulfilling?
* Any situations you'd like more
of my involvement with?
* Any situations that I need to
let go of more?
* Any worries or concerns?
* How are things with your family?
* What areas of your work are
you most confident in?
* What areas of your work are you
least confident in?
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