Gauging consistency among team member roles is important, not only in the healthcare sector, but among others. For example, if one team member has consistently been responsible for a certain type of task, which has been done effectively and efficiently in a group, then the skills needed to accomplish the said task are part of the core professional strengths of that group. Alternatively, if the team member doesn’t consistently perform in one area of the team or don’t do a good job as a team, the skills needed to do that job may be part of team member’s weaknesses. Being a team leader is looking at each team member’s performance outside the norms to determine where they are strong and weak on their own. You may see consistency among those strengths and weakness working in the team or out of it; or you may discover that some employees have a different set of strengths and weaknesses when working independently versus working in a team structure. This issue has been a huge weakness in an attempt to improve administration of healthcare. Some healthcare managers consistently failed to evaluate individual team members, as individual, not as group. The strength of a team leader is the ability to get feedback from others. After all, as one person doing the assessment, what you even perceive to be strengths and weaknesses may not be accurate. Ask for feedback from other employees and managers who work with each team member under evaluation. Use the information gathered from other individuals, as well as your own assessment, to form an overall determination about the individual. Additional strength of being a team leader is to serve as a focal point to communicate and resolve interface and integration issues with other teams–provide guidance to the team based on management direction, and lead by setting a good example (role model). Effective leaders display behaviors consistent with words, provide the team with a vision of the project objectives, and strive for team consensus and win-win agreements. The effective governing boards share long term vision and safeguard the interest of the shareholders. For example, the role of the effective board of directors in publicly held companies is governed in part by the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, and is generally to serve as a check on management to protect shareholders. Directors on health care company boards have added complication to their roles due to specific regulations in healthcare delivery. Healthcare boards of directors must understand that regulatory compliance is vital in the sustainability of businesses and rankings. Additional critical area for healthcare organizations is to improve effectiveness by improving strategic revisions. Healthcare administrators and managers are accountable in inaugurating the strategic direction of the company–but should do so in unification with the board of directors. The board’s role is to approve and propose revisions to the company’s strategic planning. Another important role of the board members is to deliver long-term visionary direction for the health care companies on whose boards they serve. As people pursue any shared innovativeness over time-working, living, playing together-they develop a common practice. There are common ways of doing things and could relate to one another, which may yield mutual purpose. Over time, the resulting practice becomes a recognizable connection among those involved. It makes sense, therefore, to call such a community a “community of practice. The best and most effective treatment outcomes for patients and clients are achieved when professionals and {team} members work together, learn together, engage in clinical audit of outcomes together, and generate invention to ensure progress in practice and services. Several mechanisms have emerged that help create safe and collaborative environments and that provide opportunities for health providers to exchange information and discuss experiences. The benefits of safety teams in reducing errors and improving quality and equality of care have been recognized, in a number of health-related studies. Communities of Practice (CoPs) might be one vehicle for creating new mechanisms for staff to relate to each other and their patients, sharing tacit knowledge and contributing to organizational learning. Healthcare leaders have to see the value of relationships in enhancing patient safety, patient equality care, and be prepared to invest in CoPs. CoPs are similar to patient safety collaboration, in that, when supported and resourced by the healthcare organization, they provide excellent opportunities for health professionals to develop and implement care processes and structures that enhance both quality and safety. Communities of practice (CoPs) are not a new kind of organizational entity; rather, they are a different part in the organization’s structure–one that emphasizes the learning that people have done together rather than the entity they report to, the project they are working on, or the people they know. CoPs differ from the teams. They delineate their enterprise, exist over time, and set their boundaries. People belong to CoPs at the same time as they belong to a team. In their work units, they shape the organization. In their teams, they take care of projects. In their networks, they form relationships. And in their communities of practice, they develop the knowledge that lets them do these other tasks. This informal fabric of communities and shared practices makes the official organization effective and, indeed, possible. CoPs are everywhere. We all belong to a number of them–at work, at school, at home, in our hobbies. Some have a name, some don’t. We are core members of some and we belong to others more superficially. You may be a member of a band, or you may just come to rehearsals to hang around with the certain group. However, a team is like an extraction from the CoPs. Additionally, the team’s responsibilities are more of a goal-oriented. CoPs might be one vehicle for creating new mechanisms for staff to relate to each other and their patients. They share tacit knowledge and contributing to organizational learning. Healthcare leaders have to see the value of relationships in enhancing patient safety and be prepared to invest in CoPs. CoPs are similar to patient safety collaboratives in that, when supported and resourced by the organization, they provide excellent opportunities for health professionals to develop and implement care processes and structures that enhance both quality and safety. CoPs are not just places where local activities are organized, but also where the meaning of belonging to broader organizations is negotiated and experienced. In healthcare practice, this tension between the local and the global is a daily experience. Protocols, regulations, procedures, and professional standards must be interpreted locally and translated into a practice that addresses the specifics of clinical cases.
