According to an article published in NursingTimes, good team building in health care is where all team members understand, believe in and work towards the shared purpose of caring and working for patients. Teams move through four stages, which are cyclical as they continue to evolve:
- Forming: Polite but untrusting, avoiding controversy. At this stage little progress is made.
- Storming: Blame and frustration, poor listening, challenging leadership, reacting or defending, full expression of emotions.
- Norming: Shared leadership, methodical ways of working, receptive to change, mutual problem solving, open exchange of ideas. Team spirit develops and the team starts to perform better.
- Performing: Openness and trust, shared leadership, strong relationships, high flexibility of contribution, acceptance of differing views. The team performs as a unit and members work to their strengths. This is the most productive stage of team development.
Employee gatherings can be as simple as an employee lunch or a quick 15-minute team-building activity. Overall, employee gatherings and team-building activities make employees feel more connected to an organization, which leads to higher retention rates.
Here are some things to consider when planning an employee event:
- Ask employees for event ideas.
- Don’t forget about remote employees or employees who work in smaller offices and clinics in nearby communities.
- Offer a variety of costs for events, from a free gathering to an activity that may require employees to pay a few dollars to attend.
- Don’t assume that all employees will want to attend the same event.
- Think about using events to give back to the community, such as helping at a local food pantry or working on a Habitat for Humanity project.
- Be sure to obtain feedback from employees to plan future events.
