4,672 research outputs found
Team dynamics in emergency surgery teams : results from a first international survey
No full textPublisher Copyright: © 2021, The Author(s).Background: Emergency surgery represents a unique context. Trauma teams are often multidisciplinary and need to operate under extreme stress and time constraints, sometimes with no awareness of the trauma’s causes or the patient’s personal and clinical information. In this perspective, the dynamics of how trauma teams function is fundamental to ensuring the best performance and outcomes. Methods: An online survey was conducted among the World Society of Emergency Surgery members in early 2021. 402 fully filled questionnaires on the topics of knowledge translation dynamics and tools, non-technical skills, and difficulties in teamwork were collected. Data were analyzed using the software R, and reported following the Checklist for Reporting Results of Internet E-Surveys (CHERRIES). Results: Findings highlight how several surgeons are still unsure about the meaning and potential of knowledge translation and its mechanisms. Tools like training, clinical guidelines, and non-technical skills are recognized and used in clinical practice. Others, like patients’ and stakeholders’ engagement, are hardly implemented, despite their increasing importance in the modern healthcare scenario. Several difficulties in working as a team are described, including the lack of time, communication, training, trust, and ego. Discussion: Scientific societies should take the lead in offering training and support about the abovementioned topics. Dedicated educational initiatives, practical cases and experiences, workshops and symposia may allow mitigating the difficulties highlighted by the survey’s participants, boosting the performance of emergency teams. Additional investigation of the survey results and its characteristics may lead to more further specific suggestions and potential solutions.Peer reviewe
The effect of team dynamics on software development process improvement
No full textThis article identifies the effect of team dynamics in the context of software development teams and its impact on software process improvement (SPI) activities in very small companies, in order to understand the relation- ship between these two variables. Most software development work is done by teams of software engineers working together in a collaborative manner to execute a software development process. Although there is much literature examining software process and how to improve it, less attention has been paid to the issues of team-working and specifically the impact of team dynamics on the software development process. Team dynamics is the term used to define how people work and interact together in teams. Teamwork is more effective with the existence of positive team dynamic, as it encourages a better working environment with satisfied, fulfilled employees who will in turn be more productive. This paper presents the results of a research study of team dynamics in very small software development companies and its impact on the software development process and software process improvement activities
The use of system dynamics group model building for analysing event causality within the nuclear industry
No full textCurrently the most frequently used tools for investigating and learning from industrial accidents are based on linear, reductionist models of event causality. It has been suggested that complex socio-technical systems exhibit non-linear behaviour, incompatible with these approaches. An alternative approach based on system dynamics group model building is proposed and investigated within the context of the civil nuclear industry. The success and feasibility of the approach is assessed though the analysis of a case study event by a group of industrial experts previously unfamiliar with system dynamics. A selection of the models produced are discussed. The investigation demonstrates the feasibility of the approach and its potential to provide additional insights and learning. A possible archetypal structure is also identified and described indicating the possibility of the discovery of further archetypes through this approach which could then be shared for contextual learning between organizations and industries
Diversity and ethics in trauma and acute care surgery teams : results from an international survey
No full textPublisher Copyright: © 2022, The Author(s).Background: Investigating the context of trauma and acute care surgery, the article aims at understanding the factors that can enhance some ethical aspects, namely the importance of patient consent, the perceptiveness of the ethical role of the trauma leader, and the perceived importance of ethics as an educational subject. Methods: The article employs an international questionnaire promoted by the World Society of Emergency Surgery. Results: Through the analysis of 402 fully filled questionnaires by surgeons from 72 different countries, the three main ethical topics are investigated through the lens of gender, membership of an academic or non-academic institution, an official trauma team, and a diverse group. In general terms, results highlight greater attention paid by surgeons belonging to academic institutions, official trauma teams, and diverse groups. Conclusions: Our results underline that some organizational factors (e.g., the fact that the team belongs to a university context or is more diverse) might lead to the development of a higher sensibility on ethical matters. Embracing cultural diversity forces trauma teams to deal with different mindsets. Organizations should, therefore, consider those elements in defining their organizational procedures. Level of evidence: Trauma and acute care teams work under tremendous pressure and complex circumstances, with their members needing to make ethical decisions quickly. The international survey allowed to shed light on how team assembly decisions might represent an opportunity to coordinate team member actions and increase performance.Peer reviewe
Impacts of team virtuality on performance : a qualitative study.
