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Discussion: Creating, Developing, and Leading Effective Teams

Coming together is a beginning. Keeping together is progress. Working together is success.

—Henry Ford

A critical skill for all nurse managers is the ability to create, develop, and lead effective teams. When people are part of an effective and well-functioning team, they are more productive and have a stronger commitment to the organization. Nurse managers have a responsibility to create teams that fulfill functional needs within their units or departments. These can include leadership teams, ad hoc project teams, or primary work teams.

As a nurse manager, there is a variety of ways that you can enhance team functioning. The first step is developing the structural elements of the team and then designing the team with the appropriate membership. Just as you must critically examine each application during the employment process, so will you critically examine the skills and attributes of each employee before appointing him or her to a collective team.

In this week’s Discussion, you lay the groundwork for creating and developing a team for your unit, department, or health care setting. You also identify leadership strategies that you could employ to increase the team’s organizational effectiveness.

To prepare

Review Chapter 5, “The Art of Effectively Facilitating Processes” from the course text, From Management to Leadership: Strategies for Transforming Health Care. Carefully examine the section, “Essential Elements of a Team” to identify the six steps of creating an effective team.

Consider a team you might create for your current organization or one with which you are familiar. For example, is there a project to be accomplished or a problem to be solved? Perhaps there is a need for a leadership team within your unit or department?

Identify the purpose or goal for your team. Then, reflect on the following questions:

What type of team would you create (leadership, ad hoc, or primary work team) to accomplish this purpose or goal? What are the benefits or disadvantages of creating this type of team?

What staff members would you want on this team? Why? How could their skill sets and positions make them effective team members?

Explore this week’s Learning Resources to identify leadership strategies you might employ before, during, and after the team-building phase. For example, what leadership strategies might influence synergy among team members while also increasing the effectiveness of the team?

Post a description of the team you would create, including the purpose or goal the team would serve, the team type, and the specific skills each member would contribute as well as their job positions. Describe at least two leadership strategies you could implement to help this team effectively achieve its purpose or goal.

Read a selection of your colleagues’ responses.

Respond to at least two of your colleagues on two different days using one or more of the following approaches:

Critically appraise a colleague’s team description. Provide an aIDitional leadership strategy he or she could use to further improve the effectiveness of the team.

Find a colleague who would like to implement a team similar to one that has been implemented in your workplace. Share an insight into how your organization benefited from this type of team and the leadership strategies management employed to support the work of the team.

Required Readings

Manion, J. (2011). From management to leadership: Strategies for transforming health care (3rd ed.). San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.

Chapter 5, “The Art of Effectively Facilitating Processes” (pp. 179–242)

This chapter describes the many components that make up the facilitating process. Some of these elements include empowerment, authority, resolutions, and negotiation.

Chapter 6, “Getting Results” (pp. 243–282)

The main points of this chapter are the components that contribute to effective teamwork. The author lists the benefits and pitfalls of proactive behavior, group decision making, and problem solving.

Beeson, J. (2011). Build a strong team. Leadership Excellence, 28(2), 15.

Retrieved from the Walden Library databases.

Beeson’s article focuses on the importance of building a structured team. He provides five steps that leaders can implement in the workplace to create a strong team that benefits the whole workplace.

Calendrillo, T. (2009). Team building for a healthy work environment. Nursing Management, 40(12), 9–12.

Retrieved from the Walden Library databases.

In this article, Calendrillo states that skilled communication is the foundation for strong team building in clinical settings. When skilled communication has been mastered and used, quality patient care and healthy work environments are among the many results.

Pentland, A. (2012). The new science of building great teams. Harvard Business Review, 90(4), 60–70.

Retrieved from the Walden Library databases.

This article aIDresses how communication is a key to team efficiency. The author provides three communication dynamics that were used by the teams that were most communicative.

Required Media

Laureate Education, Inc. (Executive Producer). (2012). Team building. Baltimore, MD: Author.

Note:  The approximate length of this media piece is 8 minutes.

This week’s presenter, Jo Manion, provides effective team-building strategies nurse managers can employ when initiating teams in units, departments, and organizations. She also reviews the three types of teams that are generally found in health care settings: leadership, ad hoc, and primary work teams.

Accessible player

The following document gives credit for Laureate-produced media in this course: Credits (PDF)

Optional Resources

Ramsay, S., Troth, A., & Branch, S. (2011). Work-place bullying: A group processes framework. Journal of Occupational & Organizational Psychology, 84(4), 799–816.