Introduction

Before reading this article, if you are not familiar with Buurtzorg, I invite you to read my first article on the subject: “Reinventing Organizations: Buurtzorg.”

Buurtzorg has implemented a team model based on specific roles, allowing nurses to distribute responsibilities based on their skills and preferences.

Here are the seven predefined roles described in Buurtzorg’s manual titled “Self-management, how it does work” by Astrid Vermeer and Ben Wenting:

  1. The Main Role: This is the primary role for which all Buurtzorg members were originally hired, namely providing nursing care and contributing professionally to the team and Buurtzorg.
  2. The Team Player: This role ensures the collective dynamics of the team by encouraging communication and ensuring that goals and overall organization are respected. It stimulates discussions on best practices and decision-making.
  3. The Housekeeper: This role is responsible for organizing technical tasks and office functionality. He/she regularly informs the team about expenses and budgets.
  4. The Informer: This role monitors the team’s productivity by publishing reports on work done and value creation.
  5. The Developer: This role promotes collaboration within the team and between teams. He/she gathers information about experiences and expertise from other teams and shares them with his/her team to enhance skills and organization.
  6. The Planner: This role is responsible for planning the team’s work schedules, taking into account client expectations. He/she keeps the team informed of future schedules and any potential changes. Decisions are made collectively, considering the expectations and needs of the nurses.
  7. The Mentor: This role supports new team members and acts as a personal coach, helping them process emotions after difficult events, resolving internal conflicts, and fostering Buurtzorg’s entrepreneurial spirit. This role is typically filled by a more experienced person.

Teams are usually composed of a maximum of 12 people, but they can split based on members’ skills and affinities. Teams meet every two weeks to discuss the overall situation, specific cases, and resolve any potential issues.

Recruitment within Buurtzorg is crucial to ensuring cohesion among teams in a decentralized organization. Nurse teams are responsible for the recruitment process. It often happens through informal exchanges between the Buurtzorg team that has a vacant position and external nurses. After the usual exchange of motivation letters and CVs to verify qualifications, two nurses volunteer to conduct the interview, which does not have a predefined structure. The two nurses then report the interview to other team members, who decide together whether to integrate the person into the team. A two-month period is then provided for any disaffiliation by the new recruit.

This team and recruitment model contribute to the strength and efficiency of Buurtzorg teams.

Conclusion

As with Scrum, Buurtzorg offers a simple but organized working framework, with small teams focusing on customer satisfaction (value), self-organization, and each member having one or more roles and responsibilities, allowing everyone to get involved and streamline the process. Recruitment is based on skills, mindset, and values. Medical professionals, like developers in a Scrum context, cannot be mere executors; they must be ready to take on challenges and develop their skills for the benefit of their missions – going beyond their profession to bring the team’s purpose to life and provide meaning to the mission.

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