Petra Platzer, PhD NBC-HWC, PCC: CEO SixSEED Partners
Background
A clinical division within a community-based hospital was experiencing a decrease in morale and team cohesion, which was starting to affect patient care. In seeing this negative trajectory for the health of their workforce and their quality patient care, the Director of Advanced Practice Practitioners (APPs) and Division Chair showed effective leadership by seeking support. Through the referral of a trusted colleague, this executive sponsor dyad contacted SixSEED Partners to help heal their team.
In the Discovery phase, the leadership team transparently shared that, while the clinicians and APPs respected each other as people, the communication flows were breaking down and less collaborative. They were hearing from multiple team members about a lack of trust and decreased psychological safety. One source of tension was the different working styles of the clinicians, such as high drama or micromanaging behaviors. Over time, this left the APPs with varied levels of role clarity, feeling deflated, and unable to fully practice to the scope of their license.
The leadership team felt stuck. The division was short-staffed and covering 24/7 patient care. While it seemed like there was no “extra” time for anything, the leadership also knew that not addressing this team culture issue now would lead to even worse problems later: a disengaged workforce, employee turnover and lower quality care.
Client Results
The Strategy:
Shifting from the traditional “fix the problem people” approach, our strategy was to build a sustainable culture of trust. We designed a blended approach to support learning and growth at the individual, team and leadership levels. To be effective, we ensured this approach would fit into the team’s busy schedule, foster connection, and provide tools they could apply immediately in their day-to-day work.
The Solution:
Dr. Platzer and Ms. Hompe designed and facilitated a five session, nine-month experiential learning series that led the team through an “internal Operating System” upgrade. The group moved step by step through scaffolded learning to:
- Build Self-Awareness using strengths-based assessments
- Shift from Drama to Empowerment mindsets and behaviors
- Move from Assumptions to Shared Commitments
With this foundational work, the team applied their new interaction behaviors to optimizing their team communications in patient rounds and defining their Team Norms for team effectiveness. Clinicians also selected mini-coaching engagements to support further individual development.
The Impact:
Through this work, the team blended and became more effective by building trust, improving collaboration, and communicating more openly. Team members demonstrated safety to engage in discussion, rather than passively agreeing. Patient care also improved. As one example, the team was able to respectfully and supportively raise concerns about one provider’s clinical practices, resulting in improved accountability and better quality care.
Three months after the final session, we checked in with the Leadership Team. They confirmed the team was still using their new skills and ways of operating – even while under more external pressures and volumes than previously.
As the Division Chair reflected: “It’s one thing to practice these skills during the sessions, but it’s another to see people still using them together when things are even tougher. This engagement was so worth it!”
To learn more about doing this kind of work to support and elevate your team to the next level, contact SixSEED Partners today.
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