Skip to main content

Take Steps to Create a Strong Team Culture in Your Practice

Published on: Aug 23, 2019

August-team-culture-247x167.jpg

If your practice's team culture is healthy, it will influence the success of your practice's operations. Just as you can transform your processes, you can transform your culture. Read more about how you can engineer your culture to be one that will flourish in the current rapidly changing health care environment.

Think of your culture as a set of underlying rules and beliefs that determine how your team interacts with patients and each other. Culture is the way an organization “does business.” Usually, new team members gradually absorb the practice's culture without being taught or even noticing. Read more about how you can engineer your culture to be one that will flourish in the current rapidly changing health care environment.

Here are the ten STEPS you can take to cultivate strong team culture in your practice:

  • Diagnose the current state of your team culture.
  • Discuss the results and brainstorm possible improvements.
  • Create a team staff compact.
  • Create opportunities for team communication throughout the day.
  • Meet regularly.
  • Strengthen the team by focusing on individual development.
  • Get to know your team members.
  • Teach leaders to be mentors, not managers.
  • Create an environment that supports continual learning.
  • Engage patients.

For details on how to implement each of these ten steps see the STEPS Forward module on improving team culture on the AMA Ed HubTM. This module was developed in partnership with the Society of General Internal Medicine