Has the COVID Pandemic Strengthened or Weakened Health Care Teams? A Field Guide to Healthy Workforce Best Practices

During the 2020 global pandemic crisis, some health care teams pulled together while others fell apart. The teams who pulled together put aside their differences and became stronger, putting their patients first and then each other. Those teams grew stronger, but some teams completely fell apart. They spent their days nitpicking, complaining, and arguing-making decisions based on what was best for themselves, not patients or their coworkers. The common denominator in determining how well teams performed was the leader. Employees looked to their leaders to successfully lead them through crisis, whether it was on a small or global scale. Depending on leader behaviors, the leader strengthened or weakened the team; trust was built or broken. That is a heavy burden to carry knowing that employees were so dependent on them and how they showed up every day. What lessons can leaders learn from the coronavirus-2019 (COVID-19) pandemic that can help them strengthen and sustain a healthy, professional, and supportive workforce culture during a crisis and beyond?