For most in primary care, it’s been a topsy-turvy few years. In March 2020, many of us scrambled around for survival strategies – we were locked down, yet somehow had to do our best to deliver the services our patients needed. Thankfully, video-based communications had just about come of age. So we reluctantly open our laptops – Zoom or Teams – and we were up and running once again. Sort of…
The best survival strategies are impactful and effective over the short term. They facilitate task-completion, to a degree. The bar has been lowered – we step over it – we congratulate ourselves that we’re still operating – we’re still here. But building and sustaining systems with people in them, over the longer term, requires something more.
I have a favourite exercise when facilitating development sessions with leaders and managers: I ask them to raise their hand if they have a ‘tasks to do’ list – all the hands shoot up. Then I ask for raised hands if they also have a ‘people/relationships’ list – confused faces, no hands.
After 30 years as a business psychologist, I’m convinced that the success of organisations absolutely depends on the abilities of their employees to build great relationships. We’ve forgotten this (although no good salesperson ever does!) Aided and abetted by technological ‘solutions’, we’ve come to believe that ‘work’ is purely transactional. It isn’t. The reason you are able to read this, is because of relationships I have with the great professionals at PCC. And the reason I am able to get an immediate appointment at my local GP surgery – where others seem to struggle – is because I have invested in the relationships I have with the staff there. It is not magic – this is how human beings work.
Phone rings.
Practice manager: Hello Prof Ferguson, I’ve been given your details by my friend who manages XYZ practice [across town]? I hope you can help us… I think you do mediation?
Me: Sorry to hear that you’re having difficulties – can you tell me more about the situation?
PM: One of our GP partners seems to have a real problem with my receptionists – well, one receptionist in particular – things are getting really difficult now… we’ve had tears… it’s going to be hard for me to find a replacement… and this receptionist is really very good at his job… Can you mediate?
Me: Erm… How do you folks all get on together, in general? Are you mostly a happy team?
PM: Well, we just get on with our work…
Me: When was your last team day – when did you all take some time out, just to get to know each other a bit better?
PM: Oh… no – we don’t do that. See, there’s just no time. The phones go over at 8am, and there can be 30 patients queuing on the phones… sometimes we don’t even get a loo break… [slightly sheepish laugh]… it’s just chaos really….
Me: Do you help each other out?
PM: Well it’s really hard because there are 30 of us in the Practice and we don’t mostly understand each other’s job… perhaps except me, and I just run around firefighting… I sometimes don’t even reach my desk until I’ve been here an hour…
Me: Are you sure you could make time for me to come in and do some mediation?
PM: Oh yes, we’d make time for that… we have to… when can you come?
This conversation – which I’ve had many times, now – is not best addressed through mediation (although I could). It is symptomatic of a task-based, transactional system which doesn’t reap the benefits of trust-based relationships in which everyone works collaboratively to support one another.
Thankfully – given a couple of half-days – transformation is achievable. Given a shared mission, and the development of a ‘relationships skill-set’, there is no limit to what good people can achieve in the workplace. Mediation – why would you ever need that?
Prof Mike Ferguson is director of professional development at Developing Professionals International, and a PCC associate of many years. If you would like to talk to PCC about mediation (or team building) email enquiries@pcc-cic.org.uk.
Last Updated on 4 October 2023
