A new unit is opening up in your hospital, and you’ve been asked to manage it. Although some staff will transfer from other units, others will be new hires. You’ll be building a brand new team — from the ground up. Teawork isn’t a given; it evolves when all members demonstrate the willingness and desire to be part of a team. A group of individuals that develop into a unified team create a positive, nurturing, and productive work environment.

“The advantage to working as a cohesive team is that the whole is greater than the sum of the parts,” says Maureen Sroczynski, RN, MS, president of Farley Associates, Inc., a management consulting group in Norton, MA. “And when your team has a positive perspective, you can accomplish almost anything.”

Every Team Needs a Coach

You, as the team leader, have specific responsibilities for successful teambuilding. “The team leader’s role is to facilitate and work to bring out the best of each member of the team,” says Sroczynski. “The leader serves as coach, recognizing and developing the strength of each team member.” High performance teams, she adds, “always recognize and value the contribution and skills of each person on the team.”

State Your Mission

Sharing a common goal is the blueprint that guides all teams, so clearly defining your mission is the first step in building a successful team. State your mission in clear, measurable, and achievable terms — so that everyone understands. “Unity of purpose results when you have open and honest communication,” says Sroczynski. “You want to create a place where people feel trust and support.”

To do this, you must identify what could prevent you from building a good team. “You have to be aware of the ‘elephant’ in the room — that’s whatever stomps on your ability to establish a team direction.” Some of the barriers may be fears of not being able to say what you think, that no one will listen, or that no one else thinks as you do. “Set the groundwork for this by ensuring that there’s always a time to listen to one another, with no fear of retribution for what is said,” says Sroczynski.

Communicate Your Plan

Your goal is established; now you need to plan how you’ll carry out your mission. “Everybody needs to be a part of the planning,” says James D. Murphy, CEO, of Afterburner Seminars, a management consultant group of jet fighter pilots. Their seminars are based on the premise that the training and carrying out of a military flight mission parallels successful principles of management. “As a team member, you need to know what you’re working toward.”

Each team member has an individual and separate mission objective. “While the mission is to win the war, the pilot has a very specific role in meeting that overall goal,” says Murphy. “Consider nurses who are part of a lifesaving team during a code. One nurse’s mission objective may be to monitor the heart, while another team member works on breathing. You can’t just tell a team member to take care of the patient, even though that’s your ultimate goal.”

Never Leave Your Wingman Behind

In pilot lingo, “never leave your wingman behind” refers to the mutual support each team member gives to the others. “That’s why we fly in perfect formation, so that our teammate, the wingman, can check our six o’clock position — our blind spot; the weak zone for enemy MIGs,” he explains. “Your wingman only needs to turn his head to check that you’re safe.”

To do this successfully, Murphy says that each team member must know something about other team members’ roles. Armed with this awareness, teams provide all members with a sense of shared responsibility and kinship. So, if a team member should feel disheartened, others on the team can offer their support.

Embrace Cultural Differences

According to the 2000 US census, foreign-born people make up more than 10% of the country’s population. Even more significant, nearly 60% of our foreign-born population is between the ages of 25 and 54 — today’s workforce.¹

“Understanding and respecting cultural differences is extremely important in building a successful team,” says Deborah Washington, RN, MSN, director, diversity, patient care services at Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston. “Recognizing that each person has his or her own cultural perspective is key to that process.”

It may not always be possible to be knowledgeable about each team member’s culture, but Washington believes this isn’t necessary for successful team building. “There are commonalities that apply to successful team building that have nothing to do with cultures,” she says. “These commonalities include conveying a sense of respect, identifying and recognizing each individual’s contribution, and ensuring that each person feels that it matters whether he or she does a good job. This is what builds a good team — whether culturally diverse or not.”

As Westerners, however, Washington adds, we need to be sensitive of the value many cultures place on the everyday civilities — like saying good morning or thank you. “These niceties aren’t always important to us, but for other cultures, it’s important that they be expressed,” she says. “Common courtesies are seen as a presence to them. We may think we’re too busy to say it, but it can be said with little effort, and creates a big and positive effect.”

Washington cautions that in work relationships, “we’re fighting all the social ills.” Instead, she says, “we need to build these relationships opposite to what we see in our society. Labeling people is an impediment to building a team.”

Accept Individual Responsibility

When you commit to complete a task for the team, it’s up to you to guarantee it’s done; your team members are counting on you. “Each team member has a personal responsibility to be clear about their job description,” says Washington. To be successful, each team member must respect and value the role of others in meeting the mission of care. “People need to feel a sense of being seen as a person who works rather than as a group of tasks,” she says.

Each member needs to feel that he or she is living up to his or her individual potential, and not seen merely as a group. Each individual, Washington believes, also needs to feel that it matters that he or she does the job well. “All interactions with our patients and with each other are interwoven,” she says.

Providing a warm, supportive atmosphere, one that encourages open communication, respect for individual roles, and support for each other, results in an effective team. And with unity of purpose and teamwork, anything is possible. “Focus on how to create this synergy — this positive energy — because all of us working together are so much greater than any one of us alone,” says Sroczynski.

Margaret Hawke, RN, MA, is a contributing writer for Nursing Spectrum.

Reference

1. Gold M. Making diversity work. Provider. 2002;28(5):27-37.