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Show Notes

Team meetings can become repetitive, unfocused, and unproductive when there is no structure, accountability, or protected time to move the practice forward. In this episode, Kirk Behrendt talks with Christina Byrne, ACT Dental coach and leader of the coaching team, about why team meetings often fail and what high-performing dental practices do differently. You’ll learn how to structure weekly meetings, choose the right timing, track meaningful KPIs, create accountability, encourage healthy conflict, and build greater alignment across your team.

If you want your meetings to lead to action instead of becoming another conversation about unresolved problems, listen to Episode 1116 of The Best Practices Show!

Main Takeaways:

• Hold a structured two-hour team meeting every week to maintain consistency, alignment, and accountability.
• Schedule meetings early in the day, preferably on Tuesday or Wednesday, rather than after work or during a busy Monday.
• Use a consistent meeting structure that includes celebrations, core values, priorities, KPIs, action items, practice development, and issue-solving.
• Review KPIs weekly so the team can identify problems early and put countermeasures in place before the month is over.
• Assign every action item to a specific person with a clear expectation for completion.
• Establish meeting roles such as leader, timekeeper, and note-taker to keep discussions focused and prevent unnecessary rabbit holes.
• Alignment does not require agreement, but teams need open communication, healthy conflict, and shared commitment before they can move forward effectively.

Episode Chapters:

00:00 Why team meetings aren’t working

01:00 Why team meetings matter in a dental practice

04:06 Commit to a weekly two-hour meeting

05:50 Choosing the right day and time for the meeting

09:43 Follow an “agendaless agenda”

12:47 Focus on quarterly priorities and meaningful KPIs

13:37 Create participation, trust, and accountability

18:33 Avoid rabbit holes and assign action items

19:59 Establish clear meeting roles

23:29 Understand the difference between alignment and agreement

25:16 Protect the meeting rhythm and focus on progress

26:00 Tools for leading more effective team meetings

Episode resources:

• Team Meetings Tool: https://hub.smilesource.com/c/resources/team-meetings
• Guide for Leading Great Team Meetings: https://hub.smilesource.com/c/resources/guide-for-leading-great-meetings v

Guest Bio:

Christina Byrne is the Director of Operations at ACT Dental, where she oversees coaching alignment, system development, and operational consistency across practices nationwide. She works closely with dental teams to help them build scalable systems that improve predictability, accountability, and long-term practice performance. In this episode, Christina references ACT Dental resources including the Analyzing Existing Systems document, the master systems checklist, and the systems and checklist support guide available through the Best Practices Association.

More Helpful Links for a Better Practice & a Better Life:

• Contact Gina to learn more about ACT: gina@actdental.com
• The Best Practices Show: https://www.actdental.com/podcast/
• Smile Source Community Hub: https://www.actdental.com/community-hub
• Upcoming Events & Workshops: https://www.actdental.com/events/
• Smile Source: https://www.smilesource.com/
• Subscribe on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com
• Subscribe on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com