Collaboration and teamwork have always been some of the major success factors when it comes to measuring a unit’s efficiency. However, if the business segment is frequently more preoccupied with the financial outcome, the healthcare sector is responsible for saving human lives. Hence, the ability to cooperate within a healthcare unit is necessary not only in terms of a beneficial working atmosphere but for the best possible treatment outcome for the patient (Moore et al., 2016). Since there exists a variety of factors that influence the staff climate, it is a healthcare administrator’s priority to ensure proper working conditions to build a cohesive team.
The following case study demonstrates the setting where unproductive climate among the unit employees is primarily caused by unsatisfying working conditions and lack of employee guidance. Some of the major organizational issues that contribute to the setting include:
- Outdated IT management;
- Problematic communication patterns (both within and outside the team);
- Inefficient labor resource allocation.
In order to address the following issues, it is of crucial importance to understand the concept that serves as a foundation for all these problems in the first place. Considering the facts provided, the lack of trust and integration serving as a moving force for the team disrupts all the workflow in its genesis. Hence, to combat the misunderstanding, the pillars of the intersectional settings-based approach might be used. According to the following theory, the healthcare system is a co-dependent and coherent mechanism, which encompasses interpersonal communication and collaboration with local and national authorities (Farmanova et al., 2018). Hence, the team must unite to obtain measurable results from the communication with the legislature.
Another theoretical approach applicable to the situation is the organizational health literacy approach, as it considers establishing communication patterns within the unit to maximize productivity (Farmanova et al., 2018). Bearing this theoretical background in mind, the list of major things to do in the unit might be sorted according to the task priority:
- Outpatient management;
- Schedule and budget revision and monitoring;
- Employees recruitment;
- Staff culture development.
Such an activity log is developed according to the overall activities hierarchy in the unit, emphasizing the organizational issues that surround and separate the team in the first place. Thus, once the outpatient management aspect is settled, the conflict management techniques within the team should be discussed. Considering the fact that the employees do not trust each other, it is important to make sure that they would believe what the organizational manager would say to them.
In order to do so, the administrator should have a series of private conversations with employees about their expectations from the working process, making sure that all the remarks are heard and taken into consideration when monitoring the process. Once employees trust management, they will be able to act under the leadership of one credible person. In such a way, they will also understand that despite their differences, they have common issues in terms of poor infrastructure in the unit.
Hence, the joint effort is the key to obtaining proper financial and legislative support in terms of providing the unit with a working electronic management system. Regarding the following case study, it might be concluded that one of the major pitfalls on the way to increase the unit’s outpatient productivity is to choose a leader who would take responsibility for the decision-making process. The person, however, should be disinterested in affecting others’ workflow, as the employees already have severe trust issues within the team.
References
Farmanova, E., Bonneville, L., & Bouchard, L. (2018). Organizational health literacy: review of theories, frameworks, guides, and implementation issues. INQUIRY: The Journal of Health Care Organization, Provision, and Financing, 55.
Moore, J. M., Everly, M., & Bauer, R. (2016). Multigenerational challenges: team-building for positive clinical workforce outcomes. Online Journal of Issues in Nursing, 21(2).