Expert consultants Tiff and Kristy give listeners a look inside their head when it comes to scheduling the most efficient and optimized way possible — and in a way that won’t feel overwhelming. Their advice, which includes the right verbiage and what to do when schedules change last minute, will start all team members with their best foot forward for various tasks throughout the work week.

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Transcript:

The Dental A Team (00:00)

Hello, Dental A Team listeners. We are back today. I have Miss Kristy with me. I stole her for the afternoon. If you listen to the job description, I don't know what they're gonna call it, but we talked about optimizing your job description basically and metrics. And if you listen to that one, you know Kristy is like my calm in the storm.

 

and ending my day with her today, I was like, there's no better way to end a Monday. So if you have the opportunity to work with Kristy one-on-one, she is your consultant, you guys. I envy you. You get more time with her every month than I do. Truly, I envy you. And you also know exactly what I'm talking about, Kristy. Your calm is just incredible. I will never not talk about it. So thank you for ending your day with me today and ending. It's a good day.

 

It's an exciting week for us, so thank you for being here.

 

DAT Kristy (00:51)

Yeah, thank you for having me. It is a good Monday ⁓ ending with podcasting with you and then we're on the heels of our live event. So excitement all around this week.

 

The Dental A Team (01:02)

I know, I agree, I agree. There's so much just, there's so much to be thankful for, so much to be excited about, and I think something that's been coming up a lot, and something that we do a ton in our own schedules, even just talking about, Kristy, your client's getting more time with you than I do, like even individually, you guys, individually, I think you see her more than I do. And there's no bad feelings, I promise, I harbor no anger. I am just slightly jealous. ⁓

 

But I think on that note, like it requires some really, really specific special skills to be able to plan a week and plan a day. luckily it's something we train on because I think we're really good at it and we have to be even within our own position. like Monday, we're ending our Monday with podcasting because Monday is kind of our meeting slash admin day. Friday is our secondary admin day. And then we have all of our calls Tuesday through Thursday. There are some.

 

people in there that slide in other days, but they know the caveat is it may have to be moved because these are our admin days. So Kristy, I think it's just like divine that this is the conversation we're having. Today's conversation is all about optimizing your schedule, making sure what you're doing is optimized. But Kristy, before we really start talking about the in practice, like dental schedule, I think it would be smart to maybe even tell me how do you...

 

when you look at your schedule, what is the thought process that goes through your mind on optimizing your schedule? Because I think business is business, schedule is schedule, how I schedule anything is how I schedule everything, and how I do anything is how I do everything. So how do you look at your schedule and think to optimize it?

 

DAT Kristy (02:47)

Yeah, well, I love that you started it with us and our schedule because with anything, you're either going to be doing it by default or you're going to be intentional about it, right? And so a lot of times when we do it by default, we'll look back at the days and we're like, my gosh, it was such a crazy day. And we look at the end dollar that we produced and it was like, ⁓ why am I doing this? And then there could be another day where we hardly did anything and it felt like,

 

The Dental A Team (02:58)

Mm, I love that.

 

DAT Kristy (03:17)

We won the world, you know, we hit our goal. And so I think just to your point by being intentional, it's not about being crazy, right? But to your point, Tiff, we have to start somewhere. And I think sometimes people get very overwhelmed with where to start. And so obviously I like to start with where were we last year? You know, what is my goal this year?

 

⁓ Obviously, doctors have to look at things from an overhead and business perspective, which is smart, and what percent are we expecting to grow this year. So knowing those benchmarks, first and foremost, but when it comes to specifically team and scheduling, ⁓ we need to know if that's our goal, where are we at today, and how can we bridge that gap to get there? So looking at what's our procedure mix.

 

How many, you know, take your procedure count and how many have you done in the last year? I can want something all the time. And we hear this Tiff, we were kind of joking about it earlier, but you know, doctors want to do more implants and we do their procedure count report and look and go, I want you to too, because last year you did two. just, you know, a lot of times people, you know, go to fill the dreams, build it and it will come.

 

The Dental A Team (04:34)

Yeah.

 

DAT Kristy (04:41)

And there is a little bit of truth to that, but I also think it has to be realistic.

 

The Dental A Team (04:45)

Yeah, I agree. I agree. like when you look at your schedule, I look at my schedule, the first thing we're going to do is we're going to look at how many clients do I have? What's my call time? My call volume? And then we're going to add on top of that, how much time per client do I need for admin style work? I'm creating things for them. I'm looking at trends. I'm working on P &Ls.

 

So then we go through and it's not just call time. It's like, cool, I'm gonna bust out this many calls, but then I'm gonna give myself creative space for this. Or maybe Wednesday's my PNL day and Tuesday and Thursday's my calls, but we're gonna build it to where we can work with it. And something that I have learned over the course of eight years of this is spreading it out and allowing calls to be scheduled wherever does not breed productivity.

