ESSAY: Communication and Conflict

ASSESSMENT 2

Communication and Conflict Resolution

Overview

In 3 pages, develop recommendations for a team charter and provide communication and collaboration strategies for a new interprofessional team that will work together on challenging cases.

Resources

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

Krimshtein, N. S., Luhrs, C. A., Puntillo, K. A., Cortez, T. B., Livote, E. E., Penrod, J. D., & Nelson, J. E. (2011). Training nurses for interdisciplinary communication with families in the intensive care unit: An intervention. Journal of Palliative Medicine, 14(12), 1325–1332.

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

Flicek, C. L. (2012). Communication: A dynamic between nurses and physicians. MEDSURG Nursing, 21(6), 385–386.

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.

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.

Greer, L. L., Saygi, O., Aaldering, H., & de Dreu, C. K. W. (2012). Conflict in medical teams: Opportunity or danger? Medical Education, 46(10), 935–942.

Janss, R., Rispens, S., Segers, M., & Jehn, K. A. (2012). What is happening under the surface? Power, conflict and the performance of medical teams. Medical Education, 46(9), 838–849.

Apker, J., Propp, K. M., Zabava Ford, W. S., & Hofmeister, N. (2006). Collaboration, credibility, compassion, and coordination: Professional nurse communication skill sets in healthcare team interactions. Journal of Professional Nursing: Official Journal of the American Association of Colleges of Nursing, 22(3), 180–189.

Propp, K. M., Apker, J., Zabava Ford, W. S., Wallace, N., Serbenski, M., & Hofmeister, N. (2010). Meeting the complex needs of the health care team: Identification of nurse–team communication practices perceived to enhance patient outcomes. Qualitative Health Research, 20(1), 15–28.

Almost, J. (2006). Conflict within nursing work environments: Concept analysis. Journal of Advanced Nursing, 53(4), 444–453.

Instructions

You have been charged with facilitating the launch of an interprofessional team that will work together on a number of challenging cases.

The team members will come from several different areas within the organization.  The team is expected to have its orientation meeting in two weeks and then work together collaboratively for the next six months.

Your first task is to develop recommendations for a team charter that will help the group establish ground rules and decide who will lead the team.

You also need to help the team with communication and collaboration strategies.

This assessment has two distinct sections:

Team Charter Recommendations and Communication

and

Collaboration Strategies.

Provide thorough and detailed recommendations and support recommendations using examples, references, and citations from your research.

For the Team Charter Recommendations:

1.  Explain methods to establish ground rules and set expectations.

High-performing teams take the time to get to know each other individually, take action to build trust across the team, work together to set clear goals, hold each other accountable for meeting these goals, and have a clear set of ground rules that define the required behaviors for the team. They recognize that in order to achieve and maintain high performance levels, the ground rules they define should be created by the team in a collaborative manner.

How might differences in personality, expectations, and experience affect team efficiency?

Confusion and misunderstandings arising during the storming stage of the team development lifecycle often occur due to a lack of knowledge of individual team members motivators, stressors and default behaviors. Thus, individuals rely on their initial perceptions and judgment to determine if someone is trustworthy. This can lead to people being defensive, overly critical of others and can actually create coalitions in the team that break the team cohesiveness. Exposing team members to behavioral models may help overcome this problem and drive a better understanding of each others behavioral tendencies. There are many behavioral models that can be used to evaluate team members behaviors or personality types.

2.  Describe conflict resolution strategies for interprofessional teams.

to affect team performance, all team members have to recognize the basic fact that you cannot force someone to change their behavior, but you can change how you interact with them to influence their behavior

3.  Identify effective ways to address issues of team leadership.

Review the company objectives, how success is measured and determine where the team can make the most significant impact.

How will the team decide who will lead them?

team leader should –

understand the whole project along with project objectives and goals;

be expert of the overall process who can guide team members;

be able to handle pressure and conflict situations;

understands the team dynamics and works to promote productive working conditions;

 be a good team player and can get status of work from team members;

be capable of resolving minor issues without your involvement;

be able to negotiate and communicate with technical as well non-technical people involved;

be proactive with qualities of a mentor and a coach and

able to provide realistic and accurate feedback on time.

What happens if the team leader is ineffective?

Appoint new team leader

For the Communication and Collaboration Strategies:

1.  Describe best practices for effective interprofessional collaboration. What types of technology can be used to support collaboration?

2.  Explain the benefits and limitations of different communication strategies such as e-mail, text, voice mail, and face-to-face. When is it appropriate to use each type of communication?

This assessment should be 3 pages in length, not including the title page and reference page.

Use at least three resources to support your recommendations, and follow APA guidelines for style and format.

