One of the best ways to run a Nifty Thrifty dental practice is to make sure tasks are performed consistently well no matter who is doing them. Consistency promotes efficiency, which helps you get more done in less time.
That is why I love having the best training materials available for my team. Many practices have practice manuals full of checklists and detailed instructions for tasks. Those can be helpful, of course. But they are not ideal in many situations. If all you do is create checklists and written instructions, you could be making things much harder and inefficient for your team.
Why Checklists and Written Instructions Are Limited
Checklists and written instructions can work well in a few situations. They can work well for individual administrative tasks not done using a computer, such as how to program or operate your phone system. A short checklists or written guide on how to answer phones, transfer calls, or program voicemail can be very effective. They can also work well for making lists of tasks team members need to perform.
Checklists and written instructions do not work well at all for other tasks, though, such as computer tasks. Computer tasks often require such detailed explanation that instructions will be hard to put in writing. This is especially true when you need to switch back and forth between different websites or software. Nobody wants to read the paragraphs of text it would require to explain those types of tasks. And with all the software we use in our practices these days, this comes up a lot.
How and When to Create Training Videos for Your Team
With many tasks, you can get much better results using training videos instead of written instructions. We use training videos all the time in my practice, especially for the many tasks we do using the computer. All I do is record my computer screen while I complete the task and talk through the process. It does not matter how complicated the process is; recording a video with me talking makes it very easy for all staff.
Video tutorials are actually very easy to record, too. All you need is a webcam, microphone, and screen-recording software. I use the Logitech C920 webcam, which you can get on Amazon for about $70. That webcam plugs into your computer using a USB connection and has a microphone built into it. You could use the built-in microphone if you want, but the audio quality is not the best. I suggest getting an external microphone for better audio quality. The one I use and recommend is the Audio-Technica ATR2100 microphone, which sells for under $70 on Amazon.
The screen-recording software I recommend is Loom, which has a free version that will work for most practices. I use the free version in my practice. The only limitation to the free version is that it only allows you to store 100 videos at a time. That is not an issue for me because I download my training videos and store them in Google Drive. I’d recommend you do the same.
If you want to see an example of a training video using Loom, visit this post in the Nifty Thrifty Dentists Facebook community. That post is a tutorial I created—using Loom—describing how I make tutorials . . . using Loom! You will see how easy it is to create the best training videos for your team.
Are you ready to get consistently great results from your team?
Creating video tutorials allows you to teach your team how to complete tasks one time and let them access it over and over again. You can show them exactly how you perform the tasks so they can perform it just like you would. You do not have to repeat yourself over and over again.
You can use Loom and Google Drive or Dropbox to create a library of videos for your staff. And when new staff members join your practice, they can have a full library of training videos to help them get up to speed fast.
What are some of your favorite ways to use video tutorials in your practice?
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