Orthodontic Team Training: The 15/30/60 One-on-One System That Builds Culture

Episode: Training That Transforms: Turning Training Headaches Into Practice-Wide Growth Show: The GrowOrtho Podcast (also airing on the GrowOrtho live stream) Host: Zach Dykes, HIP Creative Guest: Kayla Brown, Practice Growth Advisor at HIP, 14 years in orthodontics and 15 years in dental Published: [PUBLISH DATE] · Last updated: June 4, 2026

Summary: Most dental and orthodontic practices treat training as a one-time onboarding event, then wonder why turnover climbs and patient experience slips. Kayla Brown’s fix is a proactive cadence of intentional one-on-ones (15 minutes weekly, 30 minutes monthly, 60 minutes quarterly) paired with SMART goals that reach past production numbers into communication, mentoring, and personal growth. Role clarity turns accountability into a point of pride: in one practice, retitling a 15-year front desk employee as a “patient satisfaction specialist” raised reviews and consult conversions. Goals stick when the team helps design them, and every one-on-one should open with what is working well so coaching feels like building rather than fixing.

Topics covered: ongoing vs. one-time training, passive accountability, 30/60/90-day milestones, role clarity and empowerment, SMART goals beyond production, treatment coordinator coaching, the one-on-one cadence, starting reviews on a positive note.

Key entities: HIP Creative, GrowOrtho, GrowDental, treatment coordinator (TC), Net Promoter Score (NPS), 95% call answer rate, comfort cupboard, patient satisfaction specialist, The 12 Week Year, Julie Nice (Outcomes Only).

Author: Kayla Brown, Practice Growth Advisor, HIP Creative Kayla Brown has spent about 14 years in orthodontics and 15 years in dental, working nearly every seat in the practice: clinical chairside assistant, sterilization assistant, call center agent, front desk, treatment coordinator, office manager, and clinical director of operations. Her background is heavy in operational processes, HR, and coaching, including building the foundational systems for newly acquired orthodontic offices inside a DSO.

Intro

Strong orthodontic team training does not stop at onboarding. That is the core of this GrowOrtho conversation between host Zach Dykes and HIP Practice Growth Advisor Kayla Brown, who has spent nearly three decades across orthodontic and dental operations. Most practices run a 90-day onboarding, then set the new hire free and assume the work is done.

The result shows up as turnover, inconsistent patient experience, and high performers quietly burning out while no one is sure what winning even looks like.

Kayla’s argument is that training is a culture initiative with a cadence, not an event. The fixes are practical: a one-on-one rhythm any practice can run, SMART goals built with the team instead of handed down, and role clarity that makes accountability feel like a badge rather than a threat. What follows is the system she has used to lift retention, reviews, and consult conversions.

Key takeaways

• Treat training as an ongoing process with a set cadence (weekly, biweekly, monthly, quarterly), not a one-time event that ends after the first 90 days.
• Passive accountability shows up as vague expectations, missing 30/60/90-day check-ins, and feedback only when something goes wrong. It burns out high performers and lets low performers coast.
• Role clarity turns accountability into pride. Retitling a 15-year front desk employee as a “patient satisfaction specialist” raised her confidence, the practice’s reviews, and consult conversions.
• SMART goals should reach past production: a 95% call answer rate, mentoring a new hire, or faster lab turnaround all count, and goals stick when the team helps design them.
• A non-production goal can still drive revenue. A “comfort cupboard” of warm blankets, travel pillows, stress balls, and curated playlists raised NPS, reviews, and referrals in one practice.
• Run one-on-ones on a tiered cadence: 15 minutes weekly, a 30-minute monthly deep dive, and a 60-minute quarterly growth conversation. Open every one with what is working well.

Why does orthodontic team training need to be ongoing, not a one-time event?

Most practices treat training as something that happens once, during onboarding, and then ends. Kayla Brown calls this the assumed-knowledge trap: a new hire shadows an experienced team member for the first 90 days, and after that leadership stops paying attention and expects performance to hold on its own. In an orthodontic environment that keeps changing, the team has to keep evolving too.

Zach Dykes draws the parallel to clinicians. Doctors earn continuing education credits and keep their licenses current, so why would the rest of the team stop learning? If the front desk and clinical staff stall, they become the weakest link, and the doctor can only do so much to compensate.

Ongoing training also has to account for how people actually learn. Drawing on seven years as a teacher and band director, Zach points out that shadowing works for some people but not all. Some staff learn visually, some are hands-on, some are auditory. Identifying a person’s learning style during hiring and then teaching to it makes the process stick, and it makes learning something a team member wants to do rather than a two-week slog to endure.

How does passive accountability quietly damage patient experience?

