E H Gaston

Developing a motivating organizational climate for effective team functioning.

In order to enhance team functioning and to prevent the development of back wards, an institution must have a climate that motivates both staff and patients. The author summarizes the current technology for developing a motivating organizational climate, and describes the introduction of motivation factors into the climate of a hospital. Subsequent changes in morale, motivation, and innovation affected every segment of the hospital population--administrators, lineworkers, and patients--as well as departments and wards. On a 50-bed custodial back ward of chronic schizophrenics, motivation factors promoted more effective team functioning, improved discharge rates, and conveyed a sense of the ward as no longer backward.