There are many reasons why your facility might need to establish a team of nurses for a specific project. Building this team and managing them effectively will be the most important steps to making the project successful. Here are some things to keep in mind when developing your project team.
- Keep everyone informed. Start with your end result and explain backwards to determine the best way to implement it. Once you know what you need or want out of the team begin by speaking to the nurses that you have selected for the project. You need to be 100% transparent to build trust with the individuals you have selected for the project. And make sure you let each individual know what they bring to the team and why you chose them.
- Keep everyone motivated. The management style of demanding they do what you say isn’t overly effective. It creates tension within the group and individuals are more likely to rebel against it than work with it. Instead, encourage your team to be complete participants in the project. They already have the skills to solve the problem so allow them to do their jobs.
- Encourage them to use all of their abilities. Yes, you selected this group of nurses for their skill at nursing but there is much more to each member of the team. Encourage them to use what is referred to as their innate abilities like their intuition, creativity, life experience, communication skills, social skills, and emotional intelligence. All of these things make up a complete person and it is important to tap into their abilities.
- Allow for mistakes. It is very likely that there will be some missteps along the way. This is normal. Provide guidelines and goals to keep the project on track but also allow everyone to arrive at their solution organically. Mistakes can often lead to great insight and they should feel comfortable sharing the mistakes without fear of punishment.
- Reward success. When employees are dissatisfied with a job it is often because they feel they are not given recognition for their good work. By rewarding their success it will encourage the team to continue to be excellent. Share their accomplishments with the entire staff by having a celebratory pizza party or luncheon. Create a press release about the project and send it to the local news to get community recognition of a job well done.
Do you need to develop a great team of nurses for your special project? Contact the staff at NRI for more insight and advice.