Passive accountability is what happens when expectations are vague and feedback only arrives after a mistake. There are no clear 30/60/90-day milestones during training, no consistent follow-up at those touchpoints, and the only signal a team member gets is a correction when something goes wrong.

The internal damage compounds. High performers burn out because they carry the load and train everyone else, while low performers slide by, clocking in at 8 and out at 5 without thinking about the work in between. No one knows what winning looks like because the targets were never made specific.

That internal drift reaches the patient. Kayla lists the symptoms directly: inconsistent greetings, missed follow-ups, and fragmented care, all of which erode the trust and loyalty a practice is trying to build. When growth stalls, she says, the cause is often not a lead, volume, or referral problem. Sometimes it is an internal problem, and the fix is being intentional with the team and making expectations clear.

How do you make accountability feel empowering instead of punitive?

Accountability becomes empowering when a team member understands the deeper reason behind their role, not just the daily checklist. Kayla frames it around outcomes: a treatment coordinator (TC) specializes in helping patients get the care they came in for, and a clinical assistant owns the job of easing anxiety and creating a comfortable visit. When people understand the why, they own their lane and start solving problems on their own, like noticing a patient is cold and bringing a blanket, or explaining each step to someone who looks nervous. At that point accountability reads as a point of pride, not a threat.

Mission matters here, but only if it lives in behavior. Kayla advocates revisiting the practice mission statement in monthly team meetings and asking each person what it meant to them that month and how they acted on it. Zach adds that this only works when the mission goes past words on a wall and becomes the actual culture: every patient gets the same high standard of care regardless of which treatment they chose.

Empowerment also means leaving room for staff judgment. Zach cites a doctor on the show, Dr. Bryce, who deliberately avoids over-specifying instructions so his team uses critical thinking and stays creative. From Zach’s teaching experience, the punitive route (“do this or you fail”) produces only the bare minimum, while trust and empowerment produce real effort. When leaders stay open and actually listen to an idea before reacting, team members bring more of them.

How can redefining one role change a practice’s reviews and conversions?

Redefining a role can change a person’s entire performance, and the practice’s results with it. Kayla’s clearest example is a front desk employee who had been in the same seat for about 15 years and constantly said “I’m just the front desk, what do I know?” Previous leadership had reinforced that mindset by telling her to just answer the phones and nothing more.

After a series of intentional one-on-ones, Kayla redefined the role with leadership’s permission and made it official, down to the title that appeared when the employee clocked in each day. The new title was “patient satisfaction specialist.” Her energy and confidence changed immediately. She started standing up to welcome patients, walking them through the brushing station, water, and paperwork, introducing herself by name, and saying goodbye on the way out. She did the same warmth on inbound calls.

The downstream results were concrete: the practice’s reviews climbed, consults and conversions increased, and new-patient calls converted more often because callers had a genuinely good first interaction. The same employee began bringing Kayla new ideas, opening a line of communication that had not existed before. The lesson Kayla draws is that every role feeds the next one down the line, so a strong, confident front desk sets up the TC and doctor to convert.

How do you set SMART goals that go beyond production numbers?

SMART goals work better when they reach past production, collections, and case starts. Early in her leadership, Kayla was heavily data-driven, and the constant push to hit metrics did not resonate with her team. She broadened the goals to include communication and growth: a 95% call answer rate, a senior team member mentoring a new hire, or faster turnaround on lab cases. Some of those are still numbers, but they tie individual effort to team impact, like getting patients in sooner when lab cases move faster.

The bigger principle is co-creation. Goals stick when the team member helps design them, because they are tied to that person’s own growth rather than handed down. Kayla built time into monthly group meetings for individuals to name a growth goal, then paired the person who wanted a skill with the person who already had it. A simple example: setting a goal that a team member learns to run the autoclave or cold sterile by the end of the month, taught by a colleague who already knows it. That lowers pressure, builds cross-coverage for sick days, and links the team together.

This is also where a goal that looks odd on paper can pay off. An assistant came to Kayla wanting to improve patient comfort but assumed the answer would be “it’s not in the budget,” the standard response under prior leadership. Instead, Kayla gave her a budget and a plan to introduce one new comfort touchpoint every week or two. The result was a “comfort cupboard” stocked with warm blankets heated in the dryer, travel-size pillows, tooth-shaped stress balls, and curated playlists matched to patient taste, down to classic rock. Net Promoter Score (NPS) and reviews rose, and referrals increased through word of mouth. Eventually the whole team logged comfort preferences in patient charts so the items were ready before each visit.

How do you coach treatment coordinators to grow same-day starts without feeling salesy?

