Team leader coaching intervention: An investigation of the impact on team processes and performance within a surgical context.

Abstract

We examined the impact of a team leader coaching intervention on episodic team processes (transition, action, interpersonal) and subsequent team performance outcomes within a surgical context. Specifically, we tested whether coaching team leaders (i.e., surgeons) on promoting effective teamwork facilitates team processes and two important outcomes-delays and distractions. Team processes were indexed using detailed observational protocols by subject-matter experts before and during surgeries. We employed an interrupted time series design whereby half of our participants received coaching midway through the longitudinal period and the remaining served as a quasi-control group. Team processes and outcomes were collected from multiple surgeries, per surgeon, both before and after the coaching intervention (N ϭ 223 surgeries total). Results from a multilevel mixed-model (treatment vs. control, over time) structural equation model suggest that teams where the surgeon (team leader) received the coaching intervention exhibited higher-quality team transition processes. Transition processes related positively to subsequent action and interpersonal processes, which in turn yielded improvements in two different surgical team performance outcomes. Theoretical and applied implications are discussed.

Coaching for Surgeons: A Scoping Review of the Quantitative Evidence

“… 17 , 20 One study focused on leadership, a nontechnical skill, to improve episodic team processes. 18 Three studies allowed coachees to identify their own goals related to their intraoperative performance. 16 , 19 , 21 The registered trials target surgeons’ wellbeing and physiological factors.…”

“… 20 In the other study, the coaches were study investigators, who were surgeons with considerable experience or training in coaching. 17 Maynard et al 18 implemented a team leader coaching intervention, which used a retired surgeon who was certified in Crew Resource Management training as a coach.…”

“… 16 , 17 , 20 , 21 In the other two published studies coaches observed the coachees operate in real time, and the coaching session took place at a later time. 18 , 19 Conversely, the two registered trials do not include observations of coachees’ operations either in real time or by video recording (Table 2 ). 22 , 23…”

“…One used the NOTTS scale, and the other coded team processes during surgery. 18 , 19 The two registered trials plan to report surgeon wellness results, including measures of burnout, job satisfaction, and professional fulfillment, which were categorized as Kirkpatrick level 4 (results). 22 , 23 Two published studies and one registered trial report patient outcomes, and were also classified as Kirkpatrick level 4.…”

The Impact of Teammates’ Online Reputations on Physicians’ Online Appointment Numbers: A Social Interdependency Perspective

“…For the team’s medical staff, it is necessary to change their focus from the concept of emergency to long-term disease prevention and health care. They can learn new technologies and make new breakthroughs in the diagnosis and treatment of each patient and require the medical staff to focus on their professional fields [ 9 , 10 ]. On the team, young doctors can also obtain better training and experience.…”