Throughout my career I have been fortunate enough to be involved with helping to develop dental teams to meet their full potential. Whenever I meet the most successful teams I am always amazed at the motivation, energy and remarkably high morale that these dedicated teams demonstrate. I wonder what is their big secret? Could it be high salaries, financial bonuses, job status, a secret magic elixir, a funky pill?
The simple answer is that all of the most successful practices that I’ve worked with over the years understand the five key internal motivators of their teams. These are:
- Achievement
- Recognition of achievement
- Growth and advancement
- Responsibility
- Enjoyment of the job
They achieve this by learning together and through learning together they discover how to play together.
Learning through play
It is a strange thing about our modern society that we consider play to be the opposite of work; we are either playing, or we are working. Very often playing is considered to be unprofessional, unhelpful and unproductive – but how true is this?
Let’s take a step back for a moment and look at some of the challenges facing dental teams today:
- CQC
- CPD Cycles
- HTM 01-05
- Compliance
These are but a few of the many different challenges that are facing the profession, and the list can often seem endless. But I wonder, what would happen if we make these challenges fun, playful and exciting? Would the whole dental team be more inclined to get involved?
Whole brain learning
The very best CPD training is designed with ‘whole brain learning’ in mind. This may incorporate imagination, pictures, randomness – all things associated with the right side of the brain – together with logic, reasoning and analysis that is associated with the left side. This type of ‘whole brain’ learning is particularly effective and as it’s been proven to show that information is taken in faster and is retained for longer. It has also been proven that this type of learning means that knowledge is also recalled more easily.
What this shows us more than anything is that learning doesn’t have to be boring! In fact, sometimes, it can even be fun! Not only will this help improve learning, but it will also encourage better teamwork and cooperation between team members, helping the whole practice team grow and develop to reach its full potential.
At dbg we enjoy creating innovative and engaging learning environments where all viewpoints and mistakes are acknowledged and valued as a way to learn; demonstrating how to conduct reflective practice as a team. Don’t forget as GDC registered professionals it is our duty to reflect and improve on our systems, policies and practices, and the CQC wants us to demonstrate this in its Outcomes. As such there is absolutely nothing wrong with learning in an interesting and engaging way – if anything it makes us better at our jobs.
For more information call dbg on 01606 861 950,
Or visit www.thedbg.co.uk
About the author:
Claire Deegan is a Practice Support Manager at dbg, delivering training and supporting practices to become compliant. She has 20 years’ experience in dentistry and has a passion for team development and motivational speaking.