This week, take your work very seriously... just don't take yourself quite so seriously!    Have some fun.  If recent world events have done nothing else, they have surely reminded us that life is best lived one day at a time, very much in the present moment.

  

Patients sense when dental teams are happy, enjoy and like one another and are having a good time doing something they love and patients like the way it makes them feel.  They instinctively assume that when dental professionals are relaxed and even playful that everything must be going well and according to plan.  It makes you appear confident and in full control.

  

However, do be careful with humor as it is easy to cross the line of professionalism.  Always exercise your good judgment when telling jokes or making funny or sarcastic comments.  There is nothing unprofessional about having a great time at work.  As a matter of fact, I think it can be unprofessional to be altogether too serious.  It causes patients to feel judged and tense.

  

So this week, lighten up!  Whistle, sing, play a harmless "funny" on a coworker.  Post a joke in the team room.  Wear some silly hats or shirts on holidays like St. Patrick's Day or Save the Whales Day.  A friend who recently spent a lot on his dentistry, posted a note on the dental chair before the dentist came in to seat his last set of crowns that read, "Dental chair donated by the generous financial contributions of Jeff Emerson."  Another client office, who was utilizing the Bonus Bag incentive program (which was supposed to contain only two $50's), asked the dentist to write down the "pull" for the day.  As the bag was passed around the room and the dentist was carefully noting each bill drawn, he finally said, "Wait just a minute!  There aren't six $50's in that bag!"  It was April Fool's Day.  Little things like this help us all enjoy the journey on the way to our destination.

  

And by the way, they got to keep the $50's!