Question

Identify a health organization team in which you have recently participated, and describe the team by type and characteristics. [If you have not participated in such a team, design an imaginary one.] What conflicts were encountered while the team worked together? Describe how collaboration within the team could have been increased.

Answer 1

Teamwork is essential in the provision of healthcare. The division of labor among medical, nursing and allied health practitioners means that no single professional can deliver a complete episode of healthcare. Yet there is little formal training in teamwork skill development in undergraduate or postgraduate health professional education programs – teamwork skills are largely learned 'on-the-job' .In healthcare, where patient outcomes are dependent on effective interdisciplinary teamwork, there is need for better preparation of health professionals in teamwork. The healthcare organization team in which I recently participated was an advice and involvement team. An advice and involvement team in health care is a quality improvement team, which serves to recommend process changes in a healthcare practice or hospital and to engage people in making the changes successfully.

Differences are inevitable when passionate people work together. Eventually, after a team gets through an initial orientation with a new task, members usually come to the realization that working together to accomplish a common goal is tough work.The mostly encountered conflicts while working in a team were

Conflict over positions, strategies or opinions

If two or three strong, but differing, positions are being argued in the group and it is getting nowhere, a leader might stop the group and ask each member to take a turn talking with no interruption or debate.

Mistrust or uneven communication

If some people on the team are dominating the conversation while others sit silent or appear to have dropped out, a leader might stop the process and ask each person what they need from others to feel effective in the group and how others can help.

Personality clashes

If personal styles are very different and causing conflict among team members, a team leader

Personality clashes

If personal styles are very different and causing conflict among team members, a team leader must make collaborative changes in a team. It have been improved by

Aggregate and adapt.

Any good project manager will bring ideas and plans to the table. The most collaborative project managers will be highly skilled at weaving in the suggestions, ideas and goals of their teams for a best-of fusion.

Listen first.

An effective collaborator knows how to bridge differing ideas into workable solutions. Getting to the root of any new concept or suggestion involves active listening, and listening actively to everyone with a stake in the outcome before mapping a course.

Transcend insularity.

The most effective collaborators will know that the strongest parts make up the strongest whole. Workgroups have a tendency to silo.