Jody Hoffer Gittell has done wonderful research into what drives success on multi-disciplinary teams working together on a specific task.[ii] She has found seven critical dimensions that not only drive better results, but also impact team engagement:

Shared Goals

Shared Knowledge

Mutual Respect

Timely Communication

Frequent Communication

Accurate Communication

Problem-solving vs. Blaming

Paying attention to process does not mean allowing for inefficient decision-making or creating unnecessary bottlenecks. It does mean helping leaders to be intentional about creating a shared vision, setting goals and expectations, and establishing the team norms that address Gittell’s dimensions, or others that are relevant for team success. Do we all clearly understand our goals? How will we communicate and how often? How will we hold each other accountable? How will we deal with conflicts when they arise? How will we articulate and manage the decision-making process?

Physician leaders can use coaching to learn how to build, launch, and facilitate their teams as they are so different from the structure and dynamics of the clinical and research teams they are used to.

Critical Thinking

If you graph the efficiency and complexity of various industries, health care sits way out on the line in the top right quadrant, far away from any others. It is the Wild, Wild West and the poster child for being a VUCA industry. Leaders are setting strategies without the benefit of past experience because past strategies existed in another world entirely. It is an unpredictable business climate with an uncertain future and an army of providers who see the need for change but are firmly committed to their patients above all else.

This means that physician leaders need to carry their teams through a well-articulated, critical thinking process in order to make the best decisions possible. When physician leaders get overwhelmed by the chaos and difficulty of making decisions, which they do, it is helpful to remind them of their critical thinking skills and how to apply it to their leadership role. One model that is helpful is based on a book called Smart Choices: A Practical Guide to Making Better Decisions by Hammond, Keeney, and Raiffa.[iii] The authors outline eight elements for thinking through decisions: