Sigrún Gunnarsdóttir

To Be Accountable While Showing Care: The Lived Experience of People in a Servant Leadership Organization

Many organizations attribute their success to the use of servant leadership. However, very few studies have been conducted with the emphasis of understanding what it is like for people to work in servant leadership organizations and how it is practiced. Thus, in-depth interviews were conducted and an observation was performed to explore the lived experience of people, both employees and managers, who work within the business sector where servant leadership has been practiced for decades. Two main themes (and a set of subthemes) emerged from the study: “Accountability as an integral part of the practice of servant leadership” and “People show care and help each other out at work.” During a period with new challenges, the balance between the dimensions of “serving” and “leading” became prominent. The findings indicate that both dimensions are important for the prosperity of the organization, although participants experience the “lead” dimension of servant leadership being practiced more than the “serve” dimension. This is important, as much of current thought considers servant leadership to focus more on the “serve” dimension, and thereby to be soft.

Improving Health Care Organizations Through Servant Leadership

Health care managers are often absent from organizational developments in practice despite evidence on the foundational role of first line management to facilitate changes. This chapter presents contributions to servant leadership and a model for developing care processes and well-being at work based on findings derived from studies of exceptionally successful managerial work in hospital wards. Key elements in the servant leadership approach was anchoring in practice and having a sincere follower- and servant focus through continuous involvement and interconnecting values, goals and challenges from different perspectives, and the development and implementation of care processes. The practice servant leader is attentive to psychosocial dynamics and fosters humility and a community of equals. The practice servant leader uses loci of anchoring to involve staff and interconnect management and practice.

Ergonomisk Værdistrømsanalyse (ErgoVSM) - Værktøj og brugerguide

General information State: Published Organisations: Department of Management Engineering, Management Science, Implementation and Performance Management, Swerea AB, Nordic School of Public Health NHV, Sahlgrenska University Hospital, Reykjavík University, University of Iceland Contributors: Jarebrant, C., Johansson Hanse, J., Harlin, U., Ulin, K., Winkel, J., Edwards, K., Birgisdóttir, B. D., Gunnarsdóttir, S. Publication date: 2016

Ergonomic Value Stream Mapping (ErgoVSM) : Tool and User Guide

ErgoVSM is an intervention process tool stimulating a dialogue for creating more sustainable value streams at hospital wards. It represents a complement to traditional Value Stream Mapping. Work en ...

May sustainability of patient flows at hospitals be increased by adding a work environment module to Value Stream Mapping (VSM)? - A NOVO Multicenter study in Denmark, Iceland and Sweden

Introduction: The impact of ergonomic interventions may be offset by other changes at the work place, primarily rationalizations. These have previously been shown to imply a dominant negative effect on health and risk factors, thus causing effect modification (Westgaard & Winkel 2011). The present paper aims to present assessment of potential effect modifiers in intervention studies at hospital wards in Denmark, Iceland and Sweden. Material and methods: The effect modifiers were assessed by a newly developed method (the EMA method; Edwards & Winkel 2016). It is a type of group interview including 3-6 participants representing all occupational groups in the investigated organization. The group is asked to write down significant changes at the workplace during the investigated period. The method also includes a semi-qualitative assessment of the potential Work Environment (WE) impact of each modifier. It aims to capture both the individual and collective account of all significant events that may have caused a significant impact in relation to the specific aim of the investigated intervention. Thirteen hospital wards went through interventions based on either the lean tool VSM (Value Stream Mapping) (6 wards) or the ErgoVSM method (Jarebrant et al, 2010) where additional focus is on ergonomic issues (7 wards). Results: In total 120 interventions were implemented. However, 322 significant modifiers were assessed to have occurred during the intervention period. Of these, 120 were assessed to imply impaired WE, 166 a positive impact, 33 no impact and 3 were not assessable. The number of significant modifier events varied between wards from 8-48, while the number of implemented interventions varied from 0-28. The semi-qualitative assessments suggested a major impact on WE due to modifiers. At seven wards the dominating impact of the modifiers was estimated to improve WE; at two wards the modifiers were estimated mainly to impair WE while four wards showed a mixture of modifiers, some estimated to improve and other to impair WE. Conclusion: Numerous effect modifiers occurred parallel to the investigated interventions. This jeopardizes any inference regarding impact of the investigated interventions on WE. The study thereby highlights the significance of considering effect modifiers in ergonomic intervention research.