 

What happens is I'm exhausted constantly because switching from consulting brain to even podcasting brain, so even being on client calls to podcasting, being on client calls to writing a newsletter, to creating some sort of content, to doing a one-on-one with one of the team members on our team, going from one mindset, one space of Tiffanie's life to a different space, even in the same position.

 

is jarring and it slows down the process. And I like to say you're just not, you're not getting enough of me when I have to do that. And so a lot of times clients are like, can we do it on Monday? I'm like, I would love to give you Monday, but I'm not my best version for what you need me for on a Monday, on a Monday. Because the version of me on a Monday is Dental A Team meeting, leadership calls, like we're GSDing for the business. And so switching from that,

 

to a client coaching call is a different set of brain cells and it just makes it really hard. So Kristy, what I think that flows into in your conversation is a doctor who's like, yeah, I can do a root canal anytime, who cannot do a root canal anytime. Like you don't wanna do a root canal at 3 p.m. when you close at five. I don't think you do. I don't think I've met a doctor yet who wants that. But a doctor who's like, you know what, I can do root canals on Wednesdays at 10 a.m. every time.

 

Great, because it builds in predictability and sustainability, I can sustain that. I know what to expect with my schedule and when there is some realm and version of predictability, when the chaos comes from the outside, when things change, when things are thrown at us and people are asking us questions, it doesn't feel quite as bad as when your schedule feels like chaos, right, Kristy?

 

DAT Kristy (07:33)

Yeah, I agree with you. I always like to say too, ⁓ I know most of us that got into dentistry have that S profile from the disc assessment, right? And we want to please, but we're never going to please everybody. And so I hope that you look at your schedule as your team and protecting your team, right? And so

 

The Dental A Team (07:42)

Yeah.

 

DAT Kristy (07:56)

If you're saying yes to the patient, most of the time you're saying no to your team and the schedule and your guys' sanity. So I say the schedule's a baby, protect the baby, right? Don't, yeah. And you guys don't get upset with your doctors either if they want things scheduled at a certain time. ⁓ We've all probably experienced it either ourselves or a loved one when...

 

The Dental A Team (08:07)

I totally agree.

 

DAT Kristy (08:21)

A surgeon says, do surgeries on this day at this time. And it's for a reason. It truly, it's not to give our patients grief, you know? So give them a little grace when they want those specific times.

 

The Dental A Team (08:35)

I totally agree. Even just orthodontists, right? I know we've got orthodontists who work with us, orthodontists who listen to the podcast or GPs who are practicing orthodontia, but I talk to my GPs constantly. They're like, but that's not what my patients want. And I'm like, well, what do you want? You think an orthodontist is going to be like, yeah, sure. I'll ban you anytime. No, they are banding on Fridays. Like they are banding on Wednesdays. Like they're choosing it, right? My oral surgery practices are not doing

 

all on fours or thirds at any day of the week. They're doing thirds on Fridays. They're doing all on fours on Tuesdays and Wednesdays so that they have two or three days left of the week to troubleshoot things going wrong, having gone wrong. So, or troubleshoot just any needs, not even something gone wrong, but they're leaving that availability for themselves. And I think that's truly optimizing the schedule. Optimizing the schedule is looking at what do I need to accomplish? So what is the end goal of my schedule?

 

one of the end goals of my schedule. My schedule is to deliver all the things I'm supposed to, but stay sane. I have to be a sane human and a good person at the end of the day. So add that into your goals. But what are you trying to do? And then I think there's that vision, right? What is the goal? What's that vision? But then Kristy, what you're saying is like, how am I gonna get there? And that's like your procedures, right? Like, what are you doing procedure-wise that's adding up to that goal?

 

and then looking at optimizing your time. And Kristy, you mentioned, and I want you to like expand on this a little bit, you mentioned the implant piece. Tell me more. We kind of briefly joked around about that, but it is very fair and very valid. Tell me about optimizing that space, because I have a few practices that are working on this right now.

 

DAT Kristy (10:23)

Yeah. Well, again, I like to ⁓ do your procedure count and get an actual where you want to go.

 

if you're only doing two, could we maybe set a goal to do 10? And then we can template that into our schedule next year. And and what we focus on usually tends to happen. Right.

 

But with that being said, ⁓ I think people need to realize when we do do our template, it's not a one and done. It's always a moving target, right, based on our goals. So don't think that you're gonna get it in there and it's never gonna change. We need to take a look at it because our procedure counts may change. And guess what? Now that we're starting to focus on implants and schedule them, we might need more than 10, right? But with that, look at your procedure counts and see where you've been.

 

make some goals for growth realistically and then begin to formulate your template.

