Perceptions of team workers in youth care of what makes teamwork effective

Abstract

In youth care, little is known about what makes teamwork effective. What is known mostly reflects the view of managers in care organisations, as objective outcome measures are lacking. The objective of this article was to explore the views of youth care workers in different types of teams on the relative importance of characteristics of teamwork for its effectiveness. Q methodology was used. Fifty-one respondents rank-order 34 opinion statements regarding characteristics of teamwork. Individual Q sorts were analysed using by-person factor analysis. The resulting factors, which represented team workers' views of what is important for effective teamwork, were interpreted and described using composite rankings of the statements for each factor and corresponding team workers' explanations. We found three views of what makes teamwork effective. One view emphasised interaction between team members as most important for team effectiveness. A second view pointed to team characteristics that help sustain communication within teams as being most important. In the third view, the team characteristics that facilitate individuals to perform as a team member were put forward as most important for teamwork to be effective. In conclusion, different views exist on what makes a team effective in youth care. These views correspond with the different types of teams active in youth care as well as in other social care settings.

Stimulating interdisciplinary collaboration among youth social workers: A scoping review

“…However, six overarching elements in different collaboration forms emerged from the analysis: (a) awareness and understanding of the other discipline; (b) communication and interaction: feedback, reflection, and evaluation; (c) team structure; (d) willingness to work together; and (e) shared responsibility/norms; and 6) mutual trust An understanding of each other's expertise, perspective, role, goal, and tasks is fundamental to collaboration. When professionals are aware of each other's tasks, they feel more connected and responsible, which positively influences team effectiveness and collaboration (Altshuler, 2013; Boyer & Thompson, ; Buljac‐Samardzic et al, ; Davidson et al, ; Groen & Jörns‐Presentati, ; Hofhuis et al, ; Lalayants, ; Phillips, ; Whiting, Scammell, & Bifulco, ). Miscommunications can arise when the role of the other person is unclear.…”

“…Openly discussing the different interests that play a role in the collaboration could lead to a more empathic attitude (Van Hattum & Van Hal, ). Some studies showed that team structure can positively influence collaboration. Team autonomy (Buljac‐Samardzic et al, ), team identity and processes (Hofhuis et al, ), and team meetings (Boyer & Thompson, ) can positively influence cohesive and complete support for youth. For example, structural team meetings can be used to work on different activities that stimulate the collaboration process, like activities that focus on learning more about the other discipline (Boyer & Thompson, ).…”

“…Lewandowski and GlenMaye () found a gap related to important elements for team effectiveness in child welfare. Buljac Samardzic, Wijngaarden, Wijk, and Exel () reported that evidence‐based interventions aimed at stimulating social care collaboration are rare. Davidson et al () argued that not enough research has been done on interventions at the interface of healthcare and child protection.…”

Attitudes of relatives and staff towards family intervention in forensic services using Q methodology

“…2003), schizophrenia and substance misuse (Gregg et al . 2009), and youth mental health (Buljac‐Samardzic et al . 2011).…”

Employees’ views on home-based, after-hours telephone triage by Dutch GP cooperatives

“…Q methodology is still relatively novel to most health services researchers [16], but has gained popularity over the past 10 years, evidenced by rising numbers of publications on a variety of health and health care-related topics: for instance, attitudes and beliefs [17-19], treatment adherence [20,21], coping and adaptation [22-24], and professional views [25-27]. …”