What Makes a Good Team?

Dr Aaron McManus ST2 GP AiT21st September 2010

Who Are The Teams?

Doctors• Diagnose• Treatment plans• Prescribe• Operate• Discharge

Admin staff

• Running ward• Hygiene• Staff management• Bed manager

All have different jobs and potentially different individual objectives

Nurses

• Patient comfort• Administer drugs• Co-ordinate ward

How Do Teams Interact?

CommonPurpose

Doctors

Diagnose Treatment plans Prescribe Operate Discharge

Admin staff Running ward Hygiene Staff management Bed manager

Nurses

Patient comfortAdminister drugsCo-ordinate ward

Achieve best possible patient care as efficiently as possible

A Typical Team• Six members• How many relationships?• 30 relationships

• Add one new member• How many relationships?• 42 relationships

• One new member results in 12 additional relationships

Team Member Traits

• Team dynamics– Personality– Chemistry– Experience– Social group– Prejudice

• Recognising– Different jobs– Different individual objectives– Different learning styles

Hopefully all striving towards a COMMON PURPOSE!!!

Individual Learning Styles

-20

-15

-10

-5

0

5

10

15

20

-20 -15 -10 -5 0 5 10 15 20

Activist

Pragmatist

Reflector

Theorist

Individual Learning Styles

-20

-15

-10

-5

0

5

10

15

20

-20 -15 -10 -5 0 5 10 15 20

Activist

Pragmatist

Reflector

Theorist

Teams In ActionForming• High dependency on leader for direction

• Little agreement on team aims

• Roles and responsibilities unclear

• Many questions about team purpose

• Processes often ignored

• Members test the tolerance of the system

Storming• Decisions don’t come easily within the group

• Team members vie for position

• Clarity of purpose increases

• Lots of uncertainties persist

• Cliques and factions form

• Leader coaching demand increases

Norming• Less dependency on leader for direction

• More agreement and consensus

• Big decisions made by team

• Smaller decisions delegated to individuals

• Commitment and unity strong

• Engagement in fun and sociable activities

• Leader facilitates rather than leads

Performing• Team more strategically aware of common purpose

• High focus on over-achieving goals

• Teams makes decisions on goals agreed with leader

• High degree of autonomy

• Disagreements resolved quickly and positively

• Leader delegates and oversees

• Motivation is high

High Performance Teams• Motivated

• Focus on over-achievement

• Good collaboration on major decisions

• Continuously improving processes

• Able to bond and overcome differences

• Leader able to take more of a back role

• Successional planning should be the norm

Low Performing Teams• Do not address the

underlying problems• Leader may not be strong

enough in the forming / storming stage

• Politics take over• Continuous lack of clarity

and purpose• Motivation will be low• Performance suffers

Thank You

Any questions?