Leadership and Management for Service Improvement - Essay Example

? Leadership and Management for Service Improvement LEADERSHIP AND MANAGEMENT FOR SERVICE IMPROVEMENT Introduction To push the idea of DN referrals, we formed a group of five individuals. When the group came together for the first time, the task was allocated. We tended to behave independently and did not trust each other enough. After the initial bonding, the group began to address the task via making suggestions. The suggestions seemed to be competing for the importance as the members weighed each other up, and at these stages; some relationships became strained. This stage of our group formation had been lagging for a while before I emerged as a facilitative leader. When this stage passed, our relationships became more harmonious with agreed upon values and rules of operation. Each member began to take responsibility, as they understood their other team members, with the group leader taking a back seat to proceedings. As the group leader, I think I took up a democratic style of leadership. These types of leaders make decisions at the final stage but include the other team members in the process of decision-making (Gillam, 2011: p65). While I took care of coordinating the team and their work delivery, I allowed them to carry out their research without giving instructions. However, whatever went into the report was finally decided upon by me, with any additional material needed communicated to the team member responsible. The benefits of this sort of leadership are numerous. The team members got job satisfaction since they all participated in drafting the final assignment. This style also helped to develop their research skills. The members of the team felt that they controlled the destiny of their assignment marks thus felt more motivated to do their best (Hartley & John, 2010: p26). However, since participation by all members takes time, the decision-making process was slow. Coulin’s absence caused the assignment’s timeline to stretch. Democratic leadership hinders the completion of tasks where the team is on a deadline (Harris, 2009: p22). During the Coulin mini-crisis, I wasted valuable time doing part of her assignment. Additionally, some members did not have adequate research skills, and as such had to go over their task repeatedly. Overall, this leadership style made me feel in charge although giving everyone a chance to give their opinion brought on some conflict. During the initial stages of the holiday, my inability to access the University’s homepage on my computer proved to be a hindrance. It actually raised a storm with some of the members when I told them that I had not handed in the assignment because of this problem. In the future, it would be better if this sort of assignments were held face to face rather than online since team members are generally least interested in the assignment over the internet. It is possible that some had multiple pages on their computer screens and were multi-task during teamwork (Muller et al, 2006: p9). The team’s five-team members could be fitted into at least five Belbin’s team roles (Gold et al, 2010: p15). Ken could be considered a resource investigator, as he was enthusiastic, extroverted, and communicative. He explored the different sources of information that we had and, through his contacts in the library, was able to get more information sources. Stacy was the implementer, as she was efficient, conservative, reliable, and disciplined. Danny was the shaper, given her dynamic and challenging nature. She never lacks the courage and drive to overcome obstacles. I acted as the leader and doubled up as the coordinator. My confidence and maturity cut me out of this, in addition with my clear goals, promotion of decision-making and proper job delegation. Finally, Coulin was supposed to be the plant, especially given her unorthodox, imaginative, and creative mind. However, she was rarely available and brought about a lot of frustration for the other team members. On the days when she showed up for meetings, though, she was very helpful and gave vital contributions to the team. The teamwork process, however, was not all plain sailing. The assignment took place, in part, over the holidays and as such, communication was mainly through electronic means. Sometimes, it was difficult to get a hold of the others. Coulin, especially, was impossible to contact, and I had to do some part without her. My inability to reach her threatened to derail the assignment’s timeline. A weak member affects a team greatly, since like a chain; a weak link can weaken the chain (Harris, 2009: p22). Self-centeredness damages the team’s interests, including those of the culprit. Not getting hold of Coulin was frustrating, although I did eventually get a hold of her through her Facebook page. Since I could not finish my work on time without her input, the other team members were anxious on the progress of the assignment, and this was frustrating. Such a problem is solved by the easily understandable concept of selflessness. In the example of our group work, the selfish teammate needed to focus on the two hours we had and their importance to the completion of the team’s task. In some cases, however, the team member may not realize the effect of their actions. Such