Browsing by Author "Woods, Amanda"

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    Overcoming Challenges to Teamwork in Healthcare: A Team Effectiveness Framework and Evidence-Based Guidance
    (Frontiers Media S.A., 2021) Zajac, Stephanie; Woods, Amanda; Tannenbaum, Scott; Salas, Eduardo; Holladay, Courtney L.
    Background: Safe and effective patient care depends on the teamwork of multidisciplinary healthcare professionals. Unfortunately, the field currently lacks an evidence-based framework for effective teamwork that can be incorporated into medical education and practice across health professions. We introduce a comprehensive framework for team effectiveness. Common challenges to teamwork in healthcare are identified along with evidence-based strategies for overcoming them.Methods: The framework was developed in four steps: 1) grounding in the existing team science literature, 2) semi-structured interviews (N = 13), 3) thematic analysis and initial framework development, and 4) revision of the framework through input from healthcare professionals representative of different functions across the healthcare system (N = 13). A diagnostic tool consisting of one survey item per team competency was developed to complement the framework. The survey was then administered to healthcare teams across clinical and administrative functions (N = 10 teams, 96 individuals), and results were compiled and then used to conduct debriefs with individual team members and teams. A set of common teamwork challenges were identified using the survey and qualitative data. Qualitative data was analyzed to explore the unique ways these challenges manifest in both clinical and administrative teams.Results: The five most common challenges that face healthcare teams relate to accountability, conflict management, decision-making, reflecting on progress, and coaching. These challenges were similar across both clinical and administrative team types. Based on the authors' collective experience designing and implementing Team Development Interventions (TDIs), strategies for managing each challenge are provided.Conclusions: The proposed framework is unique in two ways. First, it's generally applicable across the many types of teams that contribute to the quality and safety of patient care. Second, the levels of the framework build upon each other to contribute to the development of the ideal team states. The framework and accompanying strategies can provide guidance for where and how to target developmental efforts.
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    The Impact of Trainer and Trainee Race on Diversity Training Outcomes: Are the Differences Black and White?
    (2021-04-30) Woods, Amanda; Hebl, Michelle
    The efficacy of diversity training is one of the most debated topics in organizational psychology. On one hand, some scholars suggest that diversity training has limited impact and is not generally effective at leading to behavioral or workplace changes (Dobbin & Kalev, 2018; Forscher et al., 2019). On the other hand, other scholars conclude diversity training can be quite successful under the right circumstances (Bezrukova et al., 2016; Kalinoski et al., 2013). There seems to be universal agreement in the literature, however, that more empirical research on this topic is needed. The current study serves this purpose by focusing on one often overlooked aspect of diversity training – trainer characteristics. Given that training is often delivered online (a trend that is particularly on the rise with the historic COVID-19 pandemic-related transition to remote meetings) and several trainers often appear within a training module, this dissertation tests the impact that various race combinations of two trainers could have on trainees’ diversity training-related reactions, learning, and transfer of training, specifically through perceptions of legitimacy and psychological safety. As predicted, trainer race was significantly associated with perceptions of legitimacy; that is, mixed-race trainer pairs were perceived as higher in legitimacy than White-trainer pairs. There was also partial support for the indirect and conditional indirect effects of legitimacy, psychological safety, and trainee race on the relationship between trainer race and diversity training outcomes but only under certain conditions. Implications of these findings and recommendations for future research are discussed.