Study unveils new model with recommendations for healthcare team effectiveness

Healthcare teams need to be prepared for anything, including the unprecedented work environments caused by global and social pandemic disease.

Open communication and trust are essential for successful teamwork in challenging healthcare settings, as outlined in “Building effective healthcare team development interventions in times of uncertainty: Recommendations for success.” the paper was written by researchers at Rice University, Texas MD Anderson University Cancer Center and the Organization for Organizational Effectiveness.

The study outlines a new model, developed at MD Anderson under the guidance of the researchers, with recommendations for the effectiveness of a health care team. It can be implemented in a variety of settings to improve communication, coordination and team attitudes toward each other, improving clinical care and patient outcomes.

Team effectiveness is based on organizational culture, leadership support and a trained and capable workforce, the researchers write. In addition, each team member should have clear roles and purposes, with clear team leadership. But leaders also need to consider how a team feels, how they work in the workplace and how their members think. This is known in team science as the ABCs: ideas, behavior and experience.

Taking all these factors into account, the researchers suggest that teams can describe what they say as “extremely fit team states”, which includes psychological safety ( the freedom to speak openly without fear of the effects of negative work), trust, flexibility and agility.

Only after the adoption of these states will teams be able to reach their full potential. “

Stephanie Zajac, Leadership Practitioner at MD Anderson and Lead Author of the Study

The researchers also offer suggestions for implementing team development interventions (TDIs), exercises that are used to improve team effectiveness. They recommend that team leaders actively engage and invest time in TDIn, and that the exercises be integrated with existing organizational efforts to support teams , such as individual leader and team coaching. Team leaders should also show care and concern for team members as they conduct these exercises together.

Finally, leaders are encouraged to communicate regularly with their employees, and to reflect on and celebrate the progress they are making.

As teams become more diverse and face unforeseen situations, including last year’s health and social justice barriers, these proposals can make a big difference when they run successful health care centers, conduct innovative research and deliver high-quality and safe patient care, researchers wrote.