TEAMWORK & PATIENT PARTNERING

 

1 INSERVICE HOUR

 

OBJECTIVES:

 

At the end of the class, you will be able to:

 

1. Describe how to be a part of a good team.
2. Detail how to make the patient and family the center of the team and the team’s efforts.

 

INTRODUCTION

 

A team is a group of individuals who work together with one goal in mind. They all aim for the same thing. Teams are different from groups.

 

Groups are different from teams. Groups do not aim for the same thing. They do not have a shared goal. They may all do a job and they may all do their job well, but they do not have the same shared goal as a team does.

 

Good teams are very powerful and productive in reaching their goal. This class will teach you about teams, how to work well with teams and how to make the patient and family the most important member of the team.

 

A GOOD TEAM

 

 

 

A good team works well together. They cooperate with each other. The team shares one aim and they serve one customer. The team knows the goal and they are driven to reach it. They believe in the goal and they “buy into it”. Good teams are flexible and able to change things as based on the needs of their one customer. Each person’s work adds up to a level that is greater than adding up the people in the team when the team is a good one. For example, a good team of 6 people will add up to the effect of 8 or 10 people when they are a good team. The whole team is greater than adding up the parts, or the number of people in the team.

 

Good teams can do a lot and they can do it well but each person must do their best at all times. Teams will not do well if one person, or more, does not do their best.

 

Teams are found in a large number of settings. Teams can be found in:

 

• Sports, like the New York Yankees.
• Business, like the Bank of America.
• Industry, like General Motors.
• Healthcare, like found in your own job.

 

There may be several kinds of teams in each of the above settings. For example, the Yankees may have a pitching team, a marketing team and a coaching team. Your own healthcare job may have a hiring team, a teaching team and a patient care team. You are probably a member of the patient care team.

 

Good team members:

 

• are clear about the goal;
• know that the goal is important;
• accept responsibility to get the job done;
• depend on other members of the team;
• are always ready and willing to help other members of the team;
• communicate with all other people in the team;
• trust each other;
• know what their job in the team is;
• know how to do their job well;
• do not attack other people when they make a mistake;
• can come up with new ideas to reach the goal when that is needed; and they
• follow the words of the leader;

 

THE STAGES OF GROUPS

 

Teams always have 2 or more people. Anytime two people, or more, get together, they come with their own ideas and ways of doing things. They will still keep these ideas when they are working in a group but they now have to work with the group to do the best job for the group. They have to work together in harmony. They all have to work for the goal.

Groups go thru stages as they come together and grow as a group. These stages are:

·        Forming

·        Storming

·        Norming

·        Performing

Forming

This is the first stage of team building. The team, and its members, comes together. They learn about the goal. They learn about how the goal will be met. They agree on the goal and then they are ready to get to work.

 

Team members tend to act and think in an independent way. They are still focused on the goal and not the others in the team and the team goals.

 

During this stage, the people get to know each other.

Storming

During this stage different ideas compete. The team looks at different ways to solve the problem or to get to the goal. They work both independently and as a group. They start to open up to each other and begin to question each other’s ideas.

 

At times the group goes thru a period of time that can cause arguments and it can be very hard and unhappy to be a part of the group. All groups, however, have to go through this tough stage. It is necessary so that the team can grow. This conflict is needed but it can not get out of control. Patience is needed. The team leader works very hard to get the group past this stage.

 

Soon the group will solve their differences and they will begin to work with others in a good way. They will begin to share their own thoughts without the fear of being judged by the others in the group.

 

Norming

 

At some point, the team may enter the norming stage. The members change their behaviors and they begin to take on new work habits that help the team to work together in a smooth way.

They agree on the rules, behavior, values and the goal. They start to trust each other and the motivation of the group increases.

 

The members take on more responsibility to decisions and the team leader takes a less active role.

 

Performing

The last stage is the performing stage. Now the team is able to work well together in order to get the job done. There is no more conflict. The leader moves back and lets the team do its own work without a lot of help by the leader. People will still disagree but the group will still behave in the right way and they will come together for a solution.

 

HOW DO YOU KNOW IF THE TEAM IS DOING WELL?

 

 

Some of the signs that a team is doing well are:

 

• All members agree on the goal and they are working toward the goal.
• Everyone is doing their part and everyone is helping the other members of the team.
• All are able to freely share their thoughts and feelings for the purpose of helping the group move ahead.
• Everyone has a part in making decisions.
• The group is able to solve problems.
• Leadership is shared among the team members.
• Members are able to talk about their negative feelings.
• Conflict is NOT stopped. It is allowed to happen because it improves the group work.
• The knowledge, skills and experiences of all members are known and tapped into when needed.
• People feel free to be creative and to take risks.
• Mistakes are look at as a way of learning and not punished.

 

KINDS OF TEAMS

 

Sports Teams

 

There are many different types of sports teams. Some of these are:

 

• Baseball
• Football
• Soccer
• Basketball
• Downhill skiing

 

There are several things that are common to all of these teams. For a winning team, all team members:

 

• want to win;
• have their own individual talents that are known to other members and used in order to win. For example, a pitcher has a talent that is different from the skills of others. This does not make the pitcher better than the others, it just means that these talents are different from the talents of others on the team.
• do things to help the team win even if it does not put them in the spotlight. For example, a basketball player may not grab the ball when they know that another player is in a much better position than them to get the basket.

 

Winning teams:

 

 

• share leadership, values and norms;
• develop a sense of belonging so that all feel a part of the team;
• always have their eye on the common goal that is shared by all;
• share the task to be done. They focus on equal work and a quality outcome;
• help people to be creative and to come up with new solutions to old problems;
• are able to solve problems without attacking people. The focus is on the issue not the person;
• use open communication and the members do not judge or criticize others; and
• can respond to new challenges.

 

 

THE PATIENT AS THE CENTER OF THE TEAM

 

 

The PATIENT is the center of the team. The PATIENT is the most important member of the team. Healthcare workers must all work to meet the needs and desires of the patient. The healthcare team works every day and every minute towards the goal of good health care. The patient is the main decision maker; the patient is main focus of the team. They have a right to good care by all of the members of the healthcare team.

 

Copyright © 2009 Alene Burke

 

REFERENCES

 

Authenticity Consulting, LLC (2008). Free Management Library.

http://managementhelp.org/grp_skll/teams/teams.htm

 

Heathfield, Susan M. (2008). Twelve Tips for Team Building: How to Build Successful Work Teams

http://humanresources.about.com/od/involvementteams/a/twelve_tip_team_3.htm

 

Team Technology (2007). Team Building- A Complete Guide.

http://www.teamtechnology.co.uk/teambuilding.htm

 

Nebraska Cooperative Extension (2008). Team Building:
Developing a Productive Team http://ianrpubs.unl.edu/misc/cc352.htm#tb