Why is it that teams following the same best practices can achieve different results? According to a study published on February 25, 2020 in the MIT Sloan Management Review, clinics took three prototypical approaches to establishing team-based care. An aim of this research was to obtain an understanding of why some teams succeed while others struggle. Deploying effective team-based care is recognized as an essential component of three organizational priorities in health care: high-quality, patient-centered care; continuous quality improvement; and enhanced clinical work satisfaction. These objectives broadly align with the three recognized objectives of teams more generally: achieving the team’s shared goal, improving as a team, and growth of individual members. In this investigation, among clinics taking approaches to establishing team-based care, some groups pursued functional change only, with a focus on continuous improvement skills. Others pursued cultural change only, focusing on shifting team members’ roles and relationships. Another set of groups blended the two, pursuing both functional and cultural change processes simultaneously.
Functional Change Processes concerned practical, operational aspects of teaming. Clinic staff were trained on continuous improvement skills. Some clinics strategically integrated continuous improvement into everyday work, encouraging staff to identify process improvement opportunities and test new team approaches. Cultural Change Processes indicate that in order to implement new continuous improvement practices, it will require changing old ideas about personnel roles; reexamining who had authority to take initiative and lead innovation; and how “lower status” team members’ contributions were invited and valued by traditionally “higher status” colleagues. The results show that while both change processes were individually important, they were most effective when mobilized in tandem. The recursive, mutually reinforcing relationship between functional and cultural change processes was key to the effectiveness (or its lack) of team-based care.
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Refers to a study that shows while both Functional Change and Cultural Change processes were individually important for enhancing team-based health care, they were most effective when mobilized in tandem. Read more