Teamwork

08 Oct Teamwork

What is the SINGLE most untapped competitive advantage for your organization? According to leadership guru Patrick Lencioni, it is TEAMWORK. Healthcare depends strongly on the power of its teams throughout every inch of our institutions. We cannot take excellent care of our patients without exceptional teamwork at every level, in every department. There is ample research praising the power of teamwork and just as much sharing the devastating results when it is lacking. A basic principle of the report, To Err is Human, is that patient safety is not only a function of sophisticated healthcare technology and treatments, but also the degree to which healthcare professionals could perform effectively as teams.

So how do we build better teams? You start at the top with a proven model. Exceptional executive teams can be the perfect role models for the entire organization. Much of our work in healthcare is done in silos without ever being exposed to exceptional teams in action. Picture an organization where people feel safe admitting what they don’t know, where they can disagree with a member of the team respectfully and not worry about repercussions, where when someone nods their head in agreement they actually mean it, where an employee will hold themselves accountable and those employees around them to the decisions the unit or department has made and where everyone is focused on achieving outstanding results. Now that is an organization to be admired! The program “5 Behaviors of a Cohesive Team” presents the sound principles of teamwork presented by Mr. Lencioni along with the power of enhanced communication through Everything DiSC®. The following are the five behaviors necessary for any healthcare team to be truly cohesive and effective: trust, conflict, commitment, accountability and results.

1. Trust. When team members are genuinely transparent and honest with each other, they are able to build vulnerability-based trust.
2. Conflict. When there is trust, people will have the healthy debates that are necessary to arrive at better decisions.
3. Commitment. When team members are able to offer opinions and debate ideas, they will be more likely to commit to decisions.
4. Accountability. When everyone is committed to a decision and a clear plan of action, they will be more likely to hold each other accountable
5. Focus on achieving collective results. The ultimate goal of building greater trust, healthy conflict, commitment, and accountability is one thing: the achievement of results.

Could your team benefit from this model? According to Lencioni, you simply need to ask these questions:

• Do team members openly and readily disclose their opinions?
• Are team meetings compelling and productive?

Does the team come to decisions quickly and avoid getting bogged down by consensus?

• Do team members confront one another about their shortcomings?
• Do team members sacrifice their own interests for the good of the team?

How did your team rate? Read the entire article, Conquer Team Dysfunction.

Call Peak Performance at 516-318-7267 to get more information on how to implement the “5 Behaviors of a Cohesive Team” program in your organization and check out the Five Behaviors website for sample material.