Other Articles of Interest:
Hiring to Build a Better Team
The selection of the right individuals can make a critical difference
in the team's ability to achieve its objectives.
Betty J. Noyes, RN, MA
First appeared in Seminars for Nurse Managers, Vol 3, No 1 (March), 1995, pp. 11-15
Most nursing unit directors have assumed the responsibility for
team member selection. The need for selecting a team with complementary
talents and synergy is a key factor in the unit's achieving its
goals of high-quality patient care, customer satisfaction, and
high employee morale.
In the new health care delivery system, there are many increased
challenges and complexities. A single person can make a difference
in the team and can certainly influence outcomes. However, for
the best results in the achievement of major gains, teams of people
combining their individual skills can tackle and achieve higher
levels of productivity than any individual effort. The team must
understand what they are charged to do, and the leader must have
a positive vision of team behavior.
A team effort is exhilarating. Team synergy is achieved when
mutual support arises and exists between team members. This energy
can create and sustain enthusiasm and support even through difficult
and challenging times.
Description of a Team
It is appropriate to review the basic tenets of a team, including
its size, the skills required, norms, and desirable behavior in
order to discuss how to select team members. Teams typically
have the following characteristics:
- Size: typically no more than 15 people, and usually smaller.
- Goals: must be specific, well-defined, objectives that are measurable.
- Members: must be able to combine a unique set of personal
and professional skills that become inter-dependent.
- Behavior norms: reflect an unspoken commitment to achieve goals.
Team norms are described in such behaviors as the following:
- Being supportive
- Having an open communication style: ability to be open and honest
- Showing willingness to interchange roles as appropriate
- Participation in the development of standards of personal and team performance
- Showing an ability to encourage constructive differences of opinion and points of view
- Using past results to formulate strategies when appropriate
- Valuing and fostering synergy (the whole is greater than the sum of its parts)
- Showing support for the leader.
Team synergy at its highest level is difficult to sustain for
a long period, but team bonding can be sustained. Team synergy
will change when there are changes in team membership.
Benefits of a Team
The benefits of team performance versus individual competitive
behavior are many. The following is a helpful summary of a workshop
on team. (8)
Team performance shows in an increased ability to manage complexity
more creatively.
The word "complexity" accurately describes patient care
delivery and unit processes. We need every organizational advantage
to conquer complexity.
Teams Can Provide a More Rapid Response
Rapid response is a key element in crisis situations and in dealing
with all forms of customer satisfaction. Time management is a
key in physician satisfaction with hospital staff. Also, patients
require rapid response's to their needs. A customer can get a
quicker answer from a team than from seeking out a particular
person, because on a team more than one person has the answer.
Team Employees Will Have Higher Motivation
If you enjoy coming to work to be with your team, the motivation
to achieve goals of the team will be high, and employee morale
and productivity will soar.
Feelings of Collective Strength Come From a Functioning Team
No mountain is high enough to stop the team from reaching the
other side. Team synergy is a dimension of great strength.
Thoughts on Teamwork and Selection of Team Members
In the new health care-delivery systems, there is an increased
challenge to manage new teams. The multiskilled cross-trained
worker has been developed in many organizations. Multiskilled
cross-trained employees are working as part of newly formed teams.
Many organizational plans call for a decentralized relationship
of reporting directly to the unit manager. This is a dramatic
departure from the historical structure in which each discipline
reported to its discipline-specific department. The result is
a shared responsibility for the hiring, selection, and evaluation
component of employee performance between the specialist in the
clinical discipline (eg, respiratory therapist or physical therapist)
and the unit manager responsible for the team performance on the
patient care unit. Managers, who are most frequently nurses,
decide on the composition of the team members. Many team members
come from different disciplines and have never been asked to perform
as part of a multidisciplinary team before. New skill competencies
and new team behavior characteristics must be identified as goals
for selection.
Many sources speak to the necessity of team work. Few, however,
discuss the "nitty gritty: of how to select team members
who will become cohesive care providers. Selection is not a perfect
science. Feelings of guilt or self-blame for having made a mistake
in the selection of an employee team member can be long lasting.