Coaching a treatment coordinator (TC) toward a goal like 15% same-day starts works best as a daily habit tied to story, not pressure. Kayla ran short end-of-day check-ins: how did the conversations go, how many patients started or signed up, what objections came up. The team celebrated the wins out loud, then worked the near misses, asking what could change next time, how soon to follow up, and what notes were taken so the patient could be called the next day. She kept a running list of every objection the team ever heard and role-played them on a monthly basis.

The framing is what keeps it from feeling salesy. Kayla ties every number to a human story: 15% is not an abstract figure, it is three more families who felt understood and chose to move forward. When a conversion rate moves from 54% one week to 62% the next, the coaching question is what the team did differently to connect with that many more patients. The tracked behaviors are the ones a TC can control: follow-up, response time, clarity of communication, and personalization.

One of her most effective tactics came from a TC who was an artist and built a verbal patient vision board. During the consult she would ask what the patient’s life would look like with the new smile, or what upcoming event they wanted to feel confident for, a wedding or a career that involved speaking in public. Anchoring the treatment to a real life goal helped hesitant patients decide. Zach connects this to outcome-focused selling, the approach his colleague Julie Nice (of Outcomes Only) teaches: decisions are emotional and then justified with logic, so when the front desk and TC have set the experience up well, the money objection often loses its grip.

What one-on-one cadence actually builds practice culture?

Kayla calls one-on-ones the heartbeat of culture because they create a safe, private space that team huddles cannot. Alone with a leader, a team member gives real feedback and opens up about aspirations and growth goals. The care models down: a person who feels seen and valued in a one-on-one carries that same treatment back to teammates and patients. She runs the cadence in three tiers.

The weekly 15-minute check-in is a quick, consistent touchpoint. It can be as simple as asking a team member to arrive 15 minutes before morning huddle, or grabbing a coffee, to hear how things are going. The point is showing the person they are not just another number clocking in and out.

The monthly 30-minute deep dive balances hard metrics with personal development so it feels strategic, not like a performance review. Kayla leads with impact, starts with metrics, then bridges quickly to the decisions behind them: what are you most proud of this month, and what would you do differently? Letting the team member reach their own conclusions makes the lesson stick, and the conversation maps development toward their personal goals, like a path to leadership for someone who wants to grow into it.

The quarterly 60-minute conversation is a growth reset that requires prep on both sides. The team member reflects beforehand on their wins, struggles, and ideal growth path over the last three months. The leader brings data, notes, and one or two stretch opportunities the person can own, such as improving shorthand note-taking or patient engagement. The goal is a pivot point with new goals, renewed energy, and an aligned vision. Zach links this to the 90-day rhythm in The 12 Week Year by Brian Moran and Michael Lennington: instead of waiting for an annual review, you reset and check in every quarter.

Across all three, Kayla uses the same three-part structure: what is working well, where the struggles are, and the upcoming goals.

Why should every one-on-one start with what is working well?

Starting with what is working well primes the entire conversation to be positive. Opening on struggles or metrics puts a team member on the defensive, so Kayla leads by celebrating wins instead. That sets a safe, affirming tone where the person does not feel ambushed by data about everything they did over the past several weeks.

The effect is practical, not just pleasant. A calm, positive opening makes the team member more receptive to feedback and new ideas, and it builds momentum for the rest of the meeting. It helps them see their own progress, which makes coaching feel like building on something valuable rather than fixing something broken. The message is that they are an asset worth investing in, not a problem to correct.

FAQ

How often should a dental or orthodontic practice hold one-on-ones? Kayla Brown recommends a tiered cadence: a 15-minute check-in weekly, a 30-minute deep dive monthly, and a 60-minute growth conversation quarterly. The weekly touchpoint keeps the relationship current, the monthly balances metrics with development, and the quarterly acts as a reset with prep work on both sides.

What does passive accountability look like in a practice? It shows up as vague expectations, missing 30/60/90-day training check-ins, and feedback that only arrives after a mistake. The fallout is high-performer burnout, low performers coasting, inconsistent patient greetings, and missed follow-ups, with no one clear on what success looks like.

How do you set goals for clinical staff that are not just production numbers? Add goals for communication and growth, such as a 95% call answer rate, mentoring a new hire, or faster lab turnaround. Build the goals with the team member rather than assigning them, because goals stick when the person helps design them and they connect to personal growth or team impact.

Why redefine a team member’s role or title? Clarifying and elevating a role gives a person ownership and pride. In Kayla’s example, making a long-tenured front desk employee an official “patient satisfaction specialist” changed her confidence and behavior, and the practice saw reviews and consult conversions rise as a result.

How can a treatment coordinator improve case acceptance without feeling salesy? Coach daily, celebrate wins, and role-play objections from a running list. Tie every number to a human story, and anchor the consult to the patient’s own life goals (an event, a career, more confidence) so the decision feels emotional and personal rather than transactional.

