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Salutogenics Series Post 2: Taking a Salutogenic Approach for Effective Teamwork

In today's fast-paced and complex healthcare environments, effective teamwork is essential for providing high-quality care and achieving positive outcomes. While many factors contribute to successful teamwork, taking a salutogenic approach can significantly enhance collaboration, communication, and overall team performance. Following up on the first post in this series, in this post, we explore why adopting a salutogenic approach is crucial for fostering effective teamwork in healthcare and academic settings—and in life generally! If you find yourself complaining about team members, looking for any excuse to get out of team meetings, or feeling stressed by teamwork, this post is for you. Estimated reading time: 3 minutes 13 seconds

By Jaime Mantesso (Faculty of Nursing, University of Regina) and Sheryl Mills (USask Health Sciences, University of Saskatchewan)

Positive Team Culture–Salutogenically Speaking

We all know that some teams function effectively and are energizing and fun to be on—and that some aren’t. What makes the difference?

Taking a salutogenic[1] approach means that we put emphasis on the creation of a positive team culture that nurtures well-being and supports individual and collective growth. By doing so the chances of having an effective, cohesive team are greatly increased. When we intentionally focus on the strengths and resources of team members, rather than dwelling on problems and deficiencies,[2] we cultivate an environment that promotes trust, respect, and collaboration. And when team members feel valued and empowered, they are more likely to contribute their unique skills and perspectives. This results in improved problem-solving, creativity, and innovation. A positive team culture encourages open communication, active participation, and a shared sense of purpose, all of which are vital for effective teamwork.

Focus on Strengths

A salutogenic approach encourages team members to focus on their strengths and resources, enabling them to cope with stress more effectively. By fostering a sense of coherence within the team—comprehending the challenges, managing them collectively, and finding meaning in the work—teams can develop a shared resilience that supports them in navigating difficult situations while maintaining their well-being and sustaining a positive team culture.

A salutogenic approach recognizes the unique strengths, skills, and contributions of individual team members. It encourages team members to acknowledge and appreciate one another's expertise, experiences, perspectives, and worldviews. And when team members value and respect one another, motivation, engagement, and satisfaction are enhanced. By leveraging each team member's strengths and providing opportunities for professional growth, a salutogenic approach fosters a sense of ownership and commitment, leading to increased productivity, cohesiveness, and well-being.

Tips for Taking a Salutogenic Approach on Your Team[3]

  1. Be sure your team’s purpose is shared by all team members. (meaningfulness)
  2. Have clear goals for your work together.
  3. Set reasonable timelines.
  4. Collaboration: Agree on work loads.
  5. Communication: Decide what approaches you will take to communicate clearly with one another. We use a shared Google doc to do our writing. Activity logs are also helpful to keep everyone up to date on how projects are developing.
  6. Strengths focus: Let what isn’t working fall away and what is working grow and expand.
  7. Cultivate an atmosphere of trust and respect.[4]
  8. Negotiate your methods of working rather than waiting for tensions to build.[5]
  9. Solution-oriented: Be proactive in your approach to solving challenges.
  10. Discuss openly how the team is working. Take time together to reflect.

Thinking about the sense of coherence (SOC) (i.e., comprehensibility, manageability, and/or meaningfulness), which aspects of the SOC would you attribute to each of the above tips? The first one is done for you! Hint: There is often more than one aspect of the SOC that can be attributed to any of the tips and our answers can be found below.[6]

Conclusion

In healthcare, effective teamwork is essential for delivering safe, patient-centered care, and effective teams are developed; they don’t just “happen”. Taking a salutogenic approach enhances teamwork by promoting a positive team culture, building resilience, facilitating effective communication, and collaboration, and recognizing individual strengths and contributions.

By adopting a salutogenic approach, healthcare teams can create environments that prioritize well-being, foster a sense of coherence, and empower team members to thrive both individually and collectively. Embracing this approach not only improves team dynamics and performance but also enhances the overall quality of care provided to patients and contributes to a healthier and more fulfilling work environment.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[1] Please see our first post in the series for a quick overview of salutogenesis.

[2] Provocative “drama” gets more eyeballs, hits, views, chat, etc. Check out Diary of a CEO for an example of this as the video titles are often sensationalized (and dare we say, pathogenically-oriented 😏), but are not necessarily reflective of the actual content! Salutogenic titles might not be as attention grabbing, but they sure are easier on cortisol levels, the immune system, and overall health. For a quick (and humorous) example of how to grab eyeballs, check out this Ryan Long video on how to be a blogger.

[3] Development teams are rooted in salutogenic approaches. For more on development teams and how USask Health Sciences has taken this approach, please see The Unicorn Series.

[4] We want to go far, so we go together

[5] Harold and Sheryl’s Blog on Writing a Blog, Collaboratively. Post 2: The Importance of Negotiating

[6] 2. Comprehensibility, manageability, meaningfulness;  3. Manageability;  4. Comprehensibility, manageability; 5. Comprehensibility, manageability;  6. Manageability, meaningfulness;  7. Comprehensibility, meaningfulness;  8. Comprehensibility, manageability;  9. Manageability;  10. Comprehensibility, meaningfulness