cases require gentle reminders to the members on their responsibility to the team. It is vital to act on self-centeredness as quickly as possible since it spreads fast (Harris, 2009: p22). Another problem encountered during the teamwork had to do with half-heartedness. It was obvious that some members had better things to do during the two hours. Lack of interest in the task threatened to undermine the effectiveness of the teamwork. Thankfully, towards the end of the holidays, the team members became more dedicated as I chided their absent answers and the reality of handing in the assignment crept in. In other situations involving teamwork, one of the team members would have been replaced in the beginning such was their half-heartedness. Other times, a member would be uncooperative, especially when told to make some additions to research done. This problem, however, was not a major one since the team collaborated on most of the research and so helped each other when the research involved extra digging. Member flexibility also helped, as they proved eager to sign onto new ideas brought in by other members and incorporated them into the research. The leader has to show the rest of the members that their ideas, while right, could do with some beefing up. Thankfully, I was able to do this. Our research uncovered various issues concerning DN referrals. While changing to DN referrals has numerous advantages, its drawbacks are serious enough to threaten its derailment. To circumvent these problems, stable and effective management and leadership is required (Hartley & John, 2010: p26). Our discussion led us to two forms of leadership, which could be used to manage the change to DN referrals. These are transformational leadership and transactional leadership. Transactional leadership has its basis in knowledge control and hierarchical power. Transactional leaders bargain and negotiate in order to achieve increased efficiency. Concerning change to DN referral, this type of leader would be able to bring the dissenting nurses to the table and reach a compromise. Transformational leadership, on the other hand, has a leader who is charismatic and seeks to transform people and mindsets using his or her qualities. They do this via using their qualities to change mindsets by using novel ideas in the organization (Gold et al, 2010: p23). Staff concerns about increased workload and paperwork, as well as concerns from the clients, are the most critical conflicts that may arise from changes to DN referral (Jasper & Mansour, 2011: p67). We found that the style of management and level of complaints from the DNs are related. Complaints and dysfunctional behavior in the team are more frequent when the functions of the DN are not clear there is a lack of predictable staff interaction, or slackened management approach and unstructured leadership. However, even with excellent leadership and management styles, the DNs bear the most responsibility for overcoming the negative aspects arising from changing to the DN referral system (Muller et al, 2006: p9). Service users have to deal with interagency working, which has the DNs as a major component, and thus, the satisfaction of the patients depends on the effectiveness of the inter-agency working. Staff delivering care that is person centered in domiciliary settings requires to learn about how to do it effectively. Interagency workings are affected by practical factors, whose implications are the support of cultural and interface relationships between the client and the service provider, which includes the DN. This affects the client experience, while highlighting ways to aid in the achievement of collaborations aimed at working together to integrate social and health care. Social factors also affect interagency workings, with the implications being that organizations provide evidence to the public and to CQC on their performance, while identifying interface relationships, as well as their effectiveness in the deliverance of integrated and coordinated social and health care. This is vital since the activity of District Nurses is in direct contact with the public. Interagency workings are also affected by the systemic culture found at the interface, especially the quality and nature of collaboration, practice development, and communication across the divide of organization in order to deliver support and care that is individual-centered (Roussel, 2012: p27). References Case, Gary. George, Spalding. & Sharon, Taylor. Continual Service Improvement. London: TSO, 2007. Gillam, Steve. Leadership And Management For Doctors In Training: A Practical Guide. London: Radcliffe Publishing, 2011. Gold, Jeffrey. Richard, Thorpe. & Alan, Mumford. Gower Handbook Of Leadership And Management Development. Burlington: Gower, 2010. Harris, Mary. Managing Health Services: Concepts And Practice. Marrickville: Elsevier Australia, 2009. Hartley, Jean. & John, Benington. Leadership for healthcare. Bristol : Policy Press, 2010. Jasper, Melanie. & Mansour, Jumaa. Effective Healthcare Leadership. Oxford: Blackwell Pub, 2011. Muller, Marie. Marthie, Bezuidenhout. & Karien, Jooste. Health Care Service Management. Cape Town: Juta , 2006. Roussel, Linda. Management And Leadership For Nurse Administrators. Burlington: Jones & Bartlett Learning, 2012. Read More