This 30 Second MBA piece featuring Kaveh Naficy, Founding Partner, Philosophy IB nicely summarizes three keys to leading a diverse team:(1) find common ground -- help them understand why a team outperforms individuals; (2) get quick wins -- perhaps something innovative; and(3) transfer knowledge gained to other initiatives.

All of these points apply just as well to leading a performance improvement team. PI teams are by their nature multidisciplinary and diverse -- often including physicians, nurses, pharmacists, case managers, quality improvement specialists, managers, executives. Many of these individuals may not be used to the team dynamic, particularly the aspect that Kaveh highlights in his brief clip -- why is the team more effective than the individual. This point is worth re-emphasizing, with the specific advice that team leaders use initial team meetings to establish for the members how much more effective they will be in championing the cause together.

Getting quick wins is key to gaining further buy-in, both from the team itself, as well as from external constituents. Helping the team identify this as a specific goal at the outset will be helpful to gaining necessary momentum.

Transferring knowledge to other initiatives is not something that we may normally think about as a key to leading a team, but it makes sense when you consider that the team's success will grow when it is placed within an institutional context and they see their efforts multiplying throughout the organization.

Three excellent points, incredibly well encapsulated by Kaveh!