Ï㽶ֱ²¥

Better leadership through better self-management in the healthcare sector

This project explores the notion that it is not the absolute level of energy an individual has, but rather how much they have relative to others, and in what combination.Ìý

Most research on human energy in organisations has built on self-regulation and ego-depletion theories to argue that low levels of human energy are related to reduced self-regulation which in turn negatively affects interpersonal relationships. We are developing and testing an alternative theoretical model according to which the level of energetic asynchrony of individuals determines whether high and low levels of energy lead to positive or negative interpersonal outcomes. We posit that it is not the absolute level of energy an individual has, but rather how much they have relative to others, and in what combination. We test our theoretical model using senior nurses and midwives and their direct reports at Liverpool Hospital and we employ experience sampling methodology. The aim of the study is to provide practical insights into better self-management of collective human energy resources.

The silent killer: Advancing knowledge on silence and its impact on errors and safety

This project will investigate how silence emerges in teams, what sustains it, and how it affects error and safety outcomes. Employees often choose to remain silent about important issues at work, which can have devastating consequences.

Although silence is a complex individual phenomenon, there is little knowledge of silence as a collective phenomenon, or how it spreads and becomes the norm in teams and organisations. This project will investigate silence using multilevel, longitudinal designs and by testing novel interventions. Our aim is to affect how teams work and communicate effectively to reduce dangerous forms of silence and improve safety.

Compassion at the heart of wellbeing: An interdisciplinary study of wellbeing in a healthcare setting

This project uses multidisciplinary perspectives to explore:

1. the nature of compassion and wellbeing, and the ways they are related
2. the acceptability and effectiveness of interventions to enhance compassion and wellbeing
3. the effects of these interventions on both the individual and those around them.Ìý

Ìý

The core of this project is a randomised control trial with nurses, for whom compassion and wellbeing are vital to the provision of quality care, but who often work in settings that produce high stress, emotional overload, overwork, and "compassion fatigue". We compare two compassion-based interventions and a control condition using a research design that incorporates qualitative and quantitative outcome measures in participants as well as staff and patients with whom they interact. The study employs a number of objective measures such as psycho-physiological markers of stress and resilience, social network analysis, and ethnographic observations. We aim to contribute to best-practice design of interventions to enhance compassion and wellbeing

Chronotypes and leadership toward a theory of leader-member energetic asynchrony

Extending leadership research by developing and testing a theory of leader-member energetic asynchrony that describes how differences in chronotypes and daily cycles of cognitive performance affect leader-member relationships. In a combination of laboratory and field studies in the healthcare sector we will examine the effects of energetic asynchrony on different types of leader-member constellations with different asynchrony profiles. The project aims to integrate biological theories of chronotypes with research on leader-member attributions and self-regulation to demonstrate the important effects of leader-member energetic asynchrony on the nature and quality of their relationship.