Building a Thriving Team Culture in Your Practice

Alison Werner (00:11)
Hello and welcome to the Orthodontic Products podcast. I’m your host, Alison Werner. Today we’re going to talk about what it means to build a thriving team culture. As staffing issues continue to affect orthodontic practices, retention along with making new hires feel part of the team is so important. Part of this is understanding the different generations within your staff and how to benefit from their strengths and bridge those generational divides. And joining me to do this is Cassie Kellner. Cassie is the founder and owner of Everbloom, an orthodontic consulting firm.

Cassie has over two decades of experience in the orthodontic field, starting out as a team member before turning to consulting, lecturing, and working as a practice coach. Cassie, thanks for joining me.

Cassie Kellner (00:49)
Thanks for having me. This is so fun.

Alison Werner (00:52)
good. Well, I hope it continues to be that I think we’re to a good conversation. So like I said, staffing is a major concern and they’re focusing on retention. That’s kind of the best way to avoid having to deal with those staffing hiring issues. A major part of that is creating a good work culture or as you call it, team culture. What does it mean to build a thriving team culture?

Cassie Kellner (00:54)
I know.

Well, I feel like it’s like any relationship, like with any relationship, because team culture is just relationships, right? You need like the number one, like big and bold trust. Because if you have no trust, and this isn’t just in orthodontics, this is just in workplace culture in general, right? What do you have if you have no trust? So I feel like practices that are maybe struggling with team culture,

Alison Werner (01:28)
Mm

Mm

Cassie Kellner (01:46)
should go back to the basics. What’s your mission? What are your core values? Have you explained all of this to your team? What does the trust actually look like for your team? If people are lacking in trust, then I think there is a rapid decline in their team culture. without team culture, all of the amazing extra things that you do in your practice

Alison Werner (01:49)
Hmm.

Yeah.

Cassie Kellner (02:16)
It all will fall flat if your team is not excited because you have a flat team culture.

Alison Werner (02:22)
Yeah, okay. So what are ways of building that team culture?

Cassie Kellner (02:27)
I am finding and have found again, you know, in my intro, you said two decades, which like decade is just, it’s like overwhelming to hear, you know, I’ve been in this field for a long time now. And, know, myself, I have felt this as a team member, but also as a consultant slash coach, orthodontist and teams see patients all day, every day, they are running a mile a minute. Right. So

Alison Werner (02:33)
huh. Yeah.

Cassie Kellner (02:56)
I feel like if they don’t have enough collaboration or communication, then team culture starts to slip very, very fast. And it’s difficult to do that. Some practices are seeing 60 patients a day. Some practices are seeing 120 patients a day. So like, how do they actually, you know, collaborate and communicate? If you lose that and you’re not building it into your practice, you can get into a lot of trouble with your team culture.

Alison Werner (03:18)
Mm

Okay, so talk to me about the generational issues that can feed into this team culture for the good and for the bad.

Cassie Kellner (03:37)
So this is really fun for me. And I’m saying this as like a millennial. Actually, my nieces call me an elder millennial because I’m like the top of what that looks like. But I talk about this often. And I’m like maybe a super nerd when it comes to this. But I feel like it is time. And there are plenty of practices that are doing a beautiful job with this. it is time to bridge the divide, right?

Alison Werner (04:05)
Mm

Cassie Kellner (04:05)
you may have somebody in your practice that is a baby boomer and they’ve been there a really long time. Like from the day that the doors opened, they rolled up their sleeves and they figured out how to do this. And then you may have somebody who is Gen Z who, you know, was born with a smartphone in their hand. So, you know, that’s a very dramatic shift. And then you have, you sprinkle in all the other generations, you know, like me, the millennial who grew up with like,

Alison Werner (04:12)
Mm -hmm. Yeah.

Yeah.

Cassie Kellner (04:35)
Oregon Trail, but also had AOL, you know, I think that it’s really important to connect, to connect those generations within your teams. They, they, every single generation in your practice offers so much value. And I think that there’s been a stigma. I mean, I can certainly speak for millennials because I am one.