 

The Dental A Team (11:25)

Yeah, I loved that. I wanted you to dive into that because I thought it was so important. There are so many times that, yeah, I want you to do 10 implants a month too. I really, really do, like more than you know I want you to. But if we just strictly optimize the schedule based off of what we want to do procedure count wise, we don't look at what we have done, like what's our trend, and then how can we grow it. So that's a smart goal, right? A measurable amount that stretches you just slightly. And so...

 

That was beautiful. So if we wanna get to 10, but we've only done three, cool. Well, maybe we block out four spots and then we start tracking the conversations we're having. Because when you start doing that, that's where you're gonna grow it and seeing the consultations that we're having and then adding more blocks in there truly optimizes that. Now, Kristy, hygiene spectrum and I think we'll use the dreaded word cancellations. ⁓ I hate that word, but.

 

DAT Kristy (12:20)

Mm-hmm.

 

The Dental A Team (12:21)

What do you suggest to practices optimizing their schedules when they do have things that fall off the schedule? What's a good way last minute to optimize a schedule and kind of maybe help rebuild that?

 

DAT Kristy (12:33)

Yeah, well, first of all, are we making it easy for them to fall off? Are we expressing empathy and concern and trying to save that? I always like to say ⁓ the only thing that you can do is offer same day. But if not, then how are you creating value? Are you saying, hey, we're already booking out till fall or winter?

 

I'd really like to help you keep this appointment. I know doctors can be concerned or your hygienist is gonna be concerned, right? So first and foremost, try to save it and create the value for it. And then you guys as a team also have a system in place where we're all following the same rule of thumb. For pushing them out four to six weeks, then everybody pushes them out four to six weeks, right? And creating that ASAP list to get them back in.

 

The Dental A Team (13:23)

Yeah.

 

DAT Kristy (13:27)

Again, watch your verbiage because just like you Tiff, I'm a huge proponent of verbiage and if you're saying, can add you to my cancellation list, you're sending the message that cancels are okay. So check your verbiage as well and literally all come from the frame of getting our patients healthy and keeping them healthy. So if they're missing their appointments, are they staying healthy?

 

The Dental A Team (13:53)

Yeah, totally agree with you. I think you are right. That's why I hate that word cancellation. Even if you guys, even if you're saying, we've got you scheduled here, but if you need to cancel, just give us 48 hours notice. Like, cool, we accept cancellation. So just don't tell them that it's OK, right? And just be like, my gosh, this is crazy. Nobody ever reschedules their appointments. Like, what's going on? OK, it's wild that anyone wants to come off the schedule. I totally agree with you. Make it a big deal. ⁓ But this is brilliant. So basically, what I'm understanding, one,

 

DAT Kristy (14:14)

Yeah.

 

The Dental A Team (14:23)

Create your templates and create what you want that to look like. You guys, we have templates available. Please reach out. [email protected]. are happy to send over some awesome templates. Now templates are called templates for a reason. They are a template and you make it your own. Okay, ideas are ideas. We have a million of them. But Kristy, what you're seeing is really go through and figure out what your ideal schedule is based on the goals that you have, which again, create a self-fulfilling goal to be your best self at the end of every day.

 

Optimize the number of the procedures that you're able to do, which means I too scheduling you you mentioned ⁓ Kristy and something I want to pull back in is scheduling for not only the patient but the team so happy doctor happy practice most of the time Happy team right happy everyone and I've seen those teams and I've been that team that's like my gosh, like do we always have to work through lunch or do we

 

Like could we not do this procedure somewhere else? Like I used to have a doctor that would do late evening or late afternoon root canals and they would be late constantly. They were always staying late because they're unpredictable. Or doctors who don't schedule, they don't schedule quite enough time for the procedures that they

 

truly when we're talking about optimizing, that's the space that we're looking at. We're looking at like, what does this look like to get all of this done in the best ways possible? Those templates help with that, but then you've got to do the due diligence to go through and do it. There's a million podcasts on block scheduling, there's a million webinars we do. Go find them, we're not gonna go through all of those details today. Part of the optimizing and what I just had you bring in is,

 

really making sure that we've got contingency plans as well. So making sure when things do fall off the schedule, we're looking at, where do we pull patients back into the schedule from and to, right? Like if we have an appointment open up at 10 a.m. tomorrow, where are we pulling this patient from future, from where are we getting them from to fill that hygiene gap? So making sure we've got those contingency plans, but then also something that offices

 

can occasionally miss is the block schedule rule. I call it the 48-hour rule, right? Or 24-hour rule. And it's when can we break a block? Our teams are oftentimes very skittish of implementing block scheduling because they are concerned that they're not gonna fill the blocks and that they narrowed into this can only be this thing. But Kristy, I like to, and tell me what you do for teams too.

 

I like to say, listen, if it's not filled by this spot based on the time that's available on the schedule, we fill it with something. And that's to where that's a contingency plan. And that's either like, it was diagnosed now, can they come in or pulling in again from those lists that you mentioned? And Kristy, how do you handle that with Teams and how do you get them to utilize that?

