Introduction
Team management and development are vital for Behavioral Health (BH) UM because the project targets people’s mental health and requires input from professionals experienced in medicine who can provide sufficient support to the participants. Criteria that can be used to evaluate this plan are its applicability to the vision and mission of the organization and the BH project, its adherence to the determined budget in regards to salary expenses, and correspondence with the milestones of BH. This paper aims to present the RAM table and explain the strategies for enabling team leadership and development for the BH.
RAM and Team Leadership Strategies
The RAM displayed in the Appendix is based on several assumptions. Firstly, it is anticipated that NCM will actively cooperate and one employee of NCM will be a team member. Similarly, the primary care facility should assist with managing follow-ups and informing case managers about the essential aspects of these procedures. Finally, it is assumed that the case managers will have prior experience in medicine and communication.
The following can be done to ensure proper development of the team. According to the American Hospital Association (AHA), a leader should be able to identify gaps that relate to performance, skills, and knowledge (“Building a leadership team,” n.d.). In addition, the project manager can use different strategies and approaches based on the specifics of the individuals involved to facilitate success. AHA also emphasizes the process of choosing individuals who will be participating in the project since prior experience in healthcare and patient communication is necessary for all the roles (“Building a leadership team,” n.d.). Therefore, the focus should be on ensuring that employees with relevant experience are engaged because their input in the form of knowledge and skills will be the most valuable aspect determining project success.
Each project manager approaches working with teams differently, however, it is vital to understand which strategy will provide the best results. Heathfiled (2018) and Cunningham, Salomone, and Wielgus (2015) argue that the behavior of the manager and chosen leadership style, in this case, the project manager, affect the outcomes of team’s work, and usually executives select an approach that is prevalent in the industry, which is not always beneficial. Therefore, he or she has to adapt to all changes that occur in the process of BH execution and correspondence with the needs of the group. Hoegl and Muethel (2016) state that engaging team members in the process of making crucial decisions is necessary. It is because this contributes to success and results in more input from employees and better outcomes of work.
While the outlined strategies will be applied by the project manager to ensure adequate cooperation between team members, specific criteria that helps determine the success of this project will enable evaluation of its outcomes. Firstly, it is necessary to enroll at least 12 patients in this program, which is the primary indicator of the results. Secondly, this project should be carried out with adherence to the identified budget to avoid unnecessary spending.
Team Development
It is crucial to assess the team’s performance and cohesiveness during the project, and thus, the following will be applied for the assessment. According to Healthfield (2018), a team development plan is essential because it provides a strategy for preventing failure by evaluating and preparing for each of the five stages. This process aims to create a team that successfully cooperates on the task necessary for BH and ensure positive outcomes of their efforts (Healthfield, 2018). Establishing support that will help employees accomplish tasks is the first step required for the development process, which will contribute to achieving set goals and will result in the successful execution of tasks. For evaluating team performance, a manager can examine the functions and the ability of the individuals to do them in time.
While there are five critical milestones for the BH, this paper will focus on the two that are crucial. According to Tuckman, the stages of development are “forming, storming, norming, and performing,” as well as adjourning (as cited in Heathfield, 2018, para. 7). The forming stage is outlined in the Appendix that presents information about the duties of each employee working for BH. During the storming phase, the leader will have to pay additional attention to cooperation and adoption of a unified vision for BH. This can be done by applying active listening skills and communicating. The performing stage of development involves active cooperation and execution of tasks necessary for completing this project. Therefore, the project manager will have to check the reports regularly and solve problems to ensure the efficiency of the processes. Both team leadership and development strategies offered in this paper consider the organizational theories assessed by scholars and the requirements of this particular project, which will contribute to positive outcomes.
Conclusion
All in all, the RAM provides an assessment of the roles assigned to each team member of the BH project and tasks that he or she will perform. The project manager will have to choose a leadership approach suitable for the members and make adjustments when necessary. The five stages of development allow the manager to anticipate issues and prepare strategies for their mitigation. The criteria for evaluating successful execution and cohesiveness of performance were proposed in the corresponding sections.
References
Building a leadership team for the health care organization of the future. (n.d.). Web.
Cunningham, J., Salomone, J., & Wielgus, N. (2015). Project management leadership style: A team member perspective. International Journal of Global Business, 8(2), 27-54.
Heathfield, S. (2018). 5 stages of team development. Web.
Hoegl, M., & Muethel, M. (2016). Enabling shared leadership in virtual project teams: A practitioners’ guide. Project Management Journal, 47(1), 7–12. Web.
Appendix
Roles and Responsibilities
For this project, apart from the project manager, who will develop the processed and prepare resources, case managers, project sponsor, NCM, and primary care providers will be participating. Case managers will help develop strategies of contacting patients, cooperating with NCM, and will be communicating with them upon initiation. The primary care provider will be collaborating with individuals who agree to participate in this program. The sponsor will be responsible for allocating funds for all the activities outlined in Table 1.
Criteria
Criteria that can help determine the appropriate for each role are described above. The project manager has to be a good leader with the knowledge of the healthcare system and enrollment of patients into similar projects, while the sponsor should be able to provide financing for all resources by the deadline. Case managers should have a background in communicating with patients because the understanding of the underlying disease characteristics is necessary while the primary care provider has to be able to present the BH program for 12 patients. Finally, the NCM needs work in a team because the fast exchange of information is vital.
Table 1. RAM (created by the author).