Alison Werner (04:36)
Mm -hmm. Yeah.

Yeah.

Cassie Kellner (04:58)
You know, there was like the millennials need the trophies. They need to win at everything they need. And I don’t know that that’s necessarily true. I think what we’ve done accidentally is we’ve put all of these generations in a box and not all of these individuals that people are hiring fit in that box. So I think it’s important to, again, going back to trust, communication, collaboration, like really being able to connect

connect all of these generations within the workplace, it’s only going to better your team. When people keep themselves in these little boxes and they’re not, because you can learn things, but you can also unlearn things. And I think that it’s important for team members and leaders to understand that maybe we’ve learned this behavior.

Alison Werner (05:43)
Mm

Cassie Kellner (05:52)
or we’ve learned this style, but we can also unlearn these things and learn new things. So I think it’s so important to connect everyone on your team. It doesn’t matter how old they are.

Alison Werner (05:58)
Yeah.

Mm -hmm.

Well, as the Gen X in there. The ones who are always forgotten.

Cassie Kellner (06:09)
Right? I know. It’s so true, by the way. And Gen X, like that too, know, Gen X was given these like this digital world in the workplace. Like they had to kind of figure it out first. You know, me as a millennial, I had like dial up at home and then it came later in the workforce. there’s just, there’s…

Alison Werner (06:15)
So, yeah.

Mm -hmm. Yeah.

Yeah.

Cassie Kellner (06:36)
There’s opportunity to learn from every single generation and practices should be doing this.

Alison Werner (06:41)
Yeah. Okay. So let’s break down the different generations and what they bring to the table and the mindset that can affect the team relationships. Cause you already talked about how generalizations about a generation can, you know, create some issues. So let’s start with boomers. What do they bring to the table?

Cassie Kellner (06:58)
Okay, okay, so as I said, know, boomers are, like they had to work really hard. Like for me, just use me as an example, I’m gonna be 40 in two months. It’s so easy for me, I’m so used to like typing in the Google machine and figuring things out, right? Boomers did not have that. They had to like, there was like blood, sweat and tears that went into the workforce of, okay, we don’t have a system.

Alison Werner (07:09)
Mm -hmm. Mm -hmm.

Mm -hmm, right.

Cassie Kellner (07:27)
let’s create this system. Like they had, there was like true grit there. And a lot of those boomers are still in these practices. They’ve had to figure this stuff out on their own. And there’s such a level of respect for that. I think teams can learn from that kind of work ethic and how these individuals have learned over the years. And then you have GenX. I love that you say you’re the forgotten.

Alison Werner (07:32)
Mm

Yep.

Mm -hmm.

Yeah.

Yep. -huh.

Cassie Kellner (07:56)
because it’s true. mean, people talk about millennials and gens all day long, but Gen X, and by the way, this depends on where you get your information, but Gen X is born from like 1965, given a year or two, into like 1980, given a year or two, right? And this, they are known for being incredibly adaptable because they’ve gone through

Alison Werner (08:04)
Mm

Yeah.

Mm -hmm. Mm -hmm.

Cassie Kellner (08:22)
all love the things, right? They worked closely with the boomers where they had the grit and the work ethic and they had to do it and figure it out on their own. But then they got the computers, the internet, they got a taste of that. And so they’re adaptable and most, I’m not gonna box anything in here because everybody is different, but they don’t necessarily resist change.

Alison Werner (08:24)
Yeah.

Yeah.

Right. Mm hmm. Yeah.

Cassie Kellner (08:51)
They’re like, okay, we’ll try it. Let’s just try it, which is huge. And every individual is different. Change management is a whole other topic that we talk about, but they don’t necessarily resist change. Then you have the millennial. Millennials are like, again, 1981 given a year or two to 1996. And so I think millennials, in my opinion, got a bad rep for…

Alison Werner (08:53)
Yeah.

Yeah. Yeah.