Glossary

• Treatment coordinator (TC): the team member who guides a patient through case presentation and the decision to start treatment.
• Net Promoter Score (NPS): a standard measure of how likely patients are to recommend the practice.
• SMART goals: goals that are specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound.
• Comfort cupboard: a stocked set of patient-comfort items (warm blankets, pillows, stress balls, playlists) introduced one touchpoint at a time.
• The 12 Week Year: a productivity book by Brian Moran and Michael Lennington that treats each quarter as its own “year” of goals.

Full episode transcript

[00:00] Welcome and Kayla’s background

Host (Zach Dykes): Welcome to the GrowOrtho live stream. I’m one of your hosts, Zach Dykes, joined by Kayla Brown, one of HIP’s own Practice Growth Advisors. Welcome to the show, Kayla.

Kayla Brown: Thank you so much, Zach. I’m so happy to be here.

Host: I’m excited for this, because we’re diving into how to transform your training headaches into practice-wide growth. It starts with clarity, because everyone has to know what they’re doing. That’s where people get frustrated and angry, when they don’t know what they’re doing. Then setting SMART goals, building culture, and running one-on-ones that aren’t scary, that empower every teammate and the leadership too. Before we get into the meat and potatoes, tell everybody about yourself and your experience in the orthodontic industry.

Kayla Brown: I come from a background heavy in operations. I have about 14 years in orthodontics and about 15 years in dental. I’ve worked every position: clinical chairside assistant, sterilization assistant, call center agent, front desk, treatment coordinator, office manager, and clinical director of operations. My background is very heavy in operational processes, developing policies, a lot of HR, a lot of coaching. When I was in the orthodontic practice, we had just acquired some orthodontic offices within the DSO I was working with, and there was no solid plan or foundation moving forward. So I was very involved in creating those foundational building blocks of an orthodontic department. Part of that was developing our teams, increasing our retention rate, and making sure our staff knew they were valued, so that they in turn made our patients feel valued.

Host: That’s huge, because if the team doesn’t feel valued, it breeds animosity toward where and how they’re working, and they won’t treat people well, on the team or with patients. It’s just a job to them.

Kayla Brown: Without the culture and the intentional conversations we should be having regularly, which I often find are lacking, the team suffers. It’s not from a lack of knowledge or time. We just don’t always make time for those intentional conversations. We don’t always realize our team values that one-on-one time. They want to be heard, to know they’re valued, to know what they can do better and what they’re doing well. It’s not all about where you need to improve. These are intentional foundational building blocks, not just the training at the beginning when they’re hired and then we set them free and expect them to be happy. They’ve been integrated into the team, but there needs to be an ongoing cadence to keep building that relationship and that value in their position. See where they’re at, how they’re feeling, whether they want to grow. It’s a time to celebrate them too. And in turn, they treat your patients, the bread and butter of your practice, with respect and a welcoming atmosphere.

Host: Intentionality pops into my mind.

Kayla Brown: Yes.

Host: Everybody gets 24 hours. Even with a billion dollars, you don’t get extra time. So it’s not a time issue, it’s a priority issue. If you’re not prioritizing that part of your practice, you’re going to have churn. You’re constantly training people, and your patients feel it.

Kayla Brown: It creates stress and animosity when churn increases and turnover is astronomical. There’s a real cost to hiring, terminating, and going through the hiring process again. If we would just intentionally spend 15 minutes a week with each team member, or 30 minutes a month, take them to lunch or have a coffee before morning huddle, and make sure those conversations are scheduled, it goes so far. The team member should know it’s a time for them to come to you with what they’re enjoying and what they need help with. Showing them you have time for them and want to build that relationship retains the people who are the heart of the practice.

[00:06] Reactive vs. proactive training

Host: Let’s picture this so people have something actionable. When you walk into a practice wrestling with high turnover and inconsistent standards, what’s the very first thing training systems can work on?

Kayla Brown: Being reactive instead of proactive. Many practices treat training as a one-time event at hiring and onboarding, instead of an ongoing process with a cadence, weekly, biweekly, monthly, or quarterly. They react to mistakes instead of building proactive systems. If you give a team member the chance to come to you in a one-on-one and say they’re struggling in an area, that opens the door to pairing them with someone strong in that area before they make a mistake or leave. I also see a lot of assumed knowledge, an unspoken expectation that if they shadow during onboarding, they’ll just figure it out. They shadow a leader who knows how the practice runs, but that’s not continuous. We expect that after the first 90 days they’re good and we don’t have to pay attention anymore. But in an orthodontic environment that’s always evolving, our team members need to keep evolving too, and we need to help them with continuous learning.

Host: Doctors have to get CE credits and keep their license current. Wouldn’t you want your team on the same level? Otherwise your team becomes the weakest link, and the doctor can only do so much.