 

DAT Kristy (17:22)

Yeah, well, I'm with you, Tiff. Obviously, if they're really, really busy, ⁓ a 24-hour ⁓ block or 24-hour, I guess, time limit could be very achievable with a very busy office. But I like them to come up with their time, you know?

 

The Dental A Team (17:37)

Mm-hmm.

 

DAT Kristy (17:44)

Typically 48 hours is what most practices do because it gives you a little leeway. Again, I do have an occasional one where it's 24 hours because they're so booked out that they have a short call list that is very easy to pull from. But also to your point, I think so many people miss the opportunities from their morning huddles. Many times the patients are already coming in in your day.

 

You might have a patient in the doctor's schedule that is doing fillings on the upper right, but still has fillings in other quadrants. Could we keep them and do more? And they'd appreciate that not having to come back in another visit. Or, you know, look at hygiene. Usually in any given hygiene schedule in an eight-hour day, there's probably two to three people that have outstanding treatment that maybe we can convert them. In fact, maybe we could call ahead.

 

and ask them to come earlier because doctor had a hole in the schedule, right? So many times it's not having to fish from somewhere else. It's literally right there within your schedule.

 

The Dental A Team (18:41)

Mm.

 

Yeah, and that's the contingency planning every day. So we're constantly looking and building that predictability. Because even that right there, what you said, was an unpredictable moment, but you just built predictability into it by looking for an option that we can foresee and maybe even plan ahead and get it fixed to help that. So beautiful, Kristy, I know you'd have all of the pieces that I wanted. Thank you. I love that.

 

DAT Kristy (19:16)

⁓

 

The Dental A Team (19:20)

If you guys wanna optimize your schedule, like Kristy's your gal. Kristy, I have watched you in person, hands-on, optimize schedules and block schedule. You are so fantastic at it. I know our whole team is, but I really, really hand pick when you're gonna do these and what the content's gonna be. So this was strategic for you. So Kristy, thank you for those tips. think maybe, let me know if we need to add on to this, but I think action item-wise, it's, I would say look at what you're doing now. Look at your schedule now. Look at your goals.

 

Look at your procedures and look at how can I streamline this? How can I make this any more efficient? ⁓ Time journaling is a fantastic version. So looking at your procedures that you're doing, your procedure mix and how many, and then time journaling how long they take you. And then looking at where do you want to do these things? Do you want a three o'clock root canal? If you do, more power to you. You just let your team know, whatever you want that to look like.

 

And then really looking at those contingency plans as well. So how do we build in the contingency plans? Morning huddle is a great space to do that on the daily, but giving the tools and the empowerment to the team to have contingencies prior to that too. Kristy, anything I missed that you want to add in there?

 

DAT Kristy (20:30)

think that's really good, but even in morning huddle, don't forget to not just look at today, look beyond, because if tomorrow's not at goal, starting today would be a little bit easier for the team to call on patients that are already within that day, right? So don't forget to look ahead also. And truly, as you're starting to implement templates, doctors...

 

work with your team, get in the habit of looking a week or two out and just looking at the schedule, explaining to them if it doesn't work here, why, you know? And, you know, look at the days, you guys add them up, add them up and make sure it's equaling your goal. When you see, I like to call it a wallpaper template where it's like, we just cleared all, you know, made sure all the white space was filled. ⁓ That's truly not the goal of a template, if we're being honest.

 

The Dental A Team (21:20)

I love that.

 

DAT Kristy (21:25)

⁓ so add up your days, make sure it's equaling your goal and kind of gamify it. See how we can get better at it, you know? Yeah.

 

The Dental A Team (21:33)

Yeah, I think those are great. Good job. Thank you, Kristy.

 

And you guys, listen to this a few times. Kristy is full of, she's just a wealth of knowledge and she's got so many tips and tricks. So I want you to go back, listen to this, take some notes if you weren't able to yet. Kristy, thank you for letting me pick your brain. Thank you for being here on this Monday afternoon with me. And I'm just, I'm so grateful for you and your brain. So thank you.

 

DAT Kristy (21:57)

Thank you.

 

The Dental A Team (21:58)

Yeah, and everyone go listen to this again. Drop us a five star review below. Let us know what your favorite tips were. And if you have anything to add to it, we'd love to hear about that too. Either within your review or [email protected]. That's where you'll snag that promised template as well. My marketing team is on it and they want to give it away to you. So email us [email protected]. You can also book a strategy call with us and get the template as well as strategy. We can help walk you through this ⁓ at our website.

 

TheDentalATeam.com. So those are all the pieces you guys. Go make life wonderful. Trish always says go be wonderful and go change lives. Thanks so much. We'll catch you next time.