Cassie Kellner (09:18)
a myriad of reasons, right? But essentially, know, millennials value personal growth. They’re like, put me in coach, what can I do? How can I grow? What will that look like? And so why not? Why not give them the projects to figure out, you know, they can collaborate and understand the boomers and the gen Xers. And yeah, I had dial up and

Alison Werner (09:28)
Mm

Cassie Kellner (09:46)
I had to figure out this digital world, but they also understand the digital world on a whole other level. They’re quick to adapt to these things as well. And then you have Gen Z, right? So Gen Z is like, again, 97 -ish to 2012 -ish, who grew up with a smartphone in their hand. These people are super, super tech savvy.

Alison Werner (09:55)
Mm

Hmm.

Okay.

Yeah.

Cassie Kellner (10:15)
So, know, the whole marketing, just think marketing alone, you know, being able to bridge that gap in that digital platform. But they grew up most grew up with a smartphone in their hand. So when the boomers are taking impressions, Gen Z gets to scan in under five minutes, you know, but there’s so much that can be learned in between all of that, which is patient care.

Alison Werner (10:19)
Mm

Okay.

Cassie Kellner (10:44)
how to speak to people, how to connect with people. think the boomers, the Gen Xers can teach the millennials and the Gen Z a lot more about connection, think, and millennials and Gen Z can teach the boomers and Gen Xers about connection from a digital platform, right?

Alison Werner (10:47)
Mm -hmm.

Mm.

Okay, yeah.

Cassie Kellner (11:13)
So like you can bridge the gap. And on top of all of that, that’s four generations in a practice. Like that’s a lot to take in, to handle. And then you have Gen Alpha, which nobody’s talking about. Gen Alpha is essentially this year, they’re roughly 14 years old. That’s coming very quickly for them to work in workplace.

Alison Werner (11:19)
Yeah.

Yeah.

Hahaha

Mm

Right. Right.

Cassie Kellner (11:39)
And are you kidding? They are the most fluent in that kind of digital world. So I think it’s really important to, I think it’s really easy to focus on the negatives, but there is so much positive to bringing in all different generations and connecting them on a whole other level. And I think that practices will benefit.

Alison Werner (11:45)
Mm -hmm.

Cassie Kellner (12:06)
if they see the good in all of these individuals and these generations.

Alison Werner (12:11)
Yeah. Can you give, you talked a little bit about there was some examples of how the different generations can work together. Can you kind of give an example within an orthodontic practice of, maybe on the clinical side and maybe on the front desk side of how you can use the different generations to benefit the practice.

Cassie Kellner (12:32)
I think as a practice as a whole, creating a team buddy system from day one, new hires coming in and going, OK, this is your team buddy. The team buddy doesn’t necessarily have to be in the same age group, Maybe they have a ton of experience and they’ve been here for a long time, or vice versa. I think creating a team buddy system and

Alison Werner (12:38)
Mm.

Mm -hmm. Yeah.

Mm

Cassie Kellner (12:57)
being able to connect these individuals and giving them the tools to be able to connect with one another, because you’ll find that team members will just gravitate to what’s comfortable immediately. But if you assign them a team buddy that says, hey, this is where we like to go to lunch. I’m talking even outside of the practice and not even a clinical or admin. I’m just as a whole, this is what

Alison Werner (13:09)
Mm -hmm, right.

Okay.

Cassie Kellner (13:24)
everybody likes to do, here’s some fun menus. This is what it looks like when we go on a team outing. And then they are able to check in, going, they’re assigned to go to lunch with these individuals. Like they’re connecting the divide even outside of this kind of day to day, right? And you know, when you have trainers that are training, whether that’s admin or clinical,

Alison Werner (13:27)
Mm -hmm.

Mm

Mm

Cassie Kellner (13:53)
That is also really important to pay attention to who your trainers are and the difference there. I think it’s important to create these programs within your practice so that from day one, you are connecting all of the people in your practice.

Alison Werner (13:58)
Okay.

Mm

Mm -hmm. Okay. So what’s the doctor’s role in creating a thriving team culture?

