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Essay / The Importance of Leadership and Professional Development for Teamwork
Leadership and professional development are the bread and butter of a well-established team. In this essay, a number of theories on leadership and change management will be discussed, offering guidance for effective teamwork. Descriptions of teamwork, effective communication and personal development will also be considered with reference to clinical skills, knowledge and decision-making. A review of my personal development during a new Associate Nurse Trainee program will also be considered, addressing the theories I used and their importance for reflective practice. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get the original essayTeamwork is made up of a number of people all aiming to achieve the same goals. Communication within teams is essential for an efficient and collaborative way of working. Not only does this provide a solid foundation for teamwork, but it also promotes patient safety. It allows the different ideas of its participants to be concentrated into one offering the optimal result. By having a good level of communication, coordination and cooperation, care reaches therapeutic standards for patients (St Pierre et al 2011). Within a team, there are a number of people who each have their own way of communicating and handling issues that arise. Tacit communicators typically use nonverbal means of communication, assuming the other person knows what is being asked. This alone could impact the team's effectiveness. The tacit communicator hypothesis could cause tension within a team, leading to communication problems or friction. For a team to work at peak efficiency, explicit communication is necessary. Specific details and confirmation of understanding help to provide the best care to a service user in the quickest way possible. By knowing exactly what is needed, teams can work together to achieve the goal, using their strengths to get the job done. Explicit methods require the use of closed-loop communication to reduce errors, allow questions that ultimately check understanding and minimize risk. This built-in verification not only ensures that the message has reached the intended person, but that the message sent is the same as that understood by the recipient (Parish et al 2011). Closed-loop communication is vital for the proper functioning of teams. Team members must share an understanding of what is necessary to successfully achieve a desired goal (Endsley 2012). To achieve this goal, workers must be able to work on their own initiative but also be aware of the collective efforts of team members (Gluyas and Morrison 2013). It sometimes takes time to establish professional relationships that create a teamwork dynamic. One theory that supports this is the Tuckman model. He noticed that groups never operate at their full potential initially and require growth in stages. While observing teams, he noticed two common characteristics: interpersonal and group structure and task activity. This helped shape his idea of groups evolving through four common stages (Craig 2015). Tuckman calls this the train, assault,standardization and performance (Tuckman 1965). Tuckman admitted that building a team was not easy and it could take some time before teams reached a functional stage in their development. He understood that to evolve, teams could find themselves yo-yoing between stages; try to balance the team. However, Belbin believed that an effective team required individuals who balanced each other well (Belbin 2015). Belbin has developed a list of nine obvious roles within a team, creating a balanced roster. He believed that by classifying people, schedules and tasks were more easily distributed and carried out (Belbin 2010). These roles are Planter, Resource Investigator, Coordinator, Shaper, Monitor-Evaluator, Team Worker, Implementer, Finisher and Specialist. It seems that Belbin welcomed individuality and recognized that no one is perfect, but a team could be by establishing everyone's roles and importance. Comparing Tuckman's theory to Belbin's theory; Belbin states that teams are not groups of people with common goals but have individual roles and responsibilities that contribute to a particular goal. It is also clear that large organizations such as the NHS would struggle to incorporate Tuckman's model into effective teamwork. This is due to the time required to shape and develop an effective team according to Tuckman's belief. By the time the team reaches a high-performing status, team members may have moved on, creating a hole that needs to be replaced. Belbins' theory is an effective model for teamwork, particularly within the NHS, as it allows a team to embrace individuality without its members needing to take on an ill-suited role. Managing and resolving conflict within a team is essential for effective teamwork. . When faced with a conflict situation, an individual's behavior is generally classified into two groups: assertiveness and cooperation (Thomas and Kilmann, 2016). Thomas and Kilmann proposed five approaches to conflict resolution: avoid, adapt, compromise, collaborate, and compete. These approaches all contribute in their own way to conflict management. Conflict management also refers to the individual and their emotional intelligence. In order to resolve conflict, an individual must be aware of their emotions and be in the best possible mind to achieve the best possible outcome. Conflicts usually spark heated discussions and strong emotions. It is therefore very important to be both personally and socially competent. Conflict resolution and escalation of concerns are an integral part of a functional team that benefits from effective communication. Teams that incorporate meetings such as huddles can resolve problems and improve communication effectiveness (Gluyas, 2015). In my area of practice we hold a weekly service user meeting to allow concerns or compliments to arise. This involves the presence of unit staff, management and service users. My unit has 13 service users at maximum capacity, but we rarely see more than half attend meetings. As well as unit meetings, staff are offering one-to-one sessions with key workers so they can provide a more personalized package of care. This is usually where complaints are mentioned and so the low turnout was concerning. The low participation rate affected