The best executive can be left with an unclear understanding
of knowing what to improve upon and how to interview better after
an employee whom the manager recommended for hire turns out to
be a poor performer. Everyone makes mistakes. In selecting team
members, it is important to use all resources available, ranging
from gut feelings to structured interview guides. Self-confidence
can be gained by using an interview guide that will transcend
any single element of skill verification, reference check, or
"gut feel" and provide insight in an accurate sample
of the candidate's team behavior.
Selection Process
The unit/team leader must be able to assess skill and talent.
This requires selection of team members who possess the ability
, desire, and flexibility to adjust to roles as they continue
to emerge. It is the leader's responsibility to create and atmosphere
that fosters learning, risk taking without undue punishment for
experiments, and role change across functions.
The leader must identify the team members' ability to learn and
accept role changes that stretch the skills of both the individual
team members and the whole team. A team can be a powerful vehicle
in developing skills needed to meet the teams' performance challenge.
Therefore, team selection should be based on skill potential
and on proven skills.
Team member selection should be done collaboratively with the
team. The recruiter or manager should not select team members
in isolation. The team should interview and be involved in selecting
their own members.
The interview process is part of the commitment-building process.
The team candidly discusses which tasks will be performed and
how roles will compliment each other. Selection obligates how
the team will work together.
Interview Guide
How can you improve your chances of hiring the best staff member
to join your team? What questions can you ask? What interview
style should you use?
Fortunately, there are a few guiding principles that may help
you in the selection process. (1) All interviewers should be
familiar with the rules governing which questions are acceptable
and which are not.
- Listen to the interviewee for at least 80% of the interview
time. Do not feel you need to tell him/her about your unit/organization
ing the interview.
- Do not ask questions that will call for just a "yes"
or "no" answer. Phrase all questions in an open-ended format.
- Carefully check references before you interview so that you
can ask questions that will elicit weak points identified in the
recommendation and those illustrative of the candidate's noted
strengths.
- Formulate your questions in advance. Use team members to
design your questions, but be sure that each team member has individual
questions as well. Some questions should be asked by more than
one person and more than once during the interview process. Other
questions are best asked by only one team member.
- Probe a candidate's response with respect and courtesy while
making every effort to elicit further examples of specific behaviors
or reactions to situations when certain events or issues have
arisen that the candidate is describing. However, remember to
always treat a candidate with the same respect that you would
want if you were being interviewed.
- Do not violate any of the laws against discrimination in hiring.
- Skills analysis is another component of interviewing that
must be done by means other than those suggested in the following
interview guide. However, examples given by the candidate will
often illustrate skill capability. When interviewing the cross-trained
worker, it is recommended that skills be assessed by the primary
professional specialist using a skills checklist. When interviewing
a cross-trained worker for a physical therapy technical skill
or respiratory therapy skills, the clinical specialist of that
discipline should be a critical consultant to the unit director
in judging clinical competency.
The following 17 questions are suggested by this author to help
in understanding the candidate's team behavior potential.
1. What is your current unit director's title, and what are his/her
duties? How do you work with him/her? Tell me what you like
most (and dislike) most about his/her management style?
This can be helpful in learning what management talents (leadership
talents) the candidate values and recognizes and how sensitive
the person is to all team members and the unit director. This
question can also give insight if you, the unit leader, match
the characteristic with which this person believes he/she works
well.
2. Tell me about the people you worked with in your last job?
This question often provides information about the perceived strengths
and weaknesses of former teammates, the loyalty and respect held
for other peers, and how those opinions are derived.
3. What do you consider the single most important idea you contributed
(or your single most noteworthy accomplishment), in your present job?
This question should allow the candidate to share a winning accomplishment.
An insight into self-esteem can usually be discovered.
4. What skills do you think it takes for a person to be successful
in the position you are applying for?
This can typically be followed-up by the educational programs
or other learning experiences he/she had to foster these skills.
5. What specific things did you do in your last job to improve
your effectiveness and the effectiveness of your team?
Particular emphasis should be on the work "team." What
does this person see as his/her accomplishment to the whole?
6. Can you tell me about how you make important decisions and
how you typically relate them to physicians and others?
