Manager as a Team Leader

Nursing Managers as Team Leaders

Management style of nursing leader is a quality of health care practitioners in which working groups communication skills and professional relations are important.

The Nursing Manager As Team Leader

    Since nurses work closely together and often depend on each other to get their jobs done, leadership from the director of nursing is critical. A positive climate is one in which there is mutual respect and in which group members can safely discuss work-related concerns, offer criticism and suggestions about clinical practice, and easily experiment with new behaviors. Maintaining a positive work environment and building a team is a complex and demanding management task.

Communication

    Communication is a key part of nursing leadership. The Joint Commission, the organization that accredits hospitals, found that poor inter professional communication was the cause of nearly 70% of unexpected events that resulted in death or serious injury (Joint Commission, 2015).

    Effective nurse managers can facilitate group communication by creating an atmosphere in which group members feel free to discuss concerns, make suggestions, critique ideas, and show respect and trust. An important leadership function related to communication is vigilance, that is, keeping communication channels open, drawing attention to critical issues, acknowledging and processing conflicts, promoting self-esteem, checking for understanding, actively seeking the participation of all group members and propose procedures. around to discuss group problems.

    The manager's communication style also has an effect on group cohesion. When the manager retains a high level of information power, controlling not only what information is received but also who receives it, group performance can suffer. Through

    Interrupting, changing the subject, monopolizing the conversation, or ignoring feedback increases problems and leaves the leader uninformed; Both the individuals in the group and the functioning of the group suffer.

    In contrast, when the leader shares information freely and fosters a high level of mutual communication and participatory problem solving, performance and job satisfaction improve. In participatory groups, each individual is given the opportunity and is encouraged to seek and share information and to communicate frequently with all members of the group. Managers and employees check with each other to make sure the information is clear, make suggestions and provide feedback.

Team Performance Evaluation

    The manager may be used to evaluating individual performance, but evaluating team performance requires different judgments. Patient outcomes and equipment function are the criteria against which equipment can be evaluated. Outcome data such as clinical history information, critical path deviations, complication rates, falls, and medication errors can help assess team performance.

    The functioning of the group can be judged by the degree of cohesion of the work group, the commitment in the work and the willingness to help each other. Conversely, aggression, competition, hostility, detachment, shame, or guilt are characteristic of groups that function poorly. Membership stability is an additional measure of group performance.

    Influencing team processes to achieve organizational goals is the direct responsibility of the Director of Nursing. By publicizing team accomplishments, creating opportunities for team members to demonstrate new skills, and supporting social activities, the manager can increase the perceived value of group membership. Members of groups that have a history of success are more attracted to each other than those that have not. 

Chair Committees And Working Groups

    Committees are usually permanent and deal with recurring problems. Member turnover is generally determined by position and role in the organization. Formal managers are part of the organization and have authority and a specific role. Information committees are primarily for discussion and do not have delegated powers. Working Groups Ad hoc committees created for a specific purpose and for a limited period of time. 

    Work groups work on problems or projects that the organization cannot easily handle through normal activities and structures. Working groups often deal with cross-departmental issues. They tend to make recommendations, and then nurses are often selected for leadership roles on committees and task forces. In these managerial roles, in addition to division heads and team leaders, they hold numerous meetings. The following section provides instructions for directing and conducting meetings.

Guidelines For Conducting Meetings

    While meetings are critical to getting the work of the organization done, they should be held primarily to solve problems, make decisions, and improve working relationships. Other uses of meetings, such as socializing, giving or clarifying information, or soliciting suggestions must be fully justified. Wherever possible, information obtained in other ways should be used, e.g. B. by email, can be transmitted. Meetings must be conducted efficiently and produce relevant and meaningful results. The meeting should not result in damaged interpersonal relationships, frustration, or lack of results.

Preparation

    The first key to a successful meeting is thorough preparation. Dissemination involves clearly defining the purpose of the meeting. The leader must prepare an agenda, determine who should attend, assign tasks, distribute relevant materials, organize the taking of minutes, and choose an appropriate place and time for the meeting. The agenda should be distributed in a timely manner (7-10 days before the meeting) and should indicate what topics will be covered, who is responsible for each topic, what preliminary work needs to be done, what results are expected in relation to each one. topic and how much time allocated to each topic.

    A “meeting before the meeting” is sometimes recommended (Sullivan, 2013). This is especially important if you are attending a meeting where you expect differing opinions. It may be as simple as talking to a few key people to identify the issues ahead of you, or it may need to sit down with a key decision maker who has the power. It can also be helpful to ask the people you expect to have opposing views.

Mission

    In general, the meeting should include the fewest number of stakeholders who can actively and effectively participate in decision-making, who have the skills and knowledge necessary to manage the agenda, and who can adequately consider the interests of those affected by decisions made. Too few or too many participants can limit the effectiveness of a committee or task force.

Place And Time

    Meetings should be held where interruptions can be controlled and where there is a natural time limit for the meeting, e.g. B. late morning or late afternoon. Sessions should be limited to 50 to 90 minutes unless members are dealing with a complex, a single session which is detailed for us. For meetings longer than 90 minutes, breaks should be scheduled at least every hour. Meetings should start and end on time. Starting too late positively strengthens latecomers while penalizing latecomers or early comers. Where late arrival penalties are stated, they should be applied respectfully and objectively. If it is the leader who is late, the cost of starting the meeting late should be repeated and an appropriately designated person should start the meeting on time.

Conduct Of Members

    Each member's behavior can be positive, negative, or neutral in relation to the group's goals. Members can contribute very little or use the group to meet personal needs. Some members may take most responsibility for group actions, allowing less involved members to avoid posting. Group members must adhere to the following

• Prepare for the meeting by reading the relevant materials in advance.

• Ask for clarification if necessary.

• If necessary, offer suggestions and ideas. Encourage others to contribute their ideas and opinions.

• If necessary, offer constructive criticism.

• Help keep the discussion going. Implementation support by agreement.

    These behaviors facilitate group performance. All participants should be familiar with the behaviors they can employ to facilitate well-run meetings. All meeting participants should be helped to understand that they share responsibility for successful meetings.

• A leader can greatly increase the effectiveness of the meeting by doing the following:

• Don't allow one person to dominate the discussion.

• Separate brainstorming and evaluation.

• Encourage members to refine and develop each other's ideas (a key to successful brainstorming).

• Write down problems, ideas and solutions on a board or flip chart

• Check for understanding

• Regularly summarize the information and progress of the group

• Encourage more discussion

• Bringing differences of opinion to light and facilitating their reconciliation

    The leader is also responsible for drawing out members' hidden agendas (personal goals or needs). Revealing hidden agendas ensures that these agendas either contribute positively to group performance or are neutralized. Guidelines for leading group meetings are privided.

Managing Task Forces

    There are a few critical differences between task forces and formal committees for example, members of a task force have less time to build relationships with one another, and, because task forces are temporary, there may be no desire for long-term positive relationships. Formation of a task force may suggest that the organization's usual problem-solving mechanisms have failed. This perception may lead to tensions among task force members and between the task force.