Introduction
In social work, management and leadership are frequently equated. However, these roles vary substantially based on the skills and characteristics of the individuals who fill them. A leader can regulate reflective orientation by employing their talents to explain and visualize social work in many ways, whereas management is typically focused with organizational procedures, regulation, and productivity. According to McDermott and Bawden (2017), there are five essential characteristics of social work leadership: a persuasive personality, teamwork, organization, collaboration, problem-solving, and the drive for positive change.
Transformational leadership is primarily defined by the charisma and vision of the leader. However, this leadership style also possesses many desirable qualities, such as stimulation, communication, intelligence, and respect for the needs of others. Transformational leaders motivate people through ways that extend far beyond monetary compensation. According to Gellis (2001), transformational leadership style initiates organizational change by emphasizing the adoption of new ideals and focusing on the future, which transcend the status quo.
Transformational leadership is strategic because leaders exemplifying this style cultivate staff members' skills and promote individual development as one of the most essential components for implementing behavioral change among practitioners. According to Hassan and Silong (2008), transformational leadership is predominantly conducted by senior executives.
Transformational leadership has multiple connections to social work. For instance, the outcomes of social work services depend mostly on employees and other stakeholders in a social amenity. Therefore, it is essential to implement a strategy that will result in excellent outcomes for social work services. Team members favor leaders that can comprehend their requirements, motivate them, and permit their own growth. Due to their versatility and connection with followers, transformational leaders can achieve remarkable success in social work.
Identification of an EPP Need
The modern healthcare industry mainly relies on evidence-based practice. According to Shlonsky and Fuller-Thomson (2011), evidence-based practice is essential for overcoming the numerous problems clinics and care providers confront.
With the proper documentation, the team may, for instance, collaborate with funders who favor activity-based finance (McDermott & Bawden 2017; Drisko & Grady 2015). Moreover, evidence-based practice is linked to professional integrity, one of the core values of social work (Australian Association of Social Workers [AASW] 2010). Lastly, evidence-based practice is crucial for maintaining favorable patient outcomes and appropriate employee conduct. Consequently, the stakeholders in evidence-based practice include working teams, management, donors, and clients.
However, when it comes to evidence-based practice, social workers frequently lack crucial abilities, such as analyzing and applying study findings (McDermott & Bawden 2017). In addition, social workers confront a number of obstacles while doing research in healthcare settings, including the disengagement of care providers, time constraints, and a lack of resources or organizational support (McDermott & Bawden 2017). Transformational leadership can be utilized to assist employees in developing the competencies and autonomy necessary to conform to evidence-based practice standards, so boosting their performance.
Object of the Study
The purpose of the proposed project is to explain to customers the efficacy of programs and interventions based on evidence-based practice. Transformational leadership will support the project by increasing the motivation and involvement of team members (Guerrero et al. 2015). As a result of implementing the strategy, a platform for collaborative decision-making including patients and practitioners can be built to support evidence-based practice. The team working on the Evidence for Practice Project intends to accomplish this by raising awareness about evidence-based practice, determining the role of transformational leadership in healthcare research and practice, and acquiring additional information on planning and implementing evidence-based practice.
Objectives of Strategy
The strategy's objectives are as follows:
Explain why team members must comply with evidence-based practice guidelines. Determine the deficiencies in skills, knowledge, organizational culture, and job qualities that prohibit team members from engaging in evidence-based practice effectively. Outline the essential skills, methodologies, and competencies for multidisciplinary team members who engage in evidence-based practice. To research and explain effective implementation strategies for evidence-based practice standards within interdisciplinary teams. To investigate the effectiveness of transformative leadership in supporting initiatives based on evidence-based research and practice. Determine how community-based healthcare organizations can use transformational leadership strategies.
Description of the Leadership/Strategic Role
A community mental health center in Springvale, Melbourne, Australia has been selected as the site. The majority of the population consists of culturally diversified working-class individuals. The organization receives money from private and public entities, including trusts and foundations. Due to the cultural diversity of the clientele, it is necessary to examine the customers' service expectations.
