Leadership skills are important for any leader to have success in the team that he or she is leading. One must qualities that inspire people to do what they are meant to do withinthe team effectively. Every situation will require a different type of leadership skills. This is because situations are different and a leadership skill or style that may work for one group may not work for a different team in the same situation or the same team in a different situation. It is important for leaders to know their team well and to recognise what works for them and what does not. Leadership skills and styles vary from one leader to the next. While one may prefer the authoritarian option, the other may prefer a softer approach. Other leaders may prefer to be task oriented and other may prefer to be relationships oriented(Aaker).

Positive reinforcement

Deborah used positive reinforcement to motivate the nurses. She taught the nurses what to do and gave them lectures on how to handle pre-operative assessments. She noticed that most of the nurses did not have the required confidence to carry out the assessments effectively. Most of the nurses in the UK felt that they were not motivated and therefore had very low levels of morale and motivation in their work. They did not have the necessary confidence to carry out these tasks effectively. Furthermore, the doctors did not have confidence at all in the nurses and felt that they were not competent enough to carry out the tests. The doctors felt that they were in a better position to assess the patients. However, due to a large number of patients, it was impossible for the doctors to give the patients the required evaluation at the correct times and this led to most of the operations that had been scheduled to be cancelled(Avolio B).

The nurses in the UK were also not taught on how to carry out these tests and therefore added on to their reasons of not being confident. Deborah carried out the necessary lectures and trained them on how to do these assessments. In the beginning the nurses felt very uncomfortable in carrying out these tests but soon they gained confidence on what they were doing. They were praised every time that they did something right and were shown what to do whenever they committed mistakes. They were encouraged highly and soon enough, they could do what the junior doctors would do. Patients could now get proper assessments a long time before they showed up for operations. It is important to note that the patients showed a higher liking for the nurses than the doctors. Patients are more comfortable discussing their issues with nurses than with doctors. The doctors on the other hand reported that the patients were more comfortable and relaxed. In this way the motivation given to the nurses led to a total overhaul of the system and led to better patient services. The doctors had less work to do and the number of cancellations of operations declined.

This is a positive method to use on the nurses especially in places where they do not feel appreciated at all. Nurses need to feel appreciated so that they can perform their duties well. Nurses are an important component in the hospitals and if they are made to feel good about what they do, then they are likely to perform well for the benefit of the society. Deborah used an appropriate method of leadership that yielded results that were required and even got positive feedback from the doctors who were very apprehensive about the method at first. She could however have infused more of this to get more nurses to join her sooner rather than later. With the positive reinforcement, the nurses are likely to do the right thing and to get better at the program. At the moment, there are some who had been promoted to the senior level and this is a good thing in terms of positive reinforcement.

Path goal theory

Deborah identified the calibre of the people that she was working with. These were people who were highly demoralised and did not feel that they were appreciated as they should be. They were probably a bitter lot of people who felt that the system required them to do more than what was needed. Furthermore, the schools which these nurses had been trained in did not teach them what Deborah needed them to do. Deborah needed to deal with their insecurities and their inadequacies to enable them to do the pre-assessment tests. It was important that they learnt to do these things if the people did not know what to do.

Deborah countered this by offering the required training and taught them what they needed to do and how they would carry out the certain tasks that were required. Even though the doctors did not feel comfortable with this way of dealing with patients, they slowly accepted the method. The doctors felt that the training was not enough and the nurses could not learn in a few days what they had taken years to learn and master. It was explained to them that the nurses’ skills would probably not be able to match the doctors’ skills but they would at least know what to do and assess abnormalities long before they get to a difficult point. It was important for the doctors to understand that the methods would be use to help them in their work and slowly most of them welcomed the idea.

The nurse was equipped with the required skills and knowledge to be able to carry these tasks. This was instrumental as the nurses could not do what they were not taught to do. The pre-assessment centreswould not work if the nurses did not have the required training. Deborah taught them on the legality of their actions and what they were responsible for. Most of the nurses were not aware of the thing they were held liable for in the hospital environment.This style of leadership was most suitable for a group that was not motivated and did not have the required skills to do what they were meant to do. Imparting knowledge on a less knowledgeable person always works to the favour of the person being taught. It boosts the confidence levels of the people and improves the staff morale. It is important to note that when the nurses were granted the duties, they were extremely reluctant at first but slowly gained the confidence that they required to carry out the pre-assessment tests.