No full textRecent studies on virtual teams reveal that team virtuality varies in a continuum and may take different levels. Different levels of virtuality have considerable impacts on team processes and management as they imply several characteristics concerning communication dynamics and interaction styles, which change when shifting from one level to another. The purpose of this paper is to assess how the variability of team virtuality influences team performance. A multidimensional approach to evaluate virtuality was elaborated to identify changing performance variables at each level. The performance variables retained with relevance to the context study are: output quality, team members` satisfaction, and team processes. A qualitative study was conducted on 6 virtual teams composed of 4 students involved in on-line master degrees at a French university. The results show that performance measures are differently influenced by virtuality level. Although output quality seems not to be related to team virtuality, effective team processes and members’ satisfaction are associated with low virtuality levels. Ineffective processes were found in high virtuality teams, however positive dynamics and tem spirit characterise low virtuality teams.Télétravail; Virtual team performance; Team processes; performance; Equipes virtuelles; E-management; Telework;
Time for a paradigm shift in shared decision-making in trauma and emergency surgery? Results from an international survey
No full textPublisher Copyright: © 2023, The Author(s).Background: Shared decision-making (SDM) between clinicians and patients is one of the pillars of the modern patient-centric philosophy of care. This study aims to explore SDM in the discipline of trauma and emergency surgery, investigating its interpretation as well as the barriers and facilitators for its implementation among surgeons. Methods: Grounding on the literature on the topics of the understanding, barriers, and facilitators of SDM in trauma and emergency surgery, a survey was created by a multidisciplinary committee and endorsed by the World Society of Emergency Surgery (WSES). The survey was sent to all 917 WSES members, advertised through the society’s website, and shared on the society’s Twitter profile. Results: A total of 650 trauma and emergency surgeons from 71 countries in five continents participated in the initiative. Less than half of the surgeons understood SDM, and 30% still saw the value in exclusively engaging multidisciplinary provider teams without involving the patient. Several barriers to effectively partnering with the patient in the decision-making process were identified, such as the lack of time and the need to concentrate on making medical teams work smoothly. Discussion: Our investigation underlines how only a minority of trauma and emergency surgeons understand SDM, and perhaps, the value of SDM is not fully accepted in trauma and emergency situations. The inclusion of SDM practices in clinical guidelines may represent the most feasible and advocated solutions.Peer reviewe
Inter group relationships in organisational decision making - an ethnographical study.
No full textThis ethnographic study is concerned with the relationship dynamics between groups jointly tasked with decision making. It seeks to answer the general question: what are the main relationship drivers and influences at work during the process of inter group activity? The research examines the issues surrounding the inter group relationship. How are
relationships between the groups formed and maintained and how do they impact the efficacy of the inter group decision process? What makes the inter group relationship in
organisational decision making work at a practical level? The work lies within, and makes a contribution to, the areas of social and management psychology. In commercial entities, where a Board comprising executive and non-executive members is charged with strategic decision making, a client/advisor relationship often exists with another group. In the situation researched, one group has the ultimate responsibility for making the decisions
whilst a second group is tasked with identifying the requirement for a decision, information gathering, the search for alternatives and the recommendation to the Decision Group. This particular situation is not uncommon within limited companies, partnerships, listed companies and a range of other organisations and is the situation within the research organisation. Successful and effective decision making is an essential ingredient of organisational management. The result of a set of dysfunctional relationships and inefficient processes can be terminal to the organisation. An understanding ofthe
relationship dynamics at work improves the decision process and enables managers to identify those negative elements that may compromise efficacy. Additionally, the research
conclusions have implications for group recruitment and group training. The research deals with individuals, their actions and their thought processes, both conscious and
unconscious. The conceptual framework for the research centers upon the relationship dynamics and relationship overlap between the individuals that are members ofboth
groups. The subject and circumstances lend themselves to qualitative research methodology and interpretive ethnography is the approach chosen and is seen as a useful
counterbalance and addition to the considerable amount of empirical work on group dynamics available to researchers. An additional dimension is added by the position ofthe
researcher as both an insider in the organisation and that organisation's Chief Executive. This poses certain ethical issues which are addressed within the thesis and also illustrates and proposes the use of insider interpretive ethnography as a powerful management tool for newly appointed senior managers and organisational leaders. The qualitative interview is the primary method of data gathering, however, a number of ethnographic methods are
employed, including the extensive use of observation field notes. The research is directly grounded in the area of inter group relations and the findings show the direct importance oft he sharing dynamics of fate, motivation, values and understanding to the inter group relationship and the impacts upon trust within and between groups. The role of group leadership is examined and its significant impact on the inter group relationships is proposed. The research provides a further example ofthe use of interpretive ethnography by an organisational insider
The Impact of Interventional Change Techniques on an Internet Banking Cross-functional Team.