Leadership Status
Under the influence of transformational and transactional leadership styles, I will first convene a meeting with the rest of the team to review the program and develop implementation strategies. McDermott and Bawden (2017) emphasized the need of demonstrating innovation and quality through evidence-based practice. Therefore, the conference will focus on establishing common objectives, developing a project model, and recommending operational management principles.
A leader must guarantee that employees remain engaged throughout the duration of the change project. Therefore, a move from transformational to transactional leadership may be necessary to increase their motivation if the project encounters challenges. According to Guerrero et al. (2015), the transactional leadership style entails rewarding the highest-performing employees. If the project involves the incorporation of various leadership types, transactional leadership must be sought. This technique is particularly useful for initiating change, and rewarding performance may help to overcome obstacles if necessary.
Regular meetings are necessary for obtaining outstanding project results and attaining its objectives. For instance, Nanjundeswaraswamy and Swamy (2014) contend that holding weekly meetings permits the generation of regular progress reports, which in turn can aid in monitoring performance and adjusting strategy to avoid difficulties. In addition to discussing progress, employees will be able to provide both good and negative comments on the management style during weekly meetings. All employee feedback will be analyzed to establish improvement targets.
In order to discover a solution if team members are unwilling to execute certain jobs or refuse to cooperate, it will be essential to determine the underlying cause. If a problem cannot be resolved, it might be prudent to try an alternative motivating technique or revise the current one in order to promote compliance and cooperation. It is essential to pay special consideration to each team member when operating as a unit. Transformational leadership should be utilized to determine and address their needs, abilities, and goals, while transactional leadership can assist in achieving success through positive reinforcement.
Resources
There are three primary resources that are crucial to the success of the project. To conduct research, team members will first require further training. Second, the project will necessitate funding to provide incentives to staff and pay for further training (Nanjundeswaraswamy & Swamy 2014). Thirdly, the project will require backing from at least three institutions. On some days of the week, the organization will be responsible for relieving the team members' workload, while research partnerships with an organization and a local university will assist employees' research activities.
Obtaining Resources
To acquire the necessary resources for this endeavor, it would be necessary to meet with managers, university research teams, and organizations. Promoting the necessity of the project will aid in securing the necessary money and organizational support to accomplish the objectives. When meeting with the selected university and organization, the project leader will provide a thorough project timeline and research plan that specifies the team's institutional support requirements. The use of transformational theory to negotiations would be advantageous, as it would enable the initiative to garner support. The lack of cooperation among the concerned parties is the greatest obstacle to acquiring resources; thus, it must be regularly monitored.
Project Procedure Measures
Activity Schedule anticipated result Linkage
Unfreezing
a gathering of team members
Task division One week Show interest, propose modifications, and solve difficulties. Describe the significance of evidence-based practice and highlight any gaps
Change
Developing the project
interacting with administrators and institutions Three weeks Implement the project successfully, foster cooperation, and collect data Through transformative leadership, establishes evidence-based practice.
Refreezing
Reinforcement
Evaluation
Modify application Five weeks Obtain the input, then implement the strategy at healthcare institutions in the respective societies. The established benefits of evidence-based practice and transformative leadership
Evaluation
The project will be evaluated based on managers', leaders', workers', clients', patients', and practitioners' reports and feedback. Since the transformational leadership strategy focuses on human resources, the performance of the project will be evaluated based on qualitative data regarding its perceived efficacy, value, and benefits. In addition, the project's efficacy will be determined by the team's adherence to evidence-based practice standards. As part of the evaluation, for instance, data quality and data gathering procedures will be examined.
As the initial purpose of the project was to inform management of the team's work, interviews with management will also be conducted to establish whether or not this objective has been achieved. The management's recognition of the team's contribution would be reflected in the funding and resources supplied to support the team. To determine whether the initiative is sustainable, the evaluation will be repeated six and twelve months after its conclusion.
Challenge/Conflict Management
Low Confidence in Capability to Conduct Research
Despite their interest in or collaboration with the project, not all team members may possess the necessary skills to do the assigned research tasks. However, a project team's competency will be ensured by training, regular evaluation, and teamwork spirit. Creating a functional budget and allocating suitable resources to project activities is one of the activities of the project. A considerable percentage of the project's budget is allocated to training and staffing. According to Aga, Noorderhaven, and Vallejo (2016), transformational leadership is supported by empirical evidence; hence, the staff will require specialized training on data collecting and analysis techniques.