Due to the training and being taught, the nurses could now understand the patients better and grant them the required treatment methods and to help them overcome any fears that they had. The relationship between the nurses and the patients was greatly improved. The patients also delivered positive feedback on the treatment centres and it was definite that patient satisfaction was increased. The doctors were able to give proper and adequate treatment to the patients and everything seemed to be running rather smoothly. The country also set up new syllabuses for the nurses to include the program in the curriculum and nursing became one of the courses that were offered for the universities(Frances A. O’Brien).

Conclusion

Deborah used the appropriate methods that reaped the maximum results from the nurses. They felt encouraged by her leadership style and they also felt they had some sort of guidance from the doctors and Deborah. They also felt more appreciated resulting in better services.

1. Strategic planning and implementation carried out at the uclh

Introduction

The method that is used by a company is determined by the type of goods or services that they deal with. Each methodis different from the next and it is important that each company know which method will best utilize its resources to come up with the best strategy to produce the best services. This is also dependent on the kind of staff that the company has and the type of clients that they intend to reach out to. The company needs to find out what is the best way to produce the goods and services in the most efficient manner. The equilibrium point is attained when the customers can be able to access the services that they need at the correct time in the correct quality and in the correct quantities and at the same time the company needs to be able to realize the maximum profits at this point(Walumbwa F).

Swot analysis

Deborah uses the swot analysis in planning for the pre-assessment centres. She identifies the strengths of the program. The strengths of the program include that patients are able to get more quality healthcare services from the NHS. The problem that the patients faced in the past included not getting proper treatment and sometimes requiring them to cancel operations because of lack of proper pre-assessment. The strengths of the program were enabling the nurses to do this beforehand so that the doctors would have an easier time when dealing with the patient. The method helped the nurse to have greater understanding of the patientsproblems and to help them do other things that they were not initially trained to do. It was also important to note that the confidence levels of the nurses were greatly improved and they felt more accepted by the doctors. The level of customer satisfaction was greatly increased. Another major strength that the program experienced was reducing the number of the steps to be taken by the patients from 56 to 2(Gardner W.L).

The weakness of the program was the training part. The training may be too little to enable the nurses to do anything effectively. This may limit them in what they can do and what they cannot do. It is important for all health professionals to know what they are doing at any point in time and sufficient knowledge is required to treat the patients. Professionals in this field should have adequate training to do so. The other weakness that they faced is lack of sufficient subsequent funding to carry continue with the project well. Getting initial funding for the program was not so difficult but getting funding to continue with the project was more challenging.

The opportunities that could be explored include training of more nurses to be able to give the services. This would greatly increase the level of satisfaction within the patients; the nurses could also be given more training to be able to carry out minor surgeries. This would help a great deal in reducing the workload of the doctors. The nurse would be able to do this and therefore reducing the number of the patient waiting in line. It would also help a lot in boosting the confidence in the nurse. Only the critical and severe cases would be directed to the doctors. With more funding, more centres would be opened to be accessible to most of the citizensin the country and opportunities to train more nurse to be able to do this.

The major threat that the faces this program is the confidence level of the nurses. The nurses ought to be very confident in their skills to be able to carry out these duties very well. The patients should also know that the nurses are capable to perform these duties well without doctors.

McKinsey’s 7s

The plan also utilised the McKinsey’s 7s structure. This structure involves structure of the organisation, systems that they use, style of operation, skills of the staff, the strategies in use and the values that they share. Deborah investigated the structure of the hospitals. The nurses left all the work to the doctors and they were only allowed to carry out minor duties. The doctors were the highest in the hierarchy and the nurses were very close to the end. The program intended to reverse the way that this was by empowering the nurses and making them feel that they also mattered. The programintended to empower the nurses to carry out the procedures that were carried out by the doctors.

The skills of the nurses were not exactly what were needed to carry out the program. Therefore the nurses were trained to be able to carry out the assessment tests of the patients and to be able to even carry out the minor operation. The strategy of the program was to reduce the workload of the doctors and to be able to improve the customer satisfaction. In this way they would achieve the maximum services. The training granted them the necessary skills to do the duties effectively and efficiently(Simmons).

