Grant: Knowledge Synthesis Grant

Although the value of teamwork is well recognized in healthcare, the dynamics of workplace relationships creates a myriad of challenges for healthcare teams. Scholars and practitioners from many disciplines have shown a great interest in understanding the various behaviours of workplace relationships. However, the lack of agreement on concepts and definitions has impeded the building of a relevant literature base and conceptual framework on collegial workplace relationships. In this scoping review, we propose to review and clarify the state of knowledge from the literature reporting on both positive and negative behaviours of workplace relationships. With the engagement of knowledge users in leadership and practice, the aim of this project is to synthesize theory and research from a broad range of disciplines about workplace relationships in order to enhance conceptual clarity and understanding about key barriers and facilitators to collegial workplaces and to extrapolate from this knowledge base promising tools and interventions that may be relevant for the health sector in particular. This integration and simplification is a critically necessary task if we hope for policymakers, organizational leaders, healthcare management and employees to effectively use what we know thus far, enabling them to more effectively manage and reduce corrosive behaviour and increase collaborative behaviour in healthcare settings.