As per a study conducted by Johns Hopkins Medicine, it indicated that one-third of the deaths are due to medical errors. It also highlighted that many of these errors were caused due to inefficient team coordination.
The Healthcare sector is one of the fastest-growing and evolving industries. The global pandemic has resulted in an increased demand for healthcare and has made everyone realize how fast the industry has been evolving. But in a healthcare setting, like other industries, a high performing team is the backbone of effective and seamless patient care.
A high performance team refers to a group of actively engaged, dedicated, and goal-focused individuals who collaborate and innovate to produce consistently extraordinary results. They collaborate and communicate frequently and have a mutual sense of trust and respect among each other. It leads to higher levels of engagement among the team and individual employees.
Read on to know some of the characteristics of a high performance team in healthcare.
A Common Goal
According to 2015/16 NHS staff survey, 28% staff agreed that their team did not have a shared goal.
Healthcare is a highly collaborative field where a number of stakeholders are involved in effective patient care. These stakeholders involve hospital management, doctors, nurses, and other hospital aides. Considering the continuously evolving nature of the healthcare sector, they need to have a set of flexible and SMART goals that are aligned with the organization. When everyone on the team is aware of their individual goals, they work cohesively as a high performing team. It leads to improvements in the safety and quality of patient care. Moreover, it improves productivity and reduces the chances of burnout among healthcare professionals.
Also Read: Why Healthcare Administrators Should Set SMART Goals
Effective And Timely Communication
A study estimated that U.S. hospitals waste over $12 billion annually as the result of miscommunications between healthcare providers.
Often overlooked, but one of the main characteristics of a high performance team is the art of communication. It not only needs to be effective but also needs to be conveyed on time. Communication gaps often result in misunderstandings and dysfunctional teams, which reduces productivity.
In the healthcare industry, communication plays a very crucial role. Not only do healthcare professionals need to know how to communicate effectively and on time, but they also need to learn to communicate with empathy. An industry where everyone works 24/7 and mostly on rotational shifts, communication gaps could be pretty common. It could lead to errors in judgement and ultimately wrong patient care. Healthcare professionals should be trained in communication skills to function as an effective team and reduce miscommunication.
Also Read: Role Of A Coach In 360 Degree Feedback
Conflict Management
Conflicts are inevitable while working as a team but how it is handled determines its success. A team generally consists of a set of people with different backgrounds and experiences with a different or similar set of skills, so there are bound to be differences. But how to handle the conflict constructively is an important characteristic of a high performance team. They know how to make conflicts productive and turn it into a platform for sharing ideas, creativity, and innovation.
Frequent conflicts reduce productivity; hence, it is advisable to acknowledge and address them as soon as possible. In a profession like healthcare, where time is invaluable, conflicts can intervene with patient care if not nipped in the bud.
Also Read: 5 Common Teamwork Challenges Every Team Encounters!
Trust And Respect
Trust and respect are the building blocks of a high performance team in healthcare. When healthcare professionals feel respected and valued, they are more collaborative, engaged, and committed at their work. Moreover, they are more productive and work great as a team. But on the other hand, when there is a lack of trust and respect, they not only fail to work as a team, but also end up providing and unpleasant experience for the patients.
Healthcare professionals must be given proper training on how to build trust and respect through formal exercises. It will not only help them respect and trust team members, but will also help them learn about the importance of doctor-patient confidentiality.
Continuous Learning
As mentioned at the beginning of this article, the healthcare industry evolves continuously. Hence it becomes essential for all healthcare professionals to learn and update their knowledge. They should be open to challenges and learn new things. Not only do they need to keep learning about new diseases and medicines, but also need to keep track of evolving surgery procedures.
For example, doctors who have been practicing surgery manually need to learn how to perform robotic surgery or robotic assisted surgery.
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Kylee Stone
Kylee Stone supports the professional services team as a CX intern and psychology SME. She leverages her innate creativity with extensive background in psychology to support client experience and organizational functions. Kylee is completing her master’s degree in Industrial-Organizational psychology at the University of Missouri Science and Technology emphasizing in Applied workplace psychology and Statistical Methods.