Kayla Brown: The team member has been trained and can answer the phone. But are we having conversations with them, listening to what they think could be better, and challenging them to grow a little every day, week, month, and year? Everything is always changing. We live in an Amazon world where we want everything same day, at our doorstep. There’s a missing link in training the administrative and clinical teams and making sure they keep advancing their knowledge.

Host: You mentioned shadowing. It’s great when people get to shadow, but people learn in different ways. I was a teacher for seven years, so differentiating the teaching matters. Some people are visual, some are hands-on, some are auditory. You need to talk to the person, figure that out during hiring, make notes, and make the learning process something they want to do, not a boring slog. We interviewed Southern Roots recently about their onboarding, how they make it fun and exciting, give people the resources, and use a trial period to make sure people are the right fit. That’s a great way to approach it. So how does passive accountability show up day to day, and what downstream effect does it have on patient experience and team morale?

Kayla Brown: Most of the time the training process has vague expectations. We’re not setting intentional 30/60/90-day goals or having conversations at those time frames. There’s a lack of follow-through on those touchpoints, and feedback only comes when something goes wrong. We’re reactive to problems instead of getting in front of them. Then there’s the team impact: morale dips, high performers burn out because they’re doing everything and training this person, while low performers slide by. They clock in at 8, leave at 5, and don’t think about it in between. No one knows what winning looks like because the expectations are vague. The patient experience suffers from that, inconsistent greetings, missed follow-ups, fragmented care. That erodes the trust and loyalty of patients we want to give a red-carpet, first-class experience. When you don’t set expectations early or meet with the team regularly, all of it crumbles, and you notice you’re not growing the way you want. It’s not always a lead, volume, or referral issue. Sometimes it’s an internal issue, and we need to be intentional with our team and make sure they understand their expectations.

Host: I think of it like fast food. Nobody’s beating down the door at some chains, but you drive by a Chick-fil-A and it’s wrapped around the building, and the people inside are excited to be there because everyone has a role they’re playing. They know exactly what they’re supposed to do and execute at a high level. Your practice can be the same. You just have to be clear, set expectations and goals that are achievable but push people a little further.

[00:15] Role clarity and empowerment

Host: Let’s jump into role clarity, because it plays into accountability. How do you help a team member see the deeper why behind their position beyond the daily checklist, so accountability feels empowering rather than punitive?

Kayla Brown: It’s about mindset. There needs to be an atmosphere where we come in focused on our patients and the mission we’re serving. Go beyond the checklist: what outcome does the role drive? As a TC, my job is to specialize in getting patients the care they need and deserve. They chose us for a reason. When people understand the why behind what they do, whether they’re a clinical assistant easing anxiety and giving a comfortable experience, they own their lane and become innovative. They think of ways to make a patient more comfortable, like noticing someone’s chilly and getting a blanket or a pillow, or seeing someone’s nervous and explaining everything before doing it. At that point, accountability becomes a badge of pride, not a threat. It shifts from “I have to do all of this” to “I get to provide this experience and treat this person like my own family.”

Kayla Brown: Tools that help include having a mission statement and making sure every new hire understands it. I’m a big advocate for monthly meetings with the whole team where you reiterate the mission statement and ask each team member what it meant to them that month and how they implemented it.

Host: It goes beyond words on the wall from onboarding. It has to be actionable, the culture and the expectation that everyone is working toward the same outcome for every patient. It doesn’t vary by which treatment someone is getting. Everybody gets the white-glove treatment, and that goes back to Chick-fil-A. As a teacher, I know students work harder when you trust and empower them. The punitive route gets you the bare minimum so people avoid punishment. But if you empower them, you get more.

Host: Dr. Bryce talks about this. He doesn’t give everyone the exact specifics of what to do, because he wants them to be creative and use their critical thinking to solve problems. The blanket example is huge. A lot of people get cold in a building kept cooler for a crowd, and that blanket makes them feel more comfortable and ready.

Kayla Brown: That goes a long way with innovative ideas too. Empowered team members feel comfortable bringing you new ideas. They feel like a partner, not someone beneath a doctor or manager on a pedestal. By empowering them to make decisions and be innovative, you make them open to coming to you with ideas. You’d be surprised how many great ideas they bring to improve the practice.

Host: They’re doing the role more than you ever did. You might have been in that role once, but they’re doing it day to day, so they see things that could be adjusted. Listen to the whole idea before replying. I’ve worked under leadership where if it wasn’t their idea, they wouldn’t do it, which is so much more work for the employee. Just listen, and if it’s a good idea, run with it.

