Changing me to we: Developing teambuilding in radiation therapy

There has been a causal link identified within the literature between poor team function and errors, patient outcomes, staff satisfaction and performance. Lacking is supporting evidence on teambuilding and its impact on overall team performance and team dynamics. Within radiation therapy, there is difficulty in understanding the inner workings of team dynamics due to the unique complex nature of teams and with very little evidence on the impact of team building specific to radiation therapy. The focus of this research is to form a better understanding of the effects of teambuilding before and after a teambuilding education session.The knowledge gained can help in future trainings to promote and facilitate teambuilding to develop team dynamics and lead a change in culture.

Team building sessions were booked and scheduled for 148 radiation therapists. Pre and post session evaluations were distributed to all participants and collected at the end of each team building session. Descriptive statistics were used to analyze Likert scale responses. Open-ended question responses were coded and analyzed for emerging themes using thematic analysis.

110 of 148 radiation therapists attended one of the scheduled team building sessions. Pre-session evaluations indicated radiation therapists have a good understanding of factors that affect teamwork (88% agree); are aware of the multi-generational impact (78% agree); have the skill set to build a respectful team (86% agree); and are comfortable dealing with conflict (67% agree). Post-session evaluations indicated that participants had gained increased knowledge on teamwork (66.3% agree; 30.7% strongly agree); are more aware of the generational impact within teams (59% agree); new strategiesdeveloped to help improve team dynamics and the ability to use the lessons learnt immediately (67% and 71% respectively agree). Open ended comments indicated an interest in additional teambuilding sessions and further education on conflict resolution.

Results showed an increased awareness of the factors that impact team dynamics amongst radiation therapists and an interest in receiving further education in teambuilding. Findings will be utilized to better inform debate in future development of teambuilding educational sessions to improve overall team dynamics in radiation therapy.