SS02 Contribute to the effectiveness of work teams

Overview

This standard describes your role in contributing to the effectiveness of work teams. The term ‘work teams’ is intended to cover teams who work closely together as well as those which are more loosely structured but in which the members are working towards the same ends. This includes contributing to effective team working through appropriate behaviour for effective working, passing on relevant information, receiving and acting on constructive feedback and offering proposals as to how team practice might be improved. You will be expected to seek advice over any problems which arise in the team, whether these are clashes of personality, lack of clarity as to role, or inappropriate behaviour such as bullying, discrimination or harassment. It also requires you to reflect on your competence and capabilities and develop your own practice, either through the use of structured learning opportunities or through learning on the job, often as a result of feedback from the team. Users of this standard will need to ensure that practice reflects up to date information and policies. Version No 1

Knowledge and Understanding

You will need to know and understand:

what effective communication is
why one should take responsibility for one’s own development and performance, and the contribution of this to learning and development itself
why it is not always possible to evaluate one’s own performance, strengths and weakness, and the role which others’ feedback plays
the effects of differing cultures on communications (such as the use of touch, presence, contact-distance between individuals when communicating, the terms of respect used etc)
the constraints to effective communication (environmental e.g. noise and light; social/cultural e.g. language, jargon, slang, dialect; interpersonal; individual’s psychological, social and emotional well-being)
barriers to developing relationships and how these can be overcome
the range of problems which one may encounter when inter-relating with others and how these can best be handled
your role in relation to others in the work team
the role of others within the team and how each interacts
the range of interactive styles which individuals have and how these may affect ongoing work
the differences between work and personal relationships, and how work relationships can be maintained effectively even if one has little in common outside of work
the effects which work priorities have on individuals and how it may be possible to offer help and support
when, and when not, to interrupt others during work and the effects which they may have on them
the busy and stressful times within the work team and how these can best be handled
development routes which may be open and those which may be suitable
your personal career goals and the relationship of these to current work
your own strengths and weaknesses, and how the former can be built on and the latter minimised
the potential obstacles to personal development
methods of establishing and developing constructive relationships with others
methods of communicating clearly and effectively
methods of handling and minimising inter-personal conflict
how to identify and recognise one’s own competence
how practice is changing and the effects of these changes on you
how to review one’s own progress with others effectively and encourage them to give constructive feedback

Performance Criteria

You must be able to do the following:

keep other members of the team informed of your activities to an appropriate level of detail
ensure your behaviour to others in the team supports the effective functioning of the team
offer relevant ideas and information to team members who would benefit from them
accept suggestions and information offered by others and use them constructively to improve practice
offer assistant to others in the team when they need it and in a friendly and helpful way
honour undertakings to others consistent with overall work priorities
clearly present suggestions for improving team working to relevant team members at an appropriate time
deal with differences in opinion in a way which tries to avoid offence, and resolve conflicts in ways that maintain respect
seek advice from an appropriate person where you experience problems in working effectively with other team members
identify your own development needs against the demands of the work role
ensure your personal development objectives are the best balance possible between being achievable, realistic and challenging and being related to effective team working and service delivery
take responsibility for your own development, learning and performance
constructively evaluate and use feedback from others to improve future work performance

Additional Information

This National Occupational Standard was developed by the Care Sector Consortium as Unit CU10. This standard links with the following dimension within the NHS Knowledge and Skills Framework (October 2004): Dimension: Core 5 Quality