No full textThis study investigates the team aspects of a process improvement project situated in
an Internet banking system maintenance and modification phase. To investigate how
team processes could be improved in this context, four interventional change
techniques were introduced and implemented during an action research study in
which the researcher was included as one of the team members and participated
during group meetings and discussions.
Internet banking is an important Internet-delivered service which is expected to
provide benefits for both commercial banks and bank customers. Internet banking
allows bank customers to have the freedom to perform their financial activities at their
convenience. Developing, maintaining, and improving Internet banking systems
requires large amounts of investment to maintain high levels of Internet banking
service quality, and the maintenance and modification phase of the overall lifecycle
cost is a considerable part of this investment. Therefore, in order to ensure high levels
of usability, reliability, and quality for these Internet banking services, commercial
banks need to make significant investments in the maintenance and modification
phases of their Internet banking systems' lifecycle.
The four interventional change techniques used in this study were: departmental
participation, equal participation, holistic scenario, and management support. The four
techniques were found to be influential in developing process improvements in the
maintenance and modification phase of Internet banking systems. These techniques
generated several significant improvements which directly affected the way team
members managed their work. The significant contributions of these interventional
change techniques were: the creation of cross-functional multilevel teams,
development of effective departmental participation and communication techniques,
extended scope and knowledge by the team members of Internet banking systems, an
increase in team learning and understanding, techniques to change problem structure,
and an end to end problem-solving approach.
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These contributions also directly improved the performance of the Internet banking
systems maintenance team, and there was a significant improvement in the outcomes
of the Internet banking systems maintenance and modification phase
Team perfectionism and team performance: A prospective study
No full textPerfectionism is a personality characteristic that has been found to predict sports performance in athletes. To date, however, research has exclusively examined this relationship at an individual level (i.e., athletes’ perfectionism predicting their personal performance). The current study extends this research to team sports by examining whether, when manifested at team level, perfectionism predicts team performance. A sample of 231 competitive rowers from 36 boats completed measures of self-oriented, team-oriented, and team-prescribed perfectionism prior to competing against one another in a 4-day rowing competition. Strong within-boat similarities in the levels of team members’ team-oriented perfectionism supported the existence of collective team-oriented perfectionism at the boat level. Two-level latent growth curve modeling of day-by-day boat performance showed that team-oriented perfectionism positively predicted the position of the boat in mid-competition and the linear improvement in position. The findings suggest that imposing perfectionistic standards on team members may drive teams to greater levels of performance
Team Effectiveness in Virtual Environments: An Ecological Approach
No full textThis chapter attempts to address the need for more research on virtual team effectiveness and outlines an ecological theoretical framework that is applicable to virtual learning environments (VLE). Prior empirical studies on virtual team effectiveness used frameworks of traditional team effectiveness and mainly followed Hackman's normative model (input-process-output). We propose an ecological approach for virtual team effectiveness that accounts for team boundaries management, technology use, and external environment in VLE, properties which were previously either non-existent or contextual. The ecological framework suggests that three components, external environment, internal environment, and boundary management, reciprocally interact with effectiveness. The significance of the proposed framework is a holistic perspective that takes into account the complexity of the external and internal environment of the team. Furthermore, we address the needs for new pedagogical approaches in VLE
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