Quality Team Coaching for Rural BC

Quality Team Coaching for Rural BC (QTC4RBC) is a coaching program that empowers teams to regroup and reconnect with their purpose and take steps toward building their desired team culture and advancing their chosen goals. When healthcare teams are able to rekindle joy and meaning in their work, they’re more able to create a positive work environment, optimize their team’s performance, and increase the quality and safety of care for patients.

“I leave this workshop optimistic about the future of our team and clinic.”

QTC4RBC Workshop participant

Achievements

Coaching for Seven Teams

This year the QTC4RBC team worked with seven rural health care teams. The teams participated in a one-day workshop followed by four team coaching sessions, spread over a period of about six months. Team leads also had the opportunity to do three leadership coaching sessions with their coach. Through the program, the teams had the opportunity to work on their respective priorities which included everything from improving communication processes to building new ways of working together to optimizing roles and responsibilities of team members.

The team completed the evaluation report from the previous cohort of teams and observed promising findings. After the program, reported competency and frequency of behaviours increased across all elements of high functioning teams and measures of workplace satisfaction improved. The team also developed a team survey to better observe the impacts on teams in the elements of high functioning teams as a result of participating in the program. In addition to informing the evaluation, the survey will be a tool that teams can continue to use beyond the program to identify team elements that they may want to work on as the team experiences shifts and changes over time.

A New Coach

To increase program capacity, QTC4RBC has added a third coach to the coaching team. Dr. Tom Wright now joins Dr. Rahul Gupta and Dr. Cecile Andreas as a QTC4RBC team coach. Through the course of the year the team orientated Dr. Wright to the program and supported his integration into the coaching team through co-coaching opportunities.

The Development and Pilot of a New Workshop

To address requests from teams for a less intensive option to begin exploring the elements of high functioning teams, the QTC4RBC team developed the Finding your Way in Teamwork: Team Coaching Principles Workshop. This is a two-hour participatory and interactive workshop where participants learn the attributes, skills and tools of high-functioning interprofessional teams and the critical role of developing psychological safety as the fundamental foundation of healthy teams. Participants are then supported to design an action plan for strengthening psychological safety within the team they work with on a day-to-day basis. This new workshop has since been offered twice and initial evaluation findings are showing positive responses from the participants.

Explore the numbers

7 Teams

Seven teams participated in QTC4RBC in 2023

54 Particpants

54 people participated in the 'Finding your Way in Teamwork' workshop 

79 Team function satisfaction

In the evaluation report of the previous cohort, 79% of participants reporting being “very satisfied” with their team function after QTC4RBC compared to 14% before the program.

82 Team culture satisfaction

In the evaluation report of the previous cohort, 82% of participants being “very satisfied” with their team culture after QTC4RBC compared to 11% before the program

Making a Difference

Past participants of the QTC4RBC program spoke to the value of working in a supportive environment, leading to improved team collaboration.

“[It was an] opportunity to speak openly and creatively with our emerging team, form and storm together in a supported environment.”

QTC4RBC participant

“Expert facilitation allowed in-depth discussion of topics that otherwise would not have been possible.”

QTC4RBC participant

Plans for the Future

We look forward to working with a new cohort of teams in 2024 and will be offering more sessions of the Finding your Way in Teamwork workshop. We will be hosting a workshop at the JCC Pre-Forum day in 2024 and have additionally been accepted for a poster presentation at the 2024 Coaching in Leadership & Healthcare Conference.