Effective methods of developing ground rules

Successful strategies for defining ground rules and setting expectations are based on research on optimal working practices. Several strategies can be used to establish ground rules and expectations. Secondly, expressing opinions and asking genuine questions allows the team to transition from disputes and monologues to a conversation in which members can understand everyone’s point of view. Providing all pertinent information allows the team to generate a comprehensive set of information that will aid in decision making and problem solving. Ground rules can also be formed by focusing on interests rather than positions and defining needs that must be addressed in order to solve a problem. This will increase the ability to develop solutions and reduce unproductive conflict (McLaughlin, Pearce, & Trenoweth, 2013).

The difference in experience, expectations, and personality can affect team efficiency in several ways. Different people have different values and beliefs, and when they work as a team, their respective values may conflict leading to misunderstandings in the team. This will affect how the team functions.

Several conflicts resolution strategies for interprofessional relations exist. The first strategy is to recognize that everyone has biased fairness perceptions. When involved in a conflict people should try to overcome their self-centered fairness perception. Both parties in a conflict usually think they are always right. Second, it is important to be keen to identify deeper issues. It takes time to explore individuals’ deeper concerns and to listen closely to them. Conflicts can also be resolved by avoiding escalating tensions with provocative moves and threats (Brown, Lewis, Ellis, Stewart, Freeman, & Kasperski, 2011).

Different techniques can be used in addressing issues and solving problems of team leadership. Addressing issues requires transparent communication where everyone’s point of view and concerns are expressed freely. Solving team leadership problems also requires one to be open-minded. Open-minded individuals see beyond the obvious and view risks as their friend. They tackle problems head-on and continue with their usual life. A solid strategy should also be implemented to address issues in team leadership. Effective team leaders avoid guessing and take time to assess the situation (McLaughlin, Pearce, & Trenoweth, 2013).

The team will choose their leader basing on traits such as decision-making skills, communication skills, problem-solving skills and organization skills. A good team leader must handle problems and find solutions efficiently. Good team leaders should be able to make unilateral decisions and lead the team during the decision-making process. The team should also choose a leader who communicates well with people.

When the team leader is ineffective, it is important to communicate to him directly about the problem before talking to others. When the team leader does not seem to change the team can decide to choose another leader. However, it is not wise to offer ultimatums to the team leader.

Communication and Collaboration strategies

For a team to work effectively, various collaboration practices should be upheld. The first practice is to clarify the expectations about the team’s purpose. Collaboration can be successful when there is a clear communication of the purpose from important stakeholders. Creating decision-making methods early and communicating them clearly to the team will promote effective interprofessional collaboration. If decision-making methods are not stated early, simple decisions can be hard to make, and this can dissolve the trust of team members. The team should also be prepared to fund important capacity gaps in collaboration (Garon, 2012).

Numerous features of collaboration tools are focused towards the management and facilitation of effective communication among team members. The categories of technology that can be used to support collaboration include virtual meetings, email, instant messaging, screen sharing, blogs, web, voice, video conferencing, and discussion boards (Zwarenstein, Rice, Gotlib-Conn, Kenaszchuk, & Reeves, 2013).

Various communication strategies such as email, text, voicemail, and face-to-face used in the workplace have their benefits and limitations. One of the advantages of using email is that it is easy to communicate effectively with anyone anywhere in the world. Another advantage of email communication is that makes responding to clients quickly and easily since you do not need to leave messages with receptionists. The cost of sending email is meager compared to other forms of communication. However, not everyone has internet connectivity, and also viruses can be sent through the mail (Nardi, Whittaker, & Bradner, 2000). On the other hand, face-to-face communication is effective because it involves face expressions. Misunderstandings and doubts are cleared on the spot during face-to-face communication. Face-to-face communication is informal, direct, and simple. However, in face-to-face communication, it is difficult to hold someone accountable for someone’s speech. Face-to-face communication cannot be quoted in the court of law since it is oral. Voicemail messaging manipulates and stores the spoken, recorded messages making them easier to access by users. Voicemail can be easily transported to another voice mailbox. However, voicemail is less economical for smaller teams to use. Many people cannot use the voice messaging systems.

Email, text, voicemail, and face-to-face can be used appropriately under different circumstances. It is appropriate to use email when communicating with someone who is very far such that communication through a phone call or text can be expensive, but internet connectivity is cheaply available. Voice message and text can be used when it is hard to reach an individual through a phone call. Face-to-face communication is often used when both parties are near and can easily meet.

References

Brown, J., Lewis, L., Ellis, K., Stewart, M., Freeman, T. R., & Kasperski, M. (2011). Conflict on interprofessional primary health care teams – Can it be resolved? Journal of Interprofessional Care, 25(1), 4–10.

Garon, M. (2012). Speaking up, being heard: Registered nurses’ perceptions of workplace communication. Journal of Nursing Management, 20(3), 361–371.

McLaughlin, S., Pearce, R., & Trenoweth, S. (2013). Reducing conflict on wards by improving team communication. Mental Health Practice, 16(5), 29–31.

Nardi, B. A., Whittaker, S., & Bradner, E. (2000). Interaction and outeraction: instant messaging in action. In Proceedings of the 2000 ACM conference on Computer supported cooperative work (pp. 79-88). ACM.

Zwarenstein, M., Rice, K., Gotlib-Conn, L., Kenaszchuk, C., & Reeves, S. (2013). Disengaged: A qualitative study of communication and collaboration between physicians and other professions on general internal medicine wards. BMC Health Services Research, 13(1), 1–17.