1023: The Meeting You’re Not Having (But Should Be Weekly) - Carlie Einarson

Weekly team meetings often get skipped, squeezed into lunch, or treated as optional — and that creates misalignment, unresolved issues, and reactive decision-making. In this episode, Kirk Behrendt brings back ACT Dental coach Carlie Einarson to explain why a structured weekly team meeting is the key rhythm for “practice care” (not patient care).

You’ll learn when to schedule it, what to cover, how to use KPIs to course-correct quickly, and how consistent meetings build an aligned, smarter, healthier team over time — listen to Episode 1023 of The Best Practices Show!

Main Takeaways:

1. The daily morning huddle is for patient care, and the weekly team meeting is for practice care.
2. Weekly meetings prevent misalignment by giving the team a consistent space to communicate, prioritize, and solve problems together.
3. “As-needed” meetings don’t work because issues pile up, side conversations grow, and small problems become big ones.
4. The best weekly meeting time is typically Tuesday or Wednesday morning, not Monday, not Thursday, and not over lunch.
5. Reviewing KPIs weekly turns data into decisions and allows faster course corrections when systems aren’t working.
6. A healthy culture isn’t conflict-free; weekly meetings create structured time for healthy conflict, recognition, and connection.
7. Progress comes from consistency over time, especially by breaking annual goals into quarterly priorities and working them weekly.

Snippets:

00:00 Intro

01:24 Meet Carlie Einarson

02:45 Why Weekly Meetings

05:45 Team First Mindset

06:36 Weekly Beats Monthly

09:04 Best Time To Meet

12:31 Alignment Through Vision

15:57 KPIs Make Teams Smarter

20:08 Healthy Culture And Conflict

24:51 Airplane Maintenance Wrap

27:02 Resources And Next Steps

28:35 Final Thanks And Signoff

Guest Bio/Guest Resources:

Carlie Einarson is a lead practice coach who has a passion for helping others succeed in the dental field. She loves helping to create a stable foundation for practices so both professionals and patients have a great experience every time they walk in the door!

Carlie graduated from Utah College of Dental Hygiene. She has ten years of experience in the dental field, including clinical dental hygiene, front office, and leading teams.

In her free time, she enjoys spending quality time with loved ones, traveling, skiing, playing volleyball, and golfing.

Resources mentioned in this episode:

1. Best Practices Association (BPA) resources and guides:https://www.actdental.com/free-resources/

More Helpful Links for a Better Practice & a Better Life:

1. The Best Practices Show: https://www.actdental.com/podcast/
2. Best Practices Association: https://www.actdental.com/bpa
3. Upcoming Events & Workshops: https://www.actdental.com/events/
4. Smile Source: https://www.smilesource.com/
5. Subscribe on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com
6. Subscribe on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com