"No one can whistle a symphony. It takes a whole orchestra to play it." H.E. Luccock
Globally, there has been increasing emphasis on effective teamwork in healthcare. von Knorring et al. (2020) documented how quality teamwork has been linked to improved patient safety. Some of the examples include;
- Reducing patient complications - Effective communication is a component of teamwork and it allows for discussions on personal, system or equipment errors identified. This, therefore, aids to mitigate or prevent adverse events by formulating solutions.
- Decreasing the length of hospital stay- Rendering optimal services by competent teams allows for early diagnosis hence early treatment or initiation of early rehabilitative measures.
- Improving patient and employee satisfaction - Great relationships in our workstations foster productive environments improving the quality of services rendered to patients.
- Decreasing costs of care - prolonged hospital stays lead to increasing financial burdens to patients and their families.
So what is teamwork?
"Teamwork is the ability to work together toward a common vision. The ability to direct individual accomplishments toward organizational objectives. It is the fuel that allows common people to attain uncommon results." Andrew Carnegie
Are you part of an effective team?
Bisbey and Salas (2019), state that effective teams are characterized by the following six Cs. These are
- Cooperation - Diverse groups of people willing to work together for a common goal.
- Communication - Passing clear and correct information to other people and comprehending what is being said to us.
- Coordination - Ensuring synchrony of different roles.
- Conflict management - Diverse mindsets create friction hence the need for early identification of problems and seeking solutions before an issue escalates.
- Coaching - A process of equipping employees with the knowledge, tools, and opportunities necessary for them to be effective.
- Shared cognition among team members- Involves having a competent team that understands the task at hand.
Teamwork is affected by many things some within our locus of control and others beyond. This understanding is cardinal in formulating an effective team. The literature describes several internal and external factors that influence teams. Some of these are;
- Organizational characteristics- does it have a clear purpose, clear job roles among the members, appropriate culture eg support culture of safety, specified task, appropriate choice of leadership, hiring competent personnel, adequate resources
- Individual contributions - Professional self-image, ability to confer/receive trust, commitment to the task, flexibility to different opinions.
- Process-related outcomes( adequate behaviours during processes) - eg Adhering to formulated guidelines, attitudes expressed at work,
- Outcome related aspects of performance - eg Infection rates postoperatively, patient survival rates etc
In summary; as we look at improving our output (job satisfaction, patient outcomes let's remember "Individual commitment to a group effort that is what makes a team work, a company work, a society work, a civilization work." Vince LombardiBisbey, T., & Salas, E. (2019). Team dynamics and processes in the workplace. In Oxford research encyclopedia of psychology.
Schmutz, J. B., Meier, L. L., & Manser, T. (2019). How effective is teamwork really? The relationship between teamwork and performance in healthcare teams: a systematic review and meta-analysis. BMJ Open, 9(9), e028280.
von Knorring, M., Griffiths, P., Ball, J., Runesdotter, S., & Lindqvist, R. (2020). Patient experience of communication consistency amongst staff is related to nurse-physician teamwork in hospitals. Nursing Open, 7(2), 613-617.