The project management team is responsible for mediating the role of team-building as a significant success factor (Aga, Noorderhaven & Vallejo 2016). The relationship between team building and transformational leadership is direct. Using evidence-based research in a field study involving 200 participants in one of the Ethiopian non-governmental organizations, it has been demonstrated that team-building contributes significantly to the success of the transformational leadership strategy and thus determines the project's success.
In a similar vein, Kerzner & Kerzner (2017) observed that project planning, scheduling, and control are essential project activities. Therefore, the planning phase of the project must ensure that all issues are resolved prior to its commencement. In addition, scheduling will allocate sufficient time and cash for training and personnel. The abilities of project team members will be enhanced by the assignment of roles tailored to the competencies of team members.
For instance, the project will include individuals from diverse professions including finance, project management, social work, and healthcare (Kerzner & Kerzner 2017). Diverse abilities and experiences will ensure that the project team is comprised of competent specialists in their respective domains. Ability can also be measured by evaluating each team member's performance on a regular basis. In addition, a frequent review of progress will ensure that all team members achieve the minimum standards. Using conventional methods of research, analysis, data gathering, survey, and performance objectives can also improve skills.
Insufficient funds for activities
If the project is to be successful, addressing all concerns of low confidence will necessitate enormous expenditures. In addition, specialists are required for effective decision-making in all project procedures due to the incorporation of diverse skills. Consequently, the project budget must be revised to account for any additional expenses. Several financiers will be chosen and approached with a proposal explaining the project's objectives and budget during the planning phase.
The project seeks funding from corporations, trusts, foundations, and the government. In addition, the difficulty of limited resources will be handled by allocating monies proportionally and appropriately. For instance, if training is a more important factor in determining the success of a project, a greater proportion of expenditures must be allocated to this activity. Significant emphasis is placed on efficacy and results. Therefore, it is worthwhile to invest in training, as it is one of the most valuable parts of a project.
Carayol and Lano (2017) determined that governments fund organization and institution-based research in a variety of ways. Government sponsorship of projects has raised the attention of researchers and the network of collaborators of persons receiving funding. Following the government-provided resources, co-authors also join a research endeavor. In addition, corporations sponsor social work programs as one of their key performance measures (Carayol & Lano, 2017). After establishing the desire of corporations and governments to support a project in order to achieve their development objectives, the project team will approach financiers with a plan, a strategy for money distribution.
In other words, financiers are cognizant of the fact that funding a project creates fresh possibilities to address initial issues. In turn, an investment-worthy project is one whose aims are feasible and durable. The government and corporations financing this initiative are drawn by the research objectives of realizing employee benefits and detecting research-based projects' consequences and hazards (Carayol & Lano, 2017). The unique character of the project increases the likelihood that it will be funded according to the budget outlined in the project proposal.
Frontline Personnel Are Overburdened
Uneven workload allocation may result in overburden and, consequently, inefficiency. The best performing and most experienced employees are ultimately assigned the most difficult responsibilities, resulting in an overload. To begin addressing this difficulty, the leader must divide the tasks and distribute them equitably. For instance, each day of the week can be assigned a specific responsibility. Alternatively, two individuals may be allocated to a specific task.
Additionally, the leader may prepare for group A to work on research from Monday through Tuesday, while group B works with clients. Wednesday through Thursday, the timetable will be altered. Group A assists clients, whilst Group B does research. On the final day, Friday, both Group A and Group B interact with clients.
Second, frontline employees will also be classified according to their talents and knowledge. Consequently, they will be assigned technical duties within their respective fields of expertise. The members of the project team will hold frequent meetings to assess the project's progress. During these meetings, every member will report on their progress and provide client feedback from their different departments. Frontline employees will produce the reports and analyze the project's performance from all technical and social angles.
The issue of balancing the workload of project team members can be resolved by responsibility sharing, in which persons with simple duties are assigned.