Introduction
All health centers have a common goal; to provide the best health care services to all patients. This makes it necessary for the medics to work as a team. This paper details major differences between a team and a group. It also entails the sets of established teams. They are high performance teams, functional teams, and struggling teams (Stanley, 2011, p.189). Major differences between teams and groups have also been outlined. Communication has been mentioned as a crucial element of any effective team, on which key concepts of team building are based.
Differences between a group and a team
A group is defined as a number of people put together (Kowalski, 2011, p. 346). A group can also be people who have a relationship based on a common factor (Stanley, 2011, p. 188). For instance, members of a given club form a group, or students in a nursing school. Members of a group are related in one way or another and especially in relation to a role they play in a certain activity.
A team is a number of individuals working together (Kowalski, 2011, p. 346). Their aim is to achieve a certain goal or objective. Members of a team always work together and are under one leadership. This could be a manager or supervisor. Members of a team are both individually and collectively accountable for whatever happens in the course of the execution of their duty. Based on the above definition, a team is definitely a group of people, but not every group is counted as a team. On this note, teams are grouped into two; there are effective teams and ineffective teams (Kowalski, and Yoder-Wise, 2006, p. 351; Kowalski, 2011, p. 347).
A team is comprised of interdependent individuals who have goals and objectives, have a common unifying factor (Stanley, 2011, p. 188). They are all set on completing a given activity. The team members may have personal goals, but these are usually in line with the collective objectives. They thus, work towards achieving the common goal, and in the process, achieve their own personal goals too.
A healthcare team needs to have professionals with various areas of expertise in the medicine field. As the team in this scenario, the team members were experts in different areas. This ensured that all aspects of the investigative project were well catered for. Each of the team members should thus compliment each other’s skills and abilities so as to achieve the set objective. Again, the team members should recognize the value of key concepts such as conflict resolution, singleness of mission, willingness to cooperate, and commitment (Stanley, 2011, p. 188).
- Conflict Resolution
In the daily routine of duty, members of a team may have some conflicts. Therefore, since avoiding conflicts is next to impossible, the only option left is to come up with ways to solve conflicts whenever they occur (Kowalski, and Yoder-Wise, 2006, p. 353). This is better known as conflict resolution.
The main cause of conflicts in a team is poor communication. A good leader should thus take time to find out where the problem in the flow of communication. Again, the leaders should ensure that the information is delivered the same way as it was given. Any alteration can change the whole meaning of the information and this can also lead to conflict (Finkelman, and Kenner, 2010, p. 343). It is possible that a conflict arises when a member of the team is trying to protect their interests, or when they do not agree with what is happening in the team. As is the case here, two members of the team did not support the idea that a Registered Nurse was picked to be a leader of the team. They felt that the Nurse Unit Manager should have appointed someone from the team but with a different kind of specialization.
The Nurse Unit Manager proved a good leader since they were honest with the newly appointed team leader. Such knowledge would help the appointed team leader to prepare and find ways on how to deal with the resistance, and a possible conflict. To avoid the event of having conflicts in the team, the NUM can make it clear to the team members that the appointed team leader is well skilled and qualified to play the new role.
The new team leader, who is an experienced Registered Nurse, and has just completed a course in leadership management, is capable of preventing conflicts in the team. The team leader should talk to the two members of the team and find out the actual cause of the problem. Based on the history of the two team members, and on their own experience, the team leader should thus solve the problem and assure all team members of an effective working relationship.
Team members need to learn how to avoid conflicts in the team by communicating freely with each other, and supporting each other in whatever roles they play. There should also be free communication between the team leader and the members (Finkelman, 2012, p. 380). They should also be able to solve conflicts amongst themselves and not let them affect their working together (Kowalski, and Yoder-Wise, 2006, p. 353). Team members should know that they can trust each other and count on each in whatever situation.
Conflict resolution differs as per the set of establishment of teams. In high performance teams, healthy debate is allowed (Stanley, 2011, p. 189-190). The members face issues that may cause conflict and are committed to making resolutions. As for functional teams, the chance of conflict resolution is relatively high. The case scenario is a good example of a functional team, where some team members are not is support of their leader. Here, the team leader is responsible for solving any form of conflict that may arise (Stanley, 2011, p. 191).
- Singleness of mission
A mission is a statement that states the purpose or aim of a team (Kowalski, 2011, p. 354) In a simple sentence, it gives an essence of team’s goals and philosophies. Before forming a team, the management should have a mission or purpose in mind. This is what forms the basis of the team and guides the team to success (Kowalski, 2011, p 354). The mission, aim, or objective should be clear and everyone involved should understand it well, since it explains the basic structure of the team (Finkelman, and Kenner, 2010, p. 271).
When creating a mission statement, the leadership should consider the main reason for the team’s existence, and its main idea on how to achieve the set goals. This idea can best be referred to as the winning idea. The next step is to identify the measures for success. These are standards used to define the success of the team. The winning idea and the measures for success are put together to create one smart goal. A smart goal is one which is specific, measurable, achievable, realistic, and one that is timely and tangible (Lawson, and Peate, 2009, p. 94). This is what makes the mission statement.
A mission statement should be very specific and straight on point. This is because it presents a direct perspective of the team’s mission (Kowalski, and Yoder-Wise, 2006, p. 354). In this case, the purpose of this team was to investigate an increase in nosocomial infections in their health unit. The team leader should thus create a mission statement based on this sole purpose of the team. It would be of great importance if the team leader involved other team members in the creation process.
