Creating high performance teams
Interviewing can be effectively used to find out the culture of potential employees.
Speaking to delegates at London Vet Show, Vets4Pets learning and development manger, Scott Bearman-Brown, explained that real teams are interdependent and rely on each other and effective teams enable leaders to be free to pursue new goals.
Teams must contain the right people and, when recruiting, it is really important to find new team members who are the right 'cultural fit' and who will reflect and adapt to the practice culture and values.
How you advertise for new recruits will have an effect on the type of people who apply and this helps to filter applicants. In other words, design your adverts in the right way to attract the right people.
Interviewing can also be effectively used to find out the culture of potential employees. Ask questions such as: 'What prevents you from performing at your best?', 'What do you look for in colleagues?' or 'Describe the working environment that enables you to work at your best'. This will help to give a clearer picture of an individual and whether or not they are the kind of potential team member you are looking for.
Teams need leaders and a good leader will set tasks and standards, monitor progress and make sure objectives are achieved. They will also be instrumental in turning the group of people into a team, using motivation and feedback and increasing team freedoms - thus helping them to develop.
Just as important is the development of the individuals within a team and a good leader will be able to assess and provide the help and support that the individual team members require.
Scott's final piece of advice on teamwork looked at getting people to work well by showing them that the goals set need to have a CAUSE, so these goals need to be:
- Clear
- Achievable
- Urgent
- Significant
- Engaging
Creating good teams is not easy, it has to be worked at but by adopting at least some of the strategies Scott described, managers will be able to move nearer to the kind of teams they would like to have in their practice.
RCVS Knowledge has welcomed Professor Peter Cockcroft as editor-in-chief for Veterinary Evidence. 
