Real teams are the antidote to the chaos of modern medicine. “Real teams know each other, feel loyalty to one another, trust one another, and would not want to disappoint one another” (Tom Lee, NEJM Catalyst 2016). Practicing are conversations between real team members about why the work matters. Our goal is to preserve and share the stories of the teams at University of Utah Healthcare.

What makes an expert? Best-selling author Malcolm Gladwell gave 10,000 hours as a threshold for expertise. While our University Hospital Customer Service Team isn’t at 10,000 hours, they addressed nearly 2,000 patient concerns this past year. When asked how they do it, Program Assistant Michael Bown offers these top five tools to successfully navigate a phone complaint.

Health care is made up of people — creative, passionate people with big ideas who are often too busy to learn from one another.

Practicing are recorded conversations with a colleague that are shared with the organization. They are conversations between real team members about why the work matters.

Tips for leaders on how to manage respectful workplace conversations and appropriate boundaries during times of heightened political differences.