Building and Leading Teams

BHA 3202, Standards for Health Care Staff 1

Course Learning Outcomes for Unit IV Upon completion of this unit, students should be able to:

3. Recommend methods that foster teamwork among colleagues. 3.1 Examine the role communication plays in teambuilding and productivity.

Course/Unit

Learning Outcomes Learning Activity

3.1 Unit Lesson Chapters 6, 7 Unit IV Article Critique

Reading Assignment Chapter 6: Types of Communication Chapter 7: Communication in Action Additional Reading Assignment: In order to access the following resource, click the link below. Mueller, J. (2012, March 16). The communication process [Video]. YouTube. https://youtu.be/8gSmeDUSpR0 The transcript for the video above can be accessed here. Unit Lesson José has found that effective communication seems to be an important part of ensuring a healthcare organization and its employees work together for the common goal of quality patient health care. Because he has applied for the position of healthcare administrator now, he finds himself observing the interactions that he has with his colleagues, that they have with each other, and that Jane has with those who she supervises. In watching his colleagues communicate with each other and reflecting on how he communicates with others, José has discovered that there are three types of communication in his workplace: verbal, nonverbal, and electronic communications such as e-mails, chats, and blogs. He has found that there is often a disparity between what he hears someone say and what he sees him or her doing. Jane agrees and notes that some employees can have a problem with connecting verbal and nonverbal communication (Colbert & Katrancha, 2016). Jane points out that José has also had some issues such as this before. This surprises José until he realizes that he has often had to apologize for something he said that someone else interpreted in a way he did not intend. Jane tells him that there are three parts to proper communication: the sender, the message, and the receiver (Colbert & Katrancha, 2016). She points out that problems can occur at any point. If the sender is not clear in the meaning and intent of the message, then the receiver may not receive the intended message. José thinks back to the last meeting that Jane had with everyone when a coworker, D ‘Andrea, became very upset with Betty about a statement Betty made. José tells Jane that he did not really understand it then, but he now sees that Betty had her arms folded across her chest and was leaned forward toward D ‘Andrea with a frown on her face. Jane smiled and told José that this was exactly what she was thinking about when she

UNIT IV STUDY GUIDE Communication and Teambuilding

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mentioned nonverbal communication. She mentions that Betty is rarely angry or aggressive with anyone, but she seems to frown often. José got it—Betty is nearsighted and refuses to wear her glasses when not working at her desk because she feels that they make her look old. Because she cannot see clearly, she leans forward and squints when she is in a meeting, and no one pays attention to that anymore. D ‘Andrea is new, and José wonders if she knows that about Betty. Because they are discussing nonverbal communication related to Betty, Jane asks José about his nonverbal messages. José is not sure what she means, so Jane lists several types of nonverbal communication messages without putting any value judgment on them:

• deep sighs when someone else is speaking, • smiling at the speaker, • winking when speaking, • clenching one's jaws, • rolling eyes upward, • not looking at the speaker, • yawning, • turning toward the person speaking in a meeting, • raising an eyebrow, or • tapping a pen on the desk while being spoken to or when speaking (Colbert & Katrancha, 2016).

José is surprised that some of the items on the list are considered as nonverbal communication. He had always considered things such as tapping his pen on the desk as a way to pass the time. He never considered that he might be sending the speaker a message he had not intended. Jane encouraged José to think about how he communicates and how others communicate with him. She points out that one important role of the healthcare administrator is to identify where communication breakdowns occur and find possible solutions that are agreeable to all (Porter & O'Grady, 2015). José immediately tells her that he has done so and he believes that one of the biggest problems the healthcare organization has is having too many ways to communicate with too many people. He feels that clear messages are often lost in the long e-mails pertaining to projects and that no one seems to know what to do when an e-mail or chat includes non-essential information. Jane agrees with him and says she has wanted to establish a policy for how to write company e-mails for some time. They discuss what information should go in an e-mail and decide to prepare a template the employees can use. José suggests they use the 5Ws and an H that reporters use in preparing a news story: who, what, when, where, why, and how. Jane asks José to explain each term.

• Who is the recipient of this e-mail? The “To:” line should include those who have a stake in the content of the e-mail and not everyone who might be interested or just normally put on an e-mail.

• What is the e-mail about? The topic of the e-mail should be included in the subject line. • When is the event being discussed in the e-mail taking place? • Where is the event being discussed in the e-mail taking place? This can be an actual physical

location of an event as well as the electronic location if the meeting is via webinar or other electronic means.

• Why is the person getting the e-mail? This is very important for the receiver of the e-mail to understand. Does the content of the e-mail require action? Does the receiver need to reply or attend a meeting?

• How does this information matter? This could include what role the receiver will play in a project or that the receiver needs to be present for a meeting. It may address a quality assurance issue that the team needs to work on so patient care is improved. It needs to be clearly stated.

