Collaborative Culture in Healthcare Organizations

00:06 So without a collaborative culture, what does that look like? Sometimes people aren't self aware.

00:13 And when I say that, I mean in terms of the feeling inferior.

00:18 Oftentimes, you see in an organization where people feel inferior, and then not able to be their authentic self.

00:25 They show up in a way that may come across as being bullying, being dominant because of lack of self confidence.

00:32 So people feel like they need to show up.

00:34 And sometimes in those situations where there are dominant members, if we can be in a meeting. And there's someone who their cultural background doesn't support being boisterous at all.

00:46 Like it supports them to kind of lay in low.

00:49 So those people might get excluded.

00:51 Sometimes in meetings, their voices aren't heard.

00:54 Sometimes they're dismissed.

00:56 And the dominant person if they don't agree with what other people say they don't want to hear it, hear people out.

01:02 So, that's what that lack of a collaborative culture would look like. And so people are fearful sometimes and they sit back and don't say any thing.

01:10 And obviously, you don't reap all the benefits of having a team contribution.

01:17 It also creates isolation in a lot of situations because those people with the non-dominant personalities feel like it's just easier to sit back and listen, and not say anything.

01:28 Other things that can happen is that discord will happen because there may be more than one dominant personality.

01:35 And if people can't come to an agreement and figure out a way to collaborate, then of course, that upsets team dynamics.

01:43 And sometimes people are uncomfortable to so they isolate themselves from their discord.

01:48 And then at the end of the day, people feel devalued, if they can't contribute in a meaningful way.

01:54 That's meaningful for them. And it lowers morale.

01:57 And obviously, we know how that affects the team in the organization.

02:00 People often leave or they don't participate.

02:03 And then a key concept of what happens in teams without a collaborative culture is covering.

02:08 So, with covering, we may cover up certain aspects of our identity, and we don't allow ourselves to show up authentically.

02:17 And that is a protective mechanism because people often feel threatened if they show up in a certain way.

02:23 If you're outspoken and you notice that the culture of an organization is to label the outspoken people as troublemakers.

02:30 If you speak up when we talked about the allyship in an organization where the culture is such that people aren't allowed to show up authentically, then they cover parts of themselves.

02:41 And again, it continues rather that cycle of that inferiority feeling.

02:47 The opposite of that, and a team with a collaborative culture that has the cultural intelligence, people tend to acknowledge the value of everybody's contribution.

02:55 So everybody on the team is, there is intentional, direct effort made for everybody to be able to contribute.

03:03 And sometimes people are shy. I had to learn that myself.

03:07 I want people to speak up. I used to be a shy person.

03:10 But I realize sometimes you get left behind because people don't -- they think maybe you don't have something to say.

03:19 But we have to be creative with ways that we allow everybody to contribute.

03:23 And if people don't feel comfortable speaking up, we want to respect that.

03:27 We want to think about different ways, maybe they can.

03:30 That's what a collaborative culture looks like.

03:32 I want to embrace whatever it is about that person's individual preferences, that helps them to feel like a part of the team.

03:39 When problems do arise, or issues come up, we want to address the issue and not people.

03:45 That's what a collaborative team looks like.

03:47 The opposite of that is when we address people, it creates defensiveness, and it contributes to their discord.

03:53 People do have diversity of experience.

03:56 So, on a collaborative team, we respect the diversity not only of the experience, but also their educational backgrounds and preparation.

04:04 So the end product is much more robust on a collaborative team.