5- Teams Type, Characteristics, Norms and Type of Conflict.

“Team’s Types”
There are many teams in In-Shape. It has its own teams of specialized teams of consultants, doctors,
nurses, and a solid management team. Each team is divided into sub teams, we will tackle the Medical
Department for example. It is the Dynamo Team in In-Shape Clinic. It is divided into sub-teams which are
medical doctors and specialist surgeons, clinic managers and nurses.

A. Medical Doctors & Specialist Surgeons

The Size of the team is more than 276 professional doctors and specialists. If the no. of the team
decreases, its efficiency increases. We can’t say here that the no. is big; then there’s no efficiency. This is
wrong because in this case, the clinic is built on the huge no. of doctors who provide different
treatments.

Diversity produces more innovative solutions to problems. It is a diverse team because they have
different expertise (dermatologists & Plastic surgeons & dentists).

Roles They interact together daily; while working in different branches all over the world, and on a
weekly basis; when they group together to cure some cases, and monthly; while they report to their
managers and give them updates regarding the flow of work. The doctors must coordinate themselves
and organize their schedules together to accomplish the most important goal of In-Shape, which is
giving each Lady her own beauty 1. They work closely together under the same roof (umbrella) means
that the patients have access to virtually every treatment option, enabling the doctors and the
specialists to fully customize treatment plans.

Type of The Team The doctors & consultants’ team is a very functional structured team. They have a
manager to report to and follow his/her orders. You can’t have them in a multi – structured model.
Simply, you cannot have a dermatologist operates like the dentist, or vice versa. We can consider the
doctors & specialists to be a virtual team because there are around 38 branches all over Egypt. We can
say that it is a virtual team because they are geographically dispersed, some of them rarely meet face to
face, and interact to accomplish their work primarily using advanced information and
telecommunications technologies.

B. Clinic Managers

The Size This team consists of 7 medical doctors who are specialized in managing clinic operations and
solving rising problems at any time. 7 Managers responsible for branches in different regions, this is an
efficient team.

Diversity they have different expertise. But here the level of diversity is less because their tasks are the
same.

Roles They take responsibility for their work, make urgent important decisions, monitor their own
performance, and alter their work behavior as needed to solve problems and meet goals. Each clinic
manager has access to all the resources of the branches they supervise. They have reports about

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equipment, machinery, and supplies needed to perform the complete task. They are delegated from the
Business Development Department, to take the proper decision at a specific time.

Type of The Team The team is a self-managed team, in which multi-skilled managers rotate jobs to
supervise the branches or treat patients. These medical doctors should have high communications skills
to be able to settle any conflicts and be able to take decisions in no time. This team is a cross-functional
team. Here, In-Shape set up this team to increase employees’ participation. They are doctors who are at
the same hierarchical level, but from different areas of expertise. Their task force here is to manage
branches in certain regions, while they are from different backgrounds.

C. Nurses

The Size They are very important members. The team is around 80 nurses, we can’t say here that the
no. is big then there’s no efficiency. This is wrong because in this case, they provide urgent assistance to
the doctors.

Diversity Low Diversity, as they exercise the same tasks.

Roles They are responsible for coordinating the operations room. They collaborate with the surgeons to
ensure our patients' treatment plans are customized for their needs.

Type of The Team This team is a functional team. They report to the Nurses Manager who is responsible
for coordinating the nurses’ tasks through formal chain of command. And the nurses must follow strict
policy and rules.

So, to wrap it up, there are 2 functional teams in the medical department (Medical Doctors &
Specialists / Nurses). The company is built on these functional teams with focused organizational
structure that enables businesses to clarify roles and improve efficiency. These are command teams that
vary in levels and hierarchy 2. And then you can find 1 cross-functional team, which is the clinic managers
team, it has around 5 managers that decide the operations procedures overall.

“Norms”
A Team Norm is an informal standard of conduct that is shared by team members and guides their
behavior. Norms are valuable because they provide a frame of reference for what is expected and
acceptable. Here, in In-Shape, we can find that the managers/team leaders define and shape the norms
for his/her team. This helped the teams to be effective and enhanced the growth of the company.
Teams with norms often have a unified feel. Even with diverse team members (like Medical Doctors &
Specialists), there are unifying norms that tell everyone how to act to keep things professional. The
norms can help everyone feel like they belong and are committed.

Some of the important Norms that Medical Department must follow every day in In-Shape:

- Sanitation: it is the most important rule to follow.

- Supervisors hold regular meetings to teach team members new techniques and check their
performance weekly.
- Equipment must be disinfected frequently, by nurses.

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 - Patients’ Confidentiality.
- Health and safety regulations in each clinic also include dealing with hazardous chemicals, and
keeping the clinic properly ventilated. The flammable beauty products should be put in a place
that is cool and dry where no spillage is prone to occur. All supplies are adequately capped in
between uses. 
- Doctors must look representant.

Medical Department Managers developed team norms through 4 ways:

- They call for events to gather the department members together. We can see this when top
management in In-Shape arrange events (semi-annual, Ramadan Iftar, team building, or retreat
event).
- They can address issues that employees faced from their previous workplace. This approach is
used in minimal scope as HR in In-Shape tackle this issue in interviews and write down new
employees’ concerns and try to avoid them. In this approach, communication is the key to solve
the problem.
- They initiate briefing sessions for new employees to indulge them in the operation and welcome
them. New employees will be able to achieve goals easily when there are clear expectations for
everyone. This is carried out by the HR Department mainly, as they would be responsible for the
training and schedule briefing for new employees.
- Finally, managers can spread a set of policies and procedures throughout the company. This
would give clear pictures and norms for the employees to follow, teams can police themselves
and take accountability for their actions. You can find that in In-Shape headquarters, in
Mohandesin. When you enter the clinic, you would find the clinic policy printed in hard copy and
hang on the wall3.

“Team Conflicts”
Conflict refers to antagonistic interaction in which one party attempts to block the intentions or goals of
another. Conflict types:

 Task conflict is conflict that results from disagreements about the goals to be achieved or the
content of the tasks to be performed. This may arise in cross-functional teams when they gather to
discuss a certain case of a patient. Diversity of doctors is good for the team efficiency, but this could
arise diversity in decision making. Doctors here differs according to many options in treatments. It
happens many times, and usually these meetings take a long time to reach a decision at the end.

 Relationship conflict results from interpersonal incompatibility that creates tension and personal
animosity among people. This doesn’t happen much in In-Shape due to the friendly environment it
has. Managers keep communication channels clear and continuous to avoid this. It is big family,
more than a workplace.

Without team norms, conflicts can arise. Workplace conflicts, trust issues and lack of accountability are
some examples. Norms can address those issues before they happen. Managers shape the norms to
serve as a framework to follow generally and for new situations. You have the behavior expectations in
place, and your team can apply them to the new situation.
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