Cassie Kellner (14:17)
This is actually really good to the doctor, a leader and any type of leader in the practice. It is so important that they create a safe space for these individuals, right? Because if you are really struggling with team culture, likely there obviously is a trust issue. But also have we created a safe space to be able

Alison Werner (14:24)
Mm

Okay.

Mm.

Cassie Kellner (14:47)
for all of these people to be able to connect. And you know, I say this often, but you have to be able to work in your practice, like the day -to -day stuff, but you have to be able to also work on your practice. And so by working on your practice, you’re working on your team culture. And as I said before, orthodontic practices are so busy, so busy all day long, that if they don’t build in true connection,

Alison Werner (14:50)
Yeah.

Mm

Mm -hmm, right.

Cassie Kellner (15:14)
If they are not giving their teams time to collaborate, they should be building in team meetings, team buddy systems, team wellness programs would be absolutely amazing. They should be doing clear one -on -ones, having onboarding processes, you know, in order to connect everyone and give everyone a safe space is really important. The trust also should come

Alison Werner (15:19)
Mm -hmm.

Mm

Yeah.

Cassie Kellner (15:44)
from them, right? So I hire someone and I’m like, have a beautiful team, culture We’re also going to train you. And we make all of these promises and then something happens and they don’t get the full onboarding or training that they were promised. And they’re kind of either thrown to the phones and now they have to do what they have to do, just kind of figuring out on their own or they’re thrown into a chair.

Alison Werner (15:45)
Mm -hmm.

Yeah.

Mm

Mm -hmm. Yeah.

Cassie Kellner (16:13)
and they have to figure out how to do orthodontics on their own with a sprinkle of help, well then they too have lost trust. So, you know, the working on your practice, that’s the piece that is really, really important. Without that, people wonder why they’re not retaining. And a lot of that has to do with you’re not giving your team the tools to be able to

Alison Werner (16:16)
Right.

Mm.

Cassie Kellner (16:41)
thrive. A massive part of that is obviously team culture, but there’s so much that comes along with that as well.

Alison Werner (16:45)
Yeah.

Okay, so what are some activities or programs that a practice can engage in on a regular basis to kind of create that team culture and just general wellness within the practice?

Cassie Kellner (16:59)
Yeah, I think, you know, it’s really important. Listen, I know, and I’m saying this as an adult, like pizza and food and connection, like everybody connects at the table, right? I mean, I have been into practices where we take a break and everybody’s at lunch and people are howling, laughing hysterically because like that’s their true time to connect. you…

Alison Werner (17:11)
Yeah. Mm -hmm. Mm -hmm.

Okay.

Cassie Kellner (17:26)
When you’re running a mile a minute in these practices, how much are you actually connecting, you know, in between seeing new patients and sterilizing and you’re not, right? It’s all business. You know, I have a patient or a mom or a dad or somebody staring at me, you know, there’s no time to connect. Most times people are connecting on their lunch breaks. so, you know, connecting and having team outings,

Alison Werner (17:36)
Mm -hmm. Mm -hmm. Yeah.

Yep.

Cassie Kellner (17:54)
creating wellness programs where you’re looking at your schedule in advance. That’s what I encourage. mean, in 2025, the ultimate goal should be looking at their schedule in advance and building in the time for your team to connect, communicate, collaborate, and create really, really fun events for your team. And some of that stuff, honestly, Alison can just be like a day off, right?

Alison Werner (17:58)
Mm

Mm

Cassie Kellner (18:23)
It doesn’t have to be this full on scavenger hunt, which is really fun, by the way. And it can be a really fun team outing. But some of these people are just burnt out sometimes. And they just need space. They just need time. Gift cards and love goes a really long way, but also understanding what your team wants.

Alison Werner (18:36)
Mm.

Cassie Kellner (18:52)
What is it that they’re looking for to be rewarded in any way or let them vote, let them have say in these team outings, know, create a list of five and they get to choose, you know. What you don’t want when you’re trying to communicate, collaborate and connect is to create something where people then are like, I have to…

Alison Werner (19:06)
Mm

Mm -hmm.