It is important that the nurses in the organisation ought to share the same values in order to realize the goals of the organisations. If the nurse know what they are working towards then they are in a much better position to carry out their objectives. Additionally the shared objectives enhance unity among the nurses. The style of operation and how they do their duties is of major concern. Before the pre-assessment procedures, the patients had to go through 56 passages before they could get to the doctors. This was greatly reduced to only two passages and therefore reducing the amount of time that the patients would spend in waiting for services. The level of understanding that they share with the patients is very important. They need to form close bonds with the patients and answer their questions as carefully and comprehensively as possible to ensure that everyone was satisfied(Homburg and Sabine Kuester).

Conclusion

In conclusion, the strategies that Deborah employed worked with the organisation. Even if the program still had some weaknesses, they were still able to achieve most of the goals that they had achieved. For one, the number of cancellations that were reported after the introduction of the program was greatly reduced and the number of patients who were satisfied with the program was also increased. The major goal of any strategy is to ensure that that the goals of the company are achieved and that the customers are satisfied with the services and products produced(Walumbwa F).

2. What I would do

If I were appointed in the place of Deborah, I would have handled the situation in the same way with minor changes. This is because most of the methods that she used in implementing the program were very effective and worked well. The nurses were able to accept and work more despite their initial fears. They were able to treat the patients with more skill than they initially did. The levels of patient satisfaction also improved. The improved customer relations brought a new confidence level in the patients for the healthcare system. Medical services got better and it was now much easier for patients to access health care. The nurses were more aware of what they were doing and their skills were improved in a major way. Besides, more hospitals funded universities and other medical skills to produce nurses that were able to give proper pre- assessment tests to the patient. The attitude of the doctors towards the nurses improved for the better(R).

One of the things that I would do differently if I was the one appointed would be to increase the training period. The training that was done is not sufficient for the people to carry out these tests may not be sufficient to help the clients effectively if the training period was increased then they would be given much better training and education. This would also increase the level of confidence that the doctors have in them. One of the reasons that the doctors cited was that they did not believe that the nurse had learnt in two day what had taken them years to learn. The doctors would be more accepting to them if they were to get more training(Shaw).

The other thing that I would also do differently is to have a stronger relationship with the nurses. This is because they would be able to learn much more if they feel that I am one of them. People tend to listen more to people that have gone out of their way to make them comfortable. In this case, they would be able to approach me more easily in case of mistakes. This way,the goals would be achieved much faster and the nurses would be able to learn more things faster. Forming personal relationships with them would also enable me to identify their weaknesses and their strengths to be able to apply them effectively in the program. The more a person interacts with their team members, the more effective the team becomes in achieving their goal. This is becausethey feel more unified and therefore operate as one unit(M).

I would use the same leadership skills and I would use the same strategies in implementing the program. She could approach more investors to carry out the program. I would solicit for help from all sources, be they the public or private sector. Most people are concerned with the kind of healthcare services that they receive. Therefore many people would participate in anything that would ensure they get proper health services. People entrust their lives to the hospitals and therefore people would be happy to contribute to these services in any way that they could.

In my opinion, Deborah did very well in ensuring that the services that were produced to the customers were much better than when she first started. It was such a difficult thing to raise the morale of the nurses the way that she did and encouraging them to take up more duties than what they were initially used to.

Works cited

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Homburg, Christian and Harley Krohmer Sabine Kuester. Marketing Management – A Contemporary Perspective (1st ed.). London: Oxford Press, 2009.

M, Popper. “Leaders Perceived as Distant and Close.Some Implications for Psychological Theory on Leadership.” The Leadership Quarterly (2013): February 1-8.

R, Gill. Theory and Practice of Leadership 2nd Edition. London: Sage, 2011.

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Simmons, Mark. Punk Marketing. New York: Harper Collins, 2009.

Walumbwa F, Avolio B, Gardner W, Wemsing T and Peterson S. “Authentic Leadership:Development and Validation of a Theory-Based Measure.” Journal of Management volume 34 (2008): 89-126.