Healthcare

Effective Communication Cynthia Mays HCS/325 August 11, 2011 Beverly Green-Rashad Effective Communication Sears Company is a multimillion dollar establishment that strives for excellent customer service. That customer service derives from communication within the employer-employee circuit. In this paper, there is a discussion of the different techniques effective to communicate, the ineffectiveness of those techniques, and modification in a health care environment. The first techniques effective are the staff meetings that they conduct daily. They are at 4:30 and; we discuss new ideas on how to improve the company’s profit margins, situations with employees, the achievements in each department, and the rooms for improvement. Each manager is able to express his or her ideas or problems he or she may have, although others can suggest solutions to those problems or give opinions. “In order for communication to be successful in the workplace, effective communication is required between managers and staff” (Beaugard, 1). Another technique is our monthly evaluations. Each employee has an evaluation by the store manager, and each employee has an evaluation by his or her assistant store manager. They conduct these not to criticize the employee, but to analyze his or her accomplishments and what improvements they can make to improve profit for themselves and the company. They agree to the terms and make a vow to meet or exceed those goals by the next month’s evaluation. Another technique is the sharing of ideas and information through e-mails. We send emails to each other relating information about upcoming events, customer complaints, and memos from the desk of the district manager. They conduct “friends and family” events that constitutes a theme so managers and employees have the opportunity to brainstorm and express ideas through emails about what theme to use. It is also a day for the store not to have to wear uniforms. If a manager or employee has a complaint wither from another manager or employee or a customer, the manager of the department is notified through email if not urgent. An explanation of the situation is emailed and a return response notice regarding the course of action to be taken is requested. Throughout the day several emails, faxes, and memos are sent to the store manager form the district manager. In return, the store manager forwards those communication channels to the assistant store managers’ informing them of what is to be expected from them and his or her associates. The assistant store managers relate that information to their associates with a notice of an update. One technique that is ineffective is the phone calls. If a manager is out of the office whether busy or it is their day off, the proper procedure is for the manager on duty to handle whatever situation that would arise. They should be able to solve any problem based on the training they have received. Instead they instantly contact the manager who is over that department without hesitating to solve it. That decision does not always pass off well to customers because it questions their position of authority and how liable they are to the company. Also a respect factor is called into question because that manager’s day off is interrupted by a situation that the manager-on-duty could have handled. That interruption sometimes causes chaos and disagreements with upper management not setting a good example for the employees. Another ineffective technique is conference calls. The managers conduct conference calls with the district manager weekly to examine monthly reports and to find ways to make the store successful. With the millions of dollars a year the company makes, their update to technology with the conference calls is still in ancient times. The phone statics and frizzes, or the call drops and; there is an inability to get communication back up. No accomplishments are made of the agenda for the meeting and every week it is a repeating pattern of conference call disappointments. In a healthcare environment, the same techniques are useful in handling situations with difficult patients or are having complaints about the staff. “We cannot solve problems with the same kind of thinking we used to create them” (Einstein, 1). If their thinking is constrained, no tasks will get done or problems get solved. The hospital staff will conduct meetings and solve some of the complaints and work with the patients to accommodate many of their needs. Also with the diverse growing number of language barriers, the different communication channels help to relate information through physicians, nurses, financial managers, administrative staff, and patients effective. Once that barrier is broken, employees can listen carefully to what is said; repeat messages not understood, communicate with the patients, and create a relaxing atmosphere for themselves and their patients. Technology affects this process by accessibility. The Internet allows e-mail access and the cell phone invention allows messages about the patient’s health to be transmitted from anywhere and at any time. It allows coworkers to keep in contact and inform each other of important information that relates to the patient. The efficiency of technology allows the employees to have brief and to-the-point contact with other employees and patients. It also gives the person documentation of those interactions in case a problem occurs that needs requirement of proof. Technology can be a great addition to the organization and improve the flow or it can hinder it and cause the organization to flourish. Healthcare organizations are the change that will determine the status of the future. Communication in those organizations enables the employee-patient relationship to be successful. Once that is established in a repeating pattern, motivation will allow for other organizations to follow the lead. References Albert Einstein. Find Articles. Retrieved from http://findarticles.com http://www.headscratchers.com Patricia Beaugard. Effective Communication in the Workplace. Retrieved from http://www.patbeaugard.com/