Kayla Brown: I agree. Sometimes you come to leadership with an idea you’ve already tried that worked well. Leadership needs to be in that open mindset, willing to try ideas. The worst that happens is it doesn’t work and you go back to the old way. Being open shows your team you’ll try their ideas, and they’ll feel better about their position and bring future ideas, because they’ve developed a comfortable relationship with you instead of being scared to talk to someone far above them.

[00:23] Redefining a role

Host: That brings me to my next question. Can you share a moment where redefining a single role unlocked unexpected results for the entire practice?

Kayla Brown: In the practice I worked in before this role, I had a front desk employee who had been there longer than me, about 15 years. She’d always say, “I’m just the front desk, what do I know? I just answer the phones and get people scheduled.” I started implementing intentional one-on-ones. I told her, “You can come to me. I’m your leader, but I’m in scrubs too. I’m part of the team. I’ve been in your position.” I sat down and listened to understand where she was coming from. Previous leadership had given her that mindset: just answer the phones, we don’t need you to do anything else, even when she asked what else she could do to help. She’d been put in a corner. So I redefined her role, with permission from my leadership, and made it official, down to the title she saw when she clocked in every day. We made her the patient satisfaction specialist.

Kayla Brown: Her energy and confidence changed completely. She’d stand up to welcome patients, point out the brushing station and bottled water, hand them paperwork, and tell them where the restrooms were. She’d introduce herself, “It’s so nice to meet you, we’re glad you’re here today,” and say goodbye on their way out. Our reviews skyrocketed. Consults and conversions increased, and new patients who called in organically converted more because she had those warm conversations: “Thank you so much for calling. Let me be the first to welcome you. You’re going to love it here, our team is great.” Every role plays a part in the next one down the line. The front desk giving that great experience means patients come in ready to convert when they see the doctor and the TC.

Host: I love that story, the transformation from “I’m just here for a paycheck” because previous leadership beat her down, to taking the time to talk to her and make it official. Actual connection makes a huge difference. Imagine if you just take a few 15-minute conversations with individuals through the week. You’ll have so much more energy in the practice because people feel heard.

Kayla Brown: Giving her that empowerment and reiterating how important she was opened an entirely new door of communication. She’d come to me regularly with ideas: “Do you think we could do this, could we change that?” We didn’t have that before.

[00:28] SMART goals beyond production

Host: One little change can open the floodgates. Let’s jump into setting SMART goals for every role. What’s your process for weaving leadership, communication, or efficiency metrics into clinical roles so they’re more than just production numbers?

Kayla Brown: We can talk numbers all day. One of my early deficits as a leader was being very business-oriented and data-driven, pushing to meet metrics, and it wasn’t resonating with my team. So I got more knowledge, read leadership and self-help books, and consulted peers who’d been doing this longer. It’s about broadening the metrics. Add goals for communication, like a 95% call answer rate. I know that’s still a number, but let’s answer those phones. Mentoring a new hire, or efficiency like lab-case turnaround time. It’s also about co-creation, meeting with the team and listening. Goals stick when the team member helps design them and they’re tied to personal growth or team impact. Lab turnaround impacts the whole team: if we get patients in sooner, the schedule is more efficient, and it gives them something to be proud of. “I saw this case wasn’t in the lab yet, so I called and they’ll have it here this afternoon.” Or setting a goal like, “Does anyone want to learn the cold sterile or how to clean the autoclave?” and giving them a month to learn it from someone who knows.

Kayla Brown: You never know what goals your team has until you talk to them. Having that conversation in a team setting gets others involved in someone’s growth goal and links the team together. They partner up: the person with the expertise teaches the person who wants it but didn’t know how to ask.

Host: There’s less pressure in that, and it brings down barriers. When you’re starting out and someone above you does something you’d love to do, it can feel impossible because you don’t want to step on toes or take their job. But you’re not taking their job. One day they might be sick and nobody else knows how to run the autoclave. If you’re willing to go the extra mile, it opens things up and brings less pressure to the whole group. I love that it’s collaborative. So many times in different industries you feel alone even in a room full of people.

Kayla Brown: I made those group discussions intentional. There was always time on the monthly meeting agenda to talk about each person’s growth goals. They could come forward if they wanted. Does someone want to grow or learn something new? Let’s team you up with a peer and get it done. It’s about letting them know we’re here for them as a team and they’re not alone.

[00:34] A non-traditional goal: the comfort cupboard

Host: Have you coached a team through a non-traditional SMART goal that looked odd on paper but turned out to be a game changer?

