Grow personally and professionally during Office Management Appreciation Month

It’s time to get the celebration started to recognize how much the dental office management team contributes to the health of their patients and practices. The theme for Office Management Appreciation Month (OMAM) 2025 is “Accelerate your growth journey: Personally and professionally.”

Everyone’s growth journey is different, and insights often come from coaches, mentors, and a community of friends and colleagues. Ideas and resources can also come from unlikely sources. The key is to get connected to those who can accelerate your growth and, as a true partner, understand your challenges and opportunities because they have shared similar experiences.

To help your team grow, CareCredit, in partnership with the American Association of Dental Office Management (AADOM), has given the OMAM website (omam.carecreditvirtual.com) an exciting update this year to include personal growth tips from the team at AADOM and professional growth strategies from your colleagues and other industry leaders.

Ways for dental office managers to grow during OMAM

The dental practice office administration team wears a lot of hats and juggles a lot of responsibilities. Being purposeful about growth adds another item onto an already long to-do list. Here are some tips that may help accelerate your growth journey:

Create a community. Penny Reed, executive vice president of AADOM, says OMAM is the perfect time to accelerate growth. “AADOM is excited to add personal growth inspiration to the OMAM virtual experience and share great ideas from our members and consultants. True growth happens in relationships. One of the most helpful ways to grow is to become connected to others who have the same goals so that you can shorten the learning curve. That’s what AADOM is all about; helping our members be their best, whether that’s at home, in their communities, or at the practice.”

Schedule time to improve. Carrie Webber, president of Jameson Management, says, “Life is easier when you’re intentional about improvement.” One way she recommends doing this is by frequently creating space for the team to practice new skills or to bond as colleagues. 

 “In addition to daily huddles and weekly team meetings, we have quarterly “brain trust meetings,” she says. “In these meetings, you and your team specifically work very in-depth and intentionally on a system, a piece of technology, verbal skills, or an element of the practice that needs attention. This way we all continue to improve together.” 

Look at your practice partners. Lili Colin, AADOM member and office manager at A Brush Above, shares, “We have a unique growth partner—our CareCredit practice development manager Heather, who is a great resource for us, especially when it comes to practice growth. She’s been with us for more than 10 years and we consider her part of our team. She makes sure we have all the latest marketing materials and practice growth resources from CareCredit, she’s helped us implement technology, she’s shared best practices from other dental teams that we’ve been able to implement, and so much more.” 

Even more ways for OMs to experience career growth

During Office Management Appreciation Month and beyond, be sure to check out the OMAM 2025 website for celebration ideas and resources and even more personal and professional growth inspiration.

Editor's note: This article appeared in the July/August 2025 print edition of Dental Economics magazine. Dentists in North America are eligible for a complimentary print subscription. Sign up here.