The people UBT co-leads report to, or go to for information and support, are sponsors of unit-based teams. The long-term sustainability of UBTs depends on active sponsorship from union, management and physician leaders.

Sponsors, team co-leads and UBT members all benefit from a clear understanding of the sponsor's role. 

What do sponsors need to do to get started?

First, they need clarity about the sponsorship role. It's important to understand the sponsorship role in general and also how it applies to a specific constituency. Sponsors need to meet with the managers who report to them to confirm expectations and determine how and when the team co-leads will report on UBT progress.

Second, training is available for sponsors so that they may better understand their role, and they need to attend that training and commit to applying what they learn. Sponsors must also become familiar with the current National Agreement so they can understand the role unit-based teams are playing in the transformation of Kaiser Permanente. It's critical that sponsors understand the behavioral expectations of KP's performance excellence culture. The Sponsor and Leader Resource Guide for UBTs tool is available for download on this site; in addition, much of the information and the tools and resources from the guide are available throughout this website.

Finally, sponsors need to reach working agreements with their key partners. Some steps sponsors can take to make sure that happens are to:

• Meet with co-sponsors (management, union and physician) to reach agreement on how you will conduct your joint work of supporting your UBTs to improve performance.
• Discuss your roles and expectations of each other as co-sponsors.
• Meet with your UBT co-leads to share co-sponsor plans for working together and expectations of co-leads, as well as learn what the co-leads need from you.