The end of 2020 offers an opportunity to consider what we learnt over the past year. As many have said, the NHS is a complex system in which conventional management structures are not always effective. Sustainability and Transformation Partnerships and their transfer to Integrated Care Systems may have added to this. Working with such organisations has taught us that conventional leadership methods do not always produce the desired results and often team-based techniques are more effective. We have found that Patrick Lencioni’s ‘The Five Dysfunctions of a Team’ a useful guide. While not an academic text, Lencioni’s ideas offer a route to helping teams to function well. For example, trust is an essential ingredient. Many NHS teams are put together with little preparation, or training and are better described as ‘groups’ than ‘teams’. There is often little trust and no shared vision. A starting point is learning something about each other, so that trust can begin to emerge. This, combined with tools such as the Myers Briggs Type Indicator and Action Learning Sets, really helps teams to develop effective working relationships. If you would like to know more, contact us at beBrilliant@ox-exec.com. Happy New Year!
Paul Brankin, Director of Oxford Executive Coaching