Physicians are often sees as authority figures and it is wise
to ask a question that explores this relationship.
7. What are some things you and your present unit could have
done to be more successful?
A little humility is nice to see and hear from anyone.
8. When you're under pressure to get something done, how do you
get the people around you to help?
Asking for help is an important team activity. No team can be
successful if members cannot ask for and accept help.
9. How would you go about evaluating another team member's performance?
This question often provides insight into what is valued in others'
performances and, therefore, their own.
10. Think about something that you would consider delegating.
How would you make that assignment, and what method would you
use to assume responsibility for the activity?
Delegation and assuming responsibility for delegated acts is a
skill that has not been taught in many educational programs lately,
but is a key to management both at the unit level and the smaller
patient care cluster. All team members will in one way or another
be involved in delegating at some time.
11. If I were to talk to the people you've worked with about
you, what would they be likely to say?
People who believe they are good at what they do, believe that
other people see them that way. Also, this gives you a chance
to check his/her perceptions wit what has been gained on reference
checks.
12. How would you handle a patient complaint about another team
member?
Teams assume responsibility and team members do not place blame
on others. The answer here can tell you a lot about patient/customer
relations and diplomacy, and appropriate follow-up.
13. Tell me a time that you felt it necessary to modify or change
your actions to respond to the needs of another team member?
This question can provide interesting and noteworthy insight into
personal sensitivity and willingness to care for others.
14. Give me an example of a specific occasion in which you conformed
to a policy with which you did not agree?
This situation occurs in both minor and major events in professional
lives. Does the answer reflect that appropriate actions to correct
the situation before and after the rule is broken were taken?
If this had occurred and you were the unit director, how would
you respond to this action?
15. What do you enjoy most about your present job?
These responses are usually the things people will want to maintain
in their jobs and lives. Can the job you are hiring for meet
those expectations?
16. What skill do you wish to enhance by taking this job?
New skills are constantly required and need to be acquired in
health care. Is this person eager to learn?
17. What do you feel you could offer this team?
Leave this question wide open and listen carefully. Hopefully,
you will hear a recognition that acting as a team member requires
roles and responsibilities, but that there is also an energy that
comes from the synergy of the team itself. The growth and development
of the whole, not just the parts, is a welcome answer.
Conclusion
Technical and functional skills are the skills most typically
measured by objective and standard performance measures. Team
interpersonal skills have been too often left to a singular manager's
"gut feel." The responsibility is great. Team participation
in the selection process is a step in team building. Interview
guides can provide structure for the process. Preparation for
an interview can also reinforce the team values.
The largest singular issue for the unit manager is to know what
he or she wants, and to know what his or her own vision is for
the team. The unit manager needs to know what team behaviors
are expected from the individual's performance and from the team
as a whole.
Dare to ask the reflective questions, dare to listen to the answers,
and dare to learn and keep your vision. Teamwork can make each
player a "winner" in the most important "games"
of our lives... caring for our patients, ourselves, and our profession.
References
- Green P: "More Than A Gut Feeling" Training Film:
America Medical Incorporated, West Des Moines Iowa 1984
- Bates SE, Fosbinder D: "Using an Interview Guide to
Identify Effective Nurse Managers" JONS Vol 24, No 45 April 1994
- Half R: "12 Questions for Better Interviews" USAIR
November 1986. pp 67-70
- Half R: "52 Good Ideas on How to Hire Fire and More",
1990, Robert Half International Inc. (booklet)
- Scholtes PR, et al: The Team Handbook, Joiner Assoc. 1988
- Double D: Redirections. Notes from workshop for the R.T.A. June 1994
- Wallace SA: PhD Consultant Human Resource Planning and Development
Division of Hay Management Consultants. Notes from discussion
- Moscinski P: Evangelical Health Care Systems. Team-Building
Workshop, Chicago, IL, March 1991
- Green PC, Wetzel C. Somerville L:
Duration and Frequency of Behavioral Examples Gained in the Selection
Interview in Relation to Personality Variables. Second International Conference
on the 16 Personality Factor Test, Southeastern Psychological Association 1982
©1995 by W.B. Saunders Company
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