Cassie Kellner (19:19)
move things around with my children. I have to now I have to get a babysitter, which by the way, some of that has to happen, but it shouldn’t. That shouldn’t always be the case. It should be easy, right? It should be like surprise taco trucks for lunch. It should be, you know, ice cream, you know, at three o ‘clock. It should be somebody going on a coffee run. It should be donuts. It should be, you know, it should be connection, connection in any

Alison Werner (19:19)
Yeah. Mm hmm. Right. Yeah.

Right. Mm -hmm.

Right.

You

Yeah.

Cassie Kellner (19:48)
capacity, I think is most important because there are plenty of teams that I have talked to and see and practices that I’ve been in where they haven’t had a team meeting once and maybe it’s October. So we’ve gone 10 months and we haven’t connected really at all. One other thing, and this is, I know that this makes people uncomfortable, but

Alison Werner (20:09)
Mm

Yeah.

Cassie Kellner (20:15)
having growth plans and scheduling one -on -ones is really important. And those don’t necessarily, I think people think of these things as negative, right? They don’t have to be, it doesn’t have to be negative. It can just be, how are you doing? Is there anything that I can help you with? Is there anything that you’d like to see change in the future? It’s just simple questions. It’s the leader, the orthodontist, the office manager, the director of operations, whoever it is.

Alison Werner (20:25)
Right. Yeah. Mm

Yeah. Mm -hmm. Mm -hmm.

Cassie Kellner (20:45)
being able to sit down and connect with these individuals. And I think for years people have, I have to be honest, I don’t like the term performance review. I think it’s terrifying to everybody. So if we could just create a growth plan, let’s switch, let’s switch from performance review to growth plan. If we schedule those in advance and it is more of a conversation than the leader speaking, you know,

Alison Werner (20:55)
yeah. Mm -hmm. Yeah.

There you go. Okay. Yeah.

Mm -hmm.

Cassie Kellner (21:12)
This is what team members want. This is what is going to build a really, really beautiful team culture. And by the way, it’s not going to happen overnight. If there are practices that are listening to this right now and they’re like, we’re really struggling, just start really small. Connect. Collaborate. Bring your team together. A lot of times I’ll hear, we don’t have time.

Alison Werner (21:23)
right.

Mm

Cassie Kellner (21:40)
Well, as leaders, it’s your job to build that in. at your schedule going forward and build those things in so that you can actually connect.

Alison Werner (21:44)
Yeah.

Yeah, absolutely. Well, Cassie, how can people find out more about you or potentially work with you if they’re interested?

Cassie Kellner (21:58)
I love that. So they can head to my website, but you know, I offer culture building programs, which is really fun. And by the way, we’re going to be talking about this in a later podcast. So I won’t go too deep into it. I love the DISC behavior assessment and we’ll dive into that later. But what it does too is it’s able to break up the generational divide and understand people at their core.

Alison Werner (22:10)
Yeah.

Yeah.

Mm -hmm. Yeah.

Cassie Kellner (22:27)
I feel that once people truly understand one another, those are the building blocks. So we offer culture building workshops, which is really fun for people to do. And it’s a fun activity. It’s also really fun if you’re brand new to a team. I’ve done it where maybe team members are…

Alison Werner (22:44)
Mm -hmm.

Okay.

Cassie Kellner (22:51)
have been there a really long time and they have two new team members and those team members do none of the things that they’re coming out of these people’s mouths like just you know be able to connect on a deeper level so yeah they can go to our website at discovereverbloom .com and and find out more about what we offer

Alison Werner (22:58)
Right.

Great. Well, as Cassie mentioned, she will be back with us a couple of times this season offering her insight. And we’re going to dive into disc and a later episode. So definitely tune in for that. And there will be a link to her website in the show notes. So Cassie, thank you so much for joining me today.

Cassie Kellner (23:28)
Thank you so much for having me. This was so much fun.

Alison Werner (23:31)
All right, great, we’ll see you again soon.