the effectiveness of the resolutions and thus causedthe agitation of service users. My task was to announce the start of the meeting and thus approach the users of the service. After experiencing several declines; I decided to contact the service users again and ask them individually if they had any input for the meeting. I was pleasantly surprised by the level of cooperation from users of the service. This small change allowed service users to express their concerns in a safe environment without needing to speak in front of a large group of people. In making this change, I was concerned about the basic daily life activities of service users. By not speaking up and informing staff of any problems, service users were left without support or receiving sub-par care. When we asked service users about issues, one of the issues raised was that a tap in the service users' room was not working, resulting in no running water. Not being informed, staff were unable to support an activity of daily living as simple as doing laundry. By not meeting needs, service users would not receive the care needed to improve their health (Care, 2018). Along the same lines, another concern was the instrumental activities of daily living of service users, including their mental support. Being seriously ill, his need for water could have affected his mental health, causing his health to deteriorate. This particular user of the service had difficulty being in social areas. His need to stay in his room and avoid staff ultimately resulted in a need not being met. Individuals with a serious mental health disorder often experience social dysfunction and may be the source of much of the distress experienced (Bellack et al., 2007). When considering leadership theories, I believe Maslow's hierarchy of needs is appropriate to support my area of change. . Maslow expressed how important it is for a person to have their most basic needs met in order to feel capable of satisfying needs such as security, love, and esteem (Maslow, 1943). Abraham Maslow developed a hierarchy of needs that could be interpreted to help leaders shape their own ways of working within a team. Maslow suggested that he could refine the style of leaders to meet the needs of their followers (Mack 2018). Maslow's pyramid consists of five levels of motivation. They include physiological needs, safety and security needs, love and belonging needs, self-esteem needs and finally self-actualization. Managers tend not to care about core motivations and therefore can help workers achieve them to achieve peak performance. The basic needs described are vital in acute mental health settings where people are more restricted and less able to have choice. When a person's needs are not met, it can have a negative effect on their social functioning and recovery (SCIE 2014). As the person responsible for this activity, my needs were at the top of the hierarchy. I realized that in order to have an effective team and achieve service user satisfaction, I would have to reconsider my approach to the meeting. By responding to service users' privacy needs and being willing to raise concerns individually, I have seen a higher rate ofproblems or concerns. To bring this idea to success, I had to take into account the physiological and safety and security needs of the users of my services. In doing so, staff are better able to meet the basic needs of service users without affecting their wellbeing and recovery. Another theory that could be applied to my clinical practice is John Adair's leadership theory. He designed a three-circle diagram that describes leadership needs. Adair said a good leader helps accomplish the task, create synergy, and meet needs (Valuing-your-talent-framework.com, 2018). Regardless of the level of leadership exercised, Adair's model considers that the needs of the task, the team and the individual must be constantly taken into account. One of the strengths of this theory is that it can be applied to any situation in which the level of leadership is irrelevant. As I considered the influence of this theory on my area of practice, I noticed many relevant points that have aided my leadership. Adair noted that there are eight leadership functions that could help leadership. They defined the task, planned, briefed, monitored, evaluated, motivated, organized and led by example (The British Library, 2018). When preparing the practice change area, I defined the task and ensured that it was specific, measurable, achievable, realistic and time-bound (Hewitt-Taylor, 2013). My task seemed simple and easy to implement. I then planned the change with some of my colleagues, expressing how easy the change was and the benefits it could bring. I then informed the team of my idea, following Adair's three circles of leadership; Empower individuals, build the team and get the task done. I monitored and evaluated the change by delegating effectively and also asking for feedback from my colleagues throughout the process. I engaged with my team and service users to maintain motivation, reminding them of the improvement in the quality of care we could achieve. I organized the change by making a list of tasks and equipment that could prove resourceful. For example: notepads that service users and staff can keep for meetings. It also made service users feel part of the team. When implementing this change, I hosted the first meeting, showing staff and service users our new way of approaching it. This area of practice has since become a very effective way of communicating with service users, promoting their rights to choice and privacy, and meeting their basic needs. The impact of my change has been phenomenal. Service users appear less agitated, demonstrating improvement in their mental health recovery. Staff are now aware of the need to individualize each complaint, shaping their approach to service users to meet basic needs. In this section, I will use Driscoll's Structured Reflection Model to assist my reflection on a significantly improved element of practice. since the start of the course. (Nottingham.ac.uk, 2018). Previously, when faced with difficult behavior, I would have taken a back position, physically supporting nurses who were trying to de-escalate a situation. De-escalation is a preferred technique used by staff before any restrictive interventions are implemented (NHS Anonymous, 2018). When a service user was verbally and physically aggressive, I.