• Vetiranary Medicine
  • ACVCACVC
  • DVM 360
  • Fetch DVM 360Fetch DVM 360
DVM 360
dvm360 | Veterinary News, Veterinarian Insights, Medicine, Pet Care
dvm360 | Veterinary News, Veterinarian Insights, Medicine, Pet Care
By Role
AssociatesOwnersPractice ManagerStudentsTechnicians
Subscriptions
dvm360 Newsletterdvm360 Magazine
News
All News
Association
Breaking News
Conference Coverage
Education
Equine
FDA
Law & Ethics
Market Trends
Medical
Politics
Products
Recalls
Regulatory
Digital Media
dvm360 LIVE!™
Expert Interviews
The Vet Blast Podcast
Medical World News
Pet Connections
The Dilemma Live
Vet Perspectives™
Weekly Newscast
dvm360 Insights™
Publications
All Publications
dvm360
Firstline
Supplements
Top Recommended Veterinary Products
Vetted
Clinical
All Clinical
Anesthesia
Animal Welfare
Behavior
Cardiology
CBD in Pets
Dentistry
Dermatology
Diabetes
Emergency & Critical Care
Endocrinology
Equine Medicine
Exotic Animal Medicine
Feline Medicine
Gastroenterology
Imaging
Infectious Diseases
Integrative Medicine
Nutrition
Oncology
Ophthalmology
Orthopedics
Pain Management
Parasitology
Pharmacy
Surgery
Toxicology
Urology & Nephrology
Virtual Care
Business
All Business
Business & Personal Finance
Hospital Design
Personnel Management
Practice Finances
Practice Operations
Wellbeing & Lifestyle
Continuing Education
Conferences
Conference Listing
Conference Proceedings
Resources
CBD in Pets
CE Requirements by State
Contests
Veterinary Heroes
Partners
Spotlight Series
Team Meeting in a Box
Toolkit
Top Recommended Veterinary Products
Vet to Vet
  • Contact Us
  • Fetch DVM360 Conference
  • Terms and Conditions
  • Privacy
  • Do Not Sell My Information
  • About Us

© 2023 MJH Life Sciences and dvm360 | Veterinary News, Veterinarian Insights, Medicine, Pet Care. All rights reserved.

Advertisement
By Role
  • Associates
  • Owners
  • Practice Manager
  • Students
  • Technicians
Subscriptions
  • dvm360 Newsletter
  • dvm360 Magazine
  • Contact Us
  • Fetch DVM360 Conference
  • Terms and Conditions
  • Privacy
  • Do Not Sell My Information
  • About Us
  • MJHLS Brand Logo

© 2023 MJH Life Sciences™ and dvm360 | Veterinary News, Veterinarian Insights, Medicine, Pet Care. All rights reserved.

How to take meetings from bland to brilliant

December 1, 2008
Brian Conrad, CVPM

Lift your team meetings out of the doldrums with these creative ideas.

Once you've established a framework for your staff meetings, it's time to focus on fun. Rather than scheduling another ho-hum lecture, embark upon one of these tried-and-true activities from Brian Conrad, CVPM, practice manager at Meadow Hills Veterinary Center in Kennewick Wash. You'll bond-and entertain-employees.

Card exchange

A week before a staff meeting in February, give each team member a package of Valentine's Day cartoon cards-the ones elementary school children pass out. Ask staff members to fill out a card for each of their co-workers that lists at least one positive trait they admire. Exchange the cards during the meeting. Then let employees read them and choose one or two of their compliments to share out loud.

Continuing education

Advertisement

Teach your team about relevant topics, like these:

    Ear disease. Many clients get frustrated and leave a practice because this condition is mismanaged. Learn about at-home care to help clients prevent the reoccurrence of pus, bacteria, yeast, blood, fungus, mites, foreign bodies, and so on.

    Difficult clients. The holiday months bring out the best-and worst-in all of us. Discuss what to do when a pet owner enters your practice with an agenda to attack.

Success celebrations

Spend the last five to 10 minutes of every meeting focusing on what's going right in the practice. The topic may be client retention or compliance rates, someone's five-year work anniversary, or the heart-felt thank you card one of the technicians received from a client. Whatever the reason, congratulate your team for a job well done. What's more, pointing out positive behavior encourages more of the same.

Scavenger hunt

Divide your staff members into teams and send them out-armed with digital cameras-to look for a list of items that can be found within your community. (Plan ahead and ask various team members to volunteer to bring their personal cameras.) Instruct them to photograph any items from the list that they find. After an hour of searching, ask the teams to return to the practice to tally up the points. The team with the highest score wins. An added benefit: Employees will strategize and learn to work together. Here are the complete rules and a sample list of items to find.

Related Content:

Practice OperationsBusiness
The Vets expands to Raleigh, NC
The Vets expands to Raleigh, NC
The 5 Ws of veterinary diagnostics contracts
The 5 Ws of veterinary diagnostics contracts
3 Must-sees from the Fetch Charlotte conference
3 Must-sees from the Fetch Charlotte conference

Advertisement

Latest News

Managing wounds in pet patients

Spectrum of care: protocols to support pet owners’ budgets

How to support women while still running a successful business

The Vets expands to Raleigh, NC

View More Latest News
Advertisement