Kayla Brown: Going back to the blankets and pillows. An assistant came to me wanting to improve patient comfort, but she wasn’t sure how it would look or if we’d be open to it. We didn’t have comfort items. She worried I’d say it’s not in the budget, because that was the verbiage before when ideas were brought up. She’d been there about 15 years; I came in about four years into her tenure. Her goal was to reduce patient anxiety by introducing comfort items. We made a plan to introduce one new comfort touchpoint every week or every other week. I gave her a budget and would send her to the store to get what she thought would make patients more comfortable. We called it our comfort cupboard: warm blankets we’d heat in the dryer, travel-size pillows, since those dental chairs aren’t always comfortable, especially for someone with a back injury, and tooth-shaped stress balls patients could fidget with during the appointment. That was her idea. We also had curated playlists. If a patient wanted calming music or classic rock in their operatory, we had a go-to channel for them. It eased anxiety and made the appointment feel quicker. It boosted our NPS scores and reviews, and our referrals increased through word of mouth. People told friends and family, “Go here, they have blankets, pillows, cute stress balls, and they play your favorite music.”

Host: Going to a medical practice, ten times out of ten it’s the same channel on the screen. When I go to the gym and put on a show I like while I’m on the bike, the ride is so much easier. I’m not even thinking about it. Those little things make a huge difference. You said referrals went up. What could practices watching this be doing to get that same result? It also empowers your team to do more of it.

Kayla Brown: Toward the end of implementation, the whole team was adding notes to patient charts: this patient prefers a warm blanket and pillow, this one prefers this channel, this one likes this to ease anxiety. Before bringing the patient back, they’d have those items ready to make the experience the best it could be.

Host: That’s unreasonable hospitality. When you know what people like, you set up their experience to be amazing and they rave about it. You want to create raving fans. The expectation is straight teeth when you’re done, but it’s the experience getting there that people rave about.

[00:38] Coaching treatment coordinators

Host: Let’s talk treatment coordinators. Say the goal is about 15% same-day starts and stronger connections. How would you coach them day to day so both the numbers and human connection improve together?

Kayla Brown: I’d do daily coaching with my TCs at the end of the day. How did today go? How many people started or signed up? What objections did you see? We’d celebrate the wins: “You got six people to start or sign up to start in the future today, that’s amazing. What did you say to gain that relationship and that yes?” Then we’d talk about the near misses: what could we do next time, how soon can we follow up, what notes did you take, can we call them tomorrow to check in and ask about their experience? And we role-played common objections. I kept a list of every objection we ever heard and we’d role-play them monthly. I held monthly whole-team meetings, plus separate 30-minute meetings every other week for the TCs and for the front desk specialists, so we could celebrate wins by team and discuss what we could do better.

Kayla Brown: It’s a dual focus, tying every number to a story. So 15% means three more families who felt understood and excited. If our conversion rate was 54% one week and we brought it to 62% the next, what did we do differently to engage that many more patients? Then track the behaviors the TC can control: follow-up, response time, clarity of communication, personalization. Some people don’t like small talk, some have the gift of gab. Track it and reiterate that these conversations work. This one didn’t work this time, maybe we try this next time. It’s continuous improvement and one-on-ones around the situations we face day to day. In dentistry, sometimes our patients are like a box of chocolates, you never know what’s coming in the door, and we can all learn from each other’s situations.

Host: It goes back to the collaborative mindset. It’s not one TC versus another on conversion rate. It’s the human connection I like. Every position is like a station on a conveyor belt. When the front desk notes in the file that this person doesn’t like small talk, the TC is set up for success and doesn’t open with the weather to someone who just wants to know the cost. You’re equipping your TC for success, and the human connection is part of the metrics. Tell me the most creative tactic you’ve seen a coordinator use to turn patient hesitation into “I have to have this,” without feeling salesy, because people feel salesy as sleazy.

Kayla Brown: One of my TCs, who I’d just put into the role, had a great, creative personality. She was an artist, and she created a patient vision board, more of a verbal vision board. During the consult she’d ask, “What would your life look like with this smile? What event do you have coming up that you’d like a confident smile for?” That emotional anchoring of the achievable results we’d discussed in the treatment room helped hesitant patients make confident decisions. People would say they were engaged and getting married in a couple of years, or in college wanting to be a lawyer who’d speak in courtrooms. Taking that life goal and tying it to the treatment made it an emotional, goal-oriented process that resonated. She’d get people teetering on the edge to say, “You’re right, this is an investment I need to make now so I have that smile and confidence going forward.”

Host: It’s outcome-focused. We have Julie Nice who works with us, and it feels a lot like keeping the outcome in mind, future-pacing what they want to achieve, how they want to feel and look, how people react to them. So many times the objection is money, but if the front desk and TC have done their jobs before the patient comes in, that part is diffused. Money might still be an objection, but decisions are emotional and then backed up with logic. If you get them to feel they’re making this decision toward where they want to go, that’s powerful.

[00:47] One-on-ones as the heartbeat of culture

Host: Kayla, you’re bringing up so much good stuff. I know we’re slightly running out of time, but I want to get into one-on-ones, because people miss them so much. You call one-on-ones the heartbeat of culture. What makes that small slice of time more potent than team huddles or bigger staff meetings?