The best way to ensure that the team has a powerful mission is to actively involve the team members throughout the whole process. Their involvement starts from good communication between the team leader, the Nurse Unit Manager, and the team members. Going by their different fields of expertise in the medical field, each member is expected to make sound contribution towards achieving this goal.
One major characteristic of high-performance teams is that they have an established and clear purpose (Stanley, 2011, p. 189). Team members remain focused throughout their project, and can also flex a bit when the need arises. In this case scenario, which is functional team, the team was created to carry out an investigation. This means that the team had a clear mission and the team members understood what it was all about. A good mission should be powerful. It should be created in a way that it will always guide the team members and help them remain focused on their sole duty, which is to find the sole cause of the several nosocomical cases.
- Willingness to cooperate
In a health care set up, cooperation, or collaboration, is defined as the medical personnel taking complimentary roles and working together. They share their responsibilities, solve problems together, and make decisions together to ensure they achieve their sole purpose, which is to provide the best treatment. Cooperation between medical staff helps the medics to know of each other’s abilities and skills. This knowledge comes in handy especially during the decision making process and delegation of duties.
Every organization has a set structure on how communication should flow. This is the same case even in teams. However, to have an effective team, the flow of communication should be two way (Finkelman, 2012, p. 380). It is unfortunate that this is not the same situation in practical settings. There are some team members of staff or teams who are simply not willing to cooperate with their colleagues. This lack of communication between team members may affect the general performance of the team.
A team leader should be in a position to identify the break down points that could hinder team members from cooperating. There are cases where team members work on their roles alone. They may achieve what they want to, but their interpersonal relationships have a negative impact on the whole team. It is common knowledge that to have an effective team, its members should collaborate and work together in a civil manner. They should respect each other and appreciate the roles that each team member has to play, no matter how minor it may be. All these also go down to the communication channels amongst the team leaders.
It is not a necessity that team members be friends or have personal relationships with each other (Kowalski, and Yoder-Wise, 2006, p. 354). However, they have to cooperate and work together. This is because a team member could need help from their partner but since they are not willing to cooperate with other members of the team, then it is becomes to achieve their task as is required of them. Again, it becomes difficult for team members who are not willing to cooperate with others to actively participate in activities such as decision making. They tend to withdraw from other team members and the result of this is having an ineffective team.
In high-performing teams, the team members are always ready to take up on a particular task, no matter how challenging. The case is different in struggling teams where team members do not work well with their colleagues (Stanley, 2011, p. 192). Members in such a team usually have problems with how they relate with one another and this in turn, has a negative effect in the general performance of the team. As for the functional team in this case, the leader can enhance cooperation among the members by ensuring that no conflict is left unsolved.
- Commitment
Commitment is defined as the emotional compellment to do something (Kowalsky, 2011, p. 354). It is illustrated by the way a person is passionate and dedicated to what they do. Someone who is committed to their work or something will go the extra mile to achieve their goals. For instance, they will work for extra hours, or in the event of a team, they work in shifts. Others even sleep in their work stations just so that they can keep an eye on their projects.
A person cannot show commitment at their work place if they do not love what they do. Such people tend to complain a lot and usually, their output is a clear indication of their negative attitudes towards their jobs (Kowalski, and Yoder-Wise, 2006, p. 354). It is easier to commit to something that someone loves or enjoys doing. Not much is needed to show commitment in a person’s career. Either way, no special qualification is needed for one to be passionate about their profession. All that is needed is for a person to identify what they love and make a career out of it.
During the formation of teams, team members should be allowed to join the team out of their own free will. This helps avoid problems of commitment in the future days. It would be easier to work with a team member who was willing to be involved right from the start. In the event that the team member was compelled to join the team, then involving them actively in crucial activities such as decision making or consulting them for ideas would help tap commitment from them. Again, the nursing career generally calls for a lot of commitment (Finkelman, and Kenner, 2010. p. 18).
Another way that the team leader can use to encourage the team members to show commitment in their work is having a powerful mission. As detailed earlier, a mission outlines the sole purpose of a team. If the team leader creates a good mission, then the team members feel encouraged and energized and get committed to achieving the set mission.
Members of functional teams, like the one in this case, need to have a strong leader who understands well the challenges that may face in the course of their project. The leaders can then motivate the team members and give credit when they perform exceptionally (Kowalsky, 2011, p. 355). As for high-performing teams, the team members are highly placed professionals who are committed to what they do (Stanley, 2011, p. 189). Team leaders of such groups do not have much of a struggle with this concept. Unfortunately, struggling teams need to implement several changes so that the team members may commit to their roles and perform at the best levels possible.
Summary
Teams or working groups an asset to the general performance of any organization, and in this case, of the health unit. The management should thus appoint the right leadership to spearhead all activities in teams within the unit. This means that team leaders should be able to create a working environment within their teams to ensure that they meet their goals and objectives. A good team leader should be able to solve conflicts within the team, by ensuring that there is a good communication channel. A team leader should be able to create an environment where each team member feels valued so that they can commit to the team activities (Rocchiccioli, and Tilbury, 1998, p. 103). As detailed earlier, the team leader should involve team members in activities such as decision making. They should also train them on how to work together so that they can achieve excellent results.
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