How effective is teamwork really? The relationship between teamwork and performance in healthcare teams: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Abstract

ObjectivesTo investigate the relationship between teamwork and clinical performance and potential moderating variables of this relationship.DesignSystematic review and meta-analysis.Data sourcePubMed was searched in June 2018 without a limit on the date of publication. Additional literature was selected through a manual backward search of relevant reviews, manual backward and forward search of studies included in the meta-analysis and contacting of selected authors via email.Eligibility criteriaStudies were included if they reported a relationship between a teamwork process (eg, coordination, non-technical skills) and a performance measure (eg, checklist based expert rating, errors) in an acute care setting.Data extraction and synthesisModerator variables (ie, professional composition, team familiarity, average team size, task type, patient realism and type of performance measure) were coded and random-effect models were estimated. Two investigators independently extracted information on study characteristics in accordance with Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses guidelines.ResultsThe review identified 2002 articles of which 31 were included in the meta-analysis comprising 1390 teams. The sample-sized weighted mean correlation wasr=0.28 (corresponding to an OR of 2.8), indicating that teamwork is positively related to performance. The test of moderators was not significant, suggesting that the examined factors did not influence the average effect of teamwork on performance.ConclusionTeamwork has a medium-sized effect on performance. The analysis of moderators illustrated that teamwork relates to performance regardless of characteristics of the team or task. Therefore, healthcare organisations should recognise the value of teamwork and emphasise approaches that maintain and improve teamwork for the benefit of their patients.

Moral competence, moral teamwork and moral action - the European Moral Case Deliberation Outcomes (Euro-MCD) Instrument 2.0 and its revision process

“…Literature on teamwork is extensive and terms like 'team effectiveness' or 'interprofessional teamwork' have been studied across various research areas (e.g. business, sociology, medicine) [29][30][31]. For instance, Schmutz et al [31] recently examined the link between effective teams and clinical performance because they saw that 'researchers and practitioners often lack a common conceptual foundation for One major topic of discussion in the project team was whether we should call this domain 'ethical climate', which also focuses on dialogue and relationships [24,[32][33][34][35].…”

“…business, sociology, medicine) [29][30][31]. For instance, Schmutz et al [31] recently examined the link between effective teams and clinical performance because they saw that 'researchers and practitioners often lack a common conceptual foundation for One major topic of discussion in the project team was whether we should call this domain 'ethical climate', which also focuses on dialogue and relationships [24,[32][33][34][35]. Ethical climate is mainly characterized as 'shared perceptions' of values and supportive relationships among healthcare professionals and the presence of possibilities to reflect, decide and act in an ethical way [32][33][34][35].…”

Moral Competence, Moral Teamwork and Moral Action – The European Moral Case Deliberation Outcomes (Euro-MCD) Instrument 2.0 and its revision process

“…Literature on teamwork is extensive and terms like 'team effectiveness' or 'interprofessional teamwork' have been studied across various research areas (e.g. business, sociology, medicine) [30][31][32].…”

“…For instance, Schmutz et al [32] recently examined the link between effective teams and clinical performance because they saw that 'researchers and practitioners often lack a common conceptual foundation for investigating teams and teamwork in healthcare'. In their meta-analytical review, they de ned teams as 'identi able social work units consisting of two or more people with several unique characteristics'.…”

“…Next, they operationalized teamwork as follows: 'teamwork is a process that describes interactions among team members who combine collective resources to resolve task demands (e.g. giving clear orders)' [32]. They further made a distinction between 'teamwork' and 'taskwork'.…”