Kayla Brown: It’s about making your team feel valued. You’re cutting out time for intimate, intentional conversations one-on-one to build that relationship. You see them as a partner, not just an employee. Unlike team huddles, one-on-ones create a safe space for the team member to open up and give real feedback. When you’re alone with them and make them comfortable, they’ll open up about their aspirations and growth goals and what that means for your practice. The culture cascades from there. Leaders model presence, curiosity, and care, and the team member feels seen and heard because you carved out time on a schedule they know is busy. That sets the tone for how teammates treat one another. They leave feeling valued and bring that same care back to the team. Even a simple 15-minute one-on-one works: “Can you get here 15 minutes early before huddle so we can talk? I’d love to hear how things are going.” Or take them for coffee while a clinical leader runs morning huddle. It’s about showing them you care and have time for them. They’re not just another number.

Host: It’s the quick check-in to make sure everything’s good, and the culture is part of it. From my experience, I get bad anxiety when someone says “I want to talk to you,” like I’m going to get fired.

Kayla Brown: Right. But when that’s part of the culture, where everybody has these, it sets everyone up on the same playing field and actually helps them achieve their goals. Someone might say, “Clinical is fine, but I’d really like to answer phone calls.” You can see that, and it doesn’t feel like an awkward conversation, because as the office manager or team lead doing these, you’ve set it up nicely to have that real conversation.

Host: Everyone go back and listen to that front desk part again, because that was transformative. We hit the weekly 15 minutes. Talk about the 30-minute deep dives and the 60-minute quarterly meetings.

Kayla Brown: The monthly 30-minute deep dives are about balancing hard metrics with personal development so it feels strategic rather than like a performance review. You don’t want to lead with “you’re not performing here.” Lead with impact, start with metrics, then quickly bridge to the behaviors and decisions behind them. What are you most proud of? What decision did you make this month that felt good? And what would you do differently? Maybe a situation came up you wish you’d handled better. Get them to open up. It’s about listening and being a sounding board, because often they’ll realize what could have gone better and tell you, and it sticks because they reasoned it out themselves. You map out development in these conversations and tie performance to personal goals. If they want to be more confident or lead someday but don’t know the path, show them there’s a course and coach them toward it. In 30 minutes you learn so much about what your team wants to do, not just what they’re already doing.

Host: The format you’re suggesting is essentially three questions: what’s working well, the struggles going on, and upcoming goals. Give me a quick version of the 60-minute one-on-one.

Kayla Brown: The 60-minute is a quarterly growth conversation, so it needs prep work. You ask the team member to reflect on their wins over the quarter, their struggles, what they need help with, what they want advice on, and their ideal growth path. Where do you want to be in the next 90 days? Is there something you’d like to learn in those three months? The leader preps too: bring data, notes, and feedback, and prepare one or two stretch opportunities the team member can own, like improving shorthand note-taking or patient engagement. There should always be an outcome. It should feel like a pivot point with new goals, renewed energy, and an aligned vision. A quarterly reset that gets them back in the groove, reiterating that we’re partners, what success means to the practice, and how they play a role in it.

Host: I love that, because it works with The 12 Week Year, a fantastic book everyone should read. Instead of waiting until the last quarter of the year, you have 12-week cycles. The 60-minute quarterly review is essentially that 12-week check-in: these were your goals, how did we do? Kayla, we’ll have to have you back, because there’s so much more. One last thing: why do you start all your one-on-ones with what’s working well, and how does that set the tone instead of being confrontational?

Kayla Brown: You’re priming the conversation to be positive. You’re not starting with what’s going wrong or their struggles. You’re celebrating with them and setting a safe, affirming tone, so it doesn’t feel intimidating or like you’re coming at them with data about the past 12 weeks. It opens them up to feedback and new ideas. They feel calmer, the interaction is positive, and they’re in a safe environment. You’re not there to tell them what they’re doing wrong, you’re there to celebrate them. It builds momentum for the rest of the conversation and helps them see they’re progressing, which makes coaching feel like building rather than fixing. They’re not the problem, they’re a valuable asset, and we want to build on that value.

Host: Couldn’t say it better myself. Kayla, thank you so much for being on. That’s our stream today. Make sure to like and subscribe to our weekly GrowOrtho Podcast and our brand-new GrowDental podcast. If you don’t take this stuff, this is gold. Kayla gave you a million dollars’ worth of ideas today, because all of this can help grow your practice. As the line widely attributed to Mark Twain goes, the secret of getting ahead is getting started. So go out there and get started making the changes you want to see in your practice. This has been Zach and Kayla. Thank you for listening to the GrowOrtho Podcast.

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