Additional Requirements

Include a title page and reference page.

Reference at least three current scholarly or professional resources.

Use APA format.

Use Times New Roman font, 12 point.

Double space.

SCORING GUIDE (This is what the professor is looking for during grading)

1.  Explains methods to establish ground rules and set expectations for interprofessional team collaboration and describes situations where each would be beneficial.

2.  Describes evidence-based conflict resolution strategies for interprofessional teams and identifies situations where each would be beneficial.

3.  Analyzes best practices for interprofessional team collaboration.

4.  Analyzes the benefits and limitations of different forms of communication for an interprofessional team; considers the risks associated with ineffective communication.

5.  Writes clearly and logically, with correct use of spelling, grammar, punctuation, and mechanics; uses relevant evidence to support a central idea.  Correctly formats paper, citations, and references using APA style.  Citations are free from all errors.

ANSWER

Communication and Conflict Resolution

Team Charter Recommendation

A team charter is a document prepared to define a team’s direction and boundaries. It is developed while the team members try to know each other and understand behaviours, likes and dislikes of their fellows (Brewer, Grady & Watson, 2017). A team charter is made to serve as a way for the team members to illustrate the focus and the function of the group.

Methods of Establishing Ground Rules and Setting Expectations

 The team comes together to set ground rules and the procedure they are to use when working together. During this process, it is essential to give every individual an opportunity to express their views, which must be considered when making decisions (Meyer et al., 2016). Examples of ground rules set by most teams include treating each other with respect, attempts to develop personal relationships to create trust, honesty and openness to fellow team members and freedom of speech.

Differences in personality, expectations and experience affect the progress of the team and may even ruin its existence. Individuals with different personalities and expectations cannot work towards the same goals. All team members must be shaped to acquire same character, aspirations and training to get them all on the same level. It can only be made possible by exposing the team members to behavioural models (Brewer et al., 2017). They help guide and evaluate the behaviours of individuals on the right track of the team.

Conflict Resolution Strategies for Interprofessional Teams

Most individuals respond to conflicts by avoidance, competition, collaboration, accommodation and compromise and compromise. The partnership is the best way of dealing with conflicts in a team situation which does not affect the normal functioning of the group. It is the opposite of avoidance and competition since it targets at ensuring two parties reach a conclusion that favours them both. Collaboration creates an opportunity to solve problems as well as to learn more about the interests of others (Hallam, Smith, Hite, Hite & Wilcox, 2015). The more individuals familiarise with each other in a team, the more they work together for a greater good.

Practical Ways to Address Issues of Team Leadership

For a team to run smoothly, there must be someone in charge who controls, gives direction and guidance of what is supposed to happen during the project. For instance, in a healthcare provision team, there must be an individual with leadership skills and a good understanding of the healthcare services who controls the healthcare delivery, organisation (Meyer et al., 2016). The person is the leader of the group who must be selected carefully to ensure the success of the team.

A Good Team Leader

A good team leader must have a clear understanding of the whole project. Method, objectives and goals of the project must be well known to an individual for him to provide directions and guidance to the team. He must also possess more skills in the field of the project to give advice and instructions to the followers. For instance, a team leader in the medical team must have sufficient knowledge about health care provides services to guide nurses and other medical staff on how to attend to patients. Understanding the team dynamics is also essential for a team leader to help create a good working environment for the group (Meyer et al., 2016). Involvement in the work process is also necessary for a team leader who helps build a closer relationship with the team.

If by any chance an ineffective team leader is selected, there will be a lot of confusion and misunderstanding in the group. The uncertainty affects the service delivery project and may lead to failure of goal accomplishment (Brewer et al., 2017). For instance, if an ineffective team leader is chosen in a health care team, it will create danger in the health care delivery system which may affect the safety of patients severely. It is necessary to appoint a new leader early enough before the effect becomes hard to repair.

Collaboration Strategies

It is the most valued approach to resolving conflicts which give individuals an opportunity to be creative and create solutions that satisfy all the team members. Collaboration does not protect any party on a team and enables each to feel like a winner. It does not diminish the self-esteem of any group or individual in an organisation which helps to keep the production level at the same level it was before the conflict (Hallam et al., 2015). Everyone targets to win in any situation of conflict and have their suggestions respected. Collaboration approach gives both parties wins by placing all the grievances under discussion to come up with a common point.

Communication strategies Improvement in communication skills is a massive step towards management of conflicts in interprofessional teams. Communication enables team members to have a clear understanding of others even when in different geographical areas. Effective communication occurs only when the message is received in time and is well described. Email can be used to pass official communication within the team without having…