The Effect of Social Networks and Team Climate on Team Innovation and Client Outcomes In Health Care Teams

University Of Minnesota-Twin Cities, Minneapolis MN

Investigators

Abstract

Title: The Effect of Social Networks and Team Climate on Team Innovation and Client Outcomes in Health Care Teams Principal Investigator: Wholey, Douglas Institution: University of Minnesota The project's research questions are: (1) How do formal structures and processes affect social networks and the evolution of social networks in care teams? (2) How do team networks and team climate co-evolve? (3) How does the fit between formal structures and processes, climate, and team networks affect team learning, process standardization, and process improvement? (4) How do networks, climate, and processes affect the allocation of effort by team members into task work, coordination, and helping? (5) How do team structures, networks, and effort allocation affect client and team member outcomes? The research examines Assertive Community Treatment (ACT) teams, interdisciplinary teams of eight to twelve professionals that help clients with severe mental disorders to live in their communities, over a two year period using semi-annual surveys. The study will apply longitudinal methods to measure and analyze network evolution within teams, team learning, and the effects of learning on client and team member outcomes using hierarchical modeling methods, with clients and team members nested within teams. The project will make contributions to the scientific knowledge related to understanding (1) how interdependence and standardization in work processes moderate the effect of diversity on team performance, (2) how social networks and social exchange processes in teams affect the development of team climate, (3) how social networks and climate affect the development of process standardization, and (4) the effect of team organization on team performance, as measured by client and team member outcomes. The research will develop innovative measurement and educational tools that can be used to improve care team performance in healthcare organizations. It will also provide policymakers and health profession leaders with a more sophisticated understanding of the determinants of health care team performance that can be used to guide program design.