Jane is pleased with José's suggestion. She is now more confident in José’s understanding of communication skills and his ability to leverage them in the healthcare organization. Jane suggests that José read a very short article about 11 signs that an organization has a problem with communication by Asserud (2016). She feels that they can agree with at least five, if not more, of these signs.

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A quick glance at the list Jane gave him leads José to nod in agreement with Jane, but he tells her he believes that they can agree with seven of the 11 signs and that he might be able to come up with some possible solutions. Jane asks that José take the list and come back tomorrow with some possible solutions he can offer. José plans to study the list more, read some other articles on communication, and write up a proposal for possible solutions for his meeting with Jane tomorrow. Jane points out to José that he has begun something that he has not done before: listening to what is being said instead of hearing what he thinks is being said. Jane reminds José how, in the past, when she has tried to share issues he has with his colleagues and how he might improve, his first reaction was always to point out how his colleagues never listened to him and it was not his fault. José blushed a bit to remember how he set up barriers to communication, often talking over his colleagues, shuffling papers in meetings, and using nonverbal communication to stop the communication process. José thinks about how he can actively listen to what is being said. He asks Jane if she thinks the following steps will help.

• Ask for feedback from others (e.g., Did they understand the message he sent? Did he understand the message they sent?).

• Do not have a reply ready before the other person has stopped talking. • Tell the other person how he perceives his or her response. • Sit quietly (e.g., no pen tapping or shuffling papers). • Maintain good eye contact (Colbert & Katrancha, 2016).

Consider This! In an effort to improve his communication and teambuilding with others, José has decided that he needs to consider his nonverbal communication skills carefully. He remembers how, even as a child, he was reprimanded for saying things in a manner he did not intend. Now he wonders if his being told to stop "sassing back" at his parents and to stop "challenging" his teachers was related to the nonverbal signals he was giving others. He decides that he needs to follow some steps established for improving any situation in the workplace (Tanasescu et al., 2015).

• Gather data and facts about what is actually happening. • Evaluate the data and facts. • Analyze the data and facts for meaning and interpretations that can be drawn. • Set up a plan of action to address the situation.

When José uses these steps, he finds that he is sending signs to others and that his words have hidden meanings he did not intend. He applies what he has discovered to the steps above and sees a pattern emerging.

• José realizes that he has taken the first step because he identified the problem and is listing the nonverbal messages he found in a book by Colbert and Katrancha (2016) that Jane gave him.

• He listed the nonverbal communication behaviors that Jane shared with him, prioritizing them from most negative to most positive so he could rate his nonverbal communication behaviors.

• Taking the list, José then places his nonverbal communication behaviors next to each behavior that Jane had shared and analyzes how many of his are negative versus positive.

• Now that José has this list, he has decided to take each negative nonverbal behavior he has identified and replace it with a positive one. He plans to tackle changing one negative to a positive each week.

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Jane nods as José speaks and says "uh-huh" with each point he makes. This makes them both smile as José begins to "get it" and sees how Jane is using active listening to let him know she is in the moment and understands what he is saying. It is a powerful lesson for José.

José has learned a good deal about communication from Jane today. He has already identified that there are some communication issues between his colleagues and even between him and his colleagues. José leaves work feeling as if he is now equipped with the knowledge to become a better communicator, both as a sender and receiver, and is eager to begin practicing effective communication skills that will enhance office teamwork and productivity.

References Asserud, K. (2016). 11 signs your wires are crossed. Canadian Business, 89(7/8), 18.

Consider This! José has been identifying some communication issues in his healthcare clinic. He found an article that listed 11 signs of failing communications and began to think hard about how he saw these among his colleagues (Asserud, 2016). When considering what might be impeding communications, José made a table with the possible signs of communication problems within his healthcare organization (based on Asserud’s [2016] list) and possible solutions. What are some of the possible solutions José might put in the second column?

Sign of Communication Problems Possible Solutions There are four different ways to communicate: face-to-face, phone, e- mail, and chat.

Several chat areas exist on the company intranet, but most of the posts are about weekend plans for the company softball team.

There are usually three groups working on an issue at the same time: administration, marketing, and finance.

Staff whose work is affected by a project are not always a part of the planning team.

The first thing everyone seems to do is send an e-mail and include everyone who might possibly have an interest in the topic.

E-mails and chat threads are sent out at all times of the day, night, and weekends with no indication of priority.

I have at least three meetings scheduled every day and am behind on my assigned projects and work.

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Colbert, B. J., & Katrancha, E. D. (2016). Career success in health care: Professionalism in action (3rd ed.). Cengage Learning.

Porter-O'Grady, T., & Malloch, K. (2015). Quantum leadership: Building better partnerships for sustainable

health (4th ed.). Jones & Bartlett Learning. Tanasescu, D. A., Florea, N. V., & Tanasescu, I. A. (2015). Communication and monitoring: Necessary

processes for managing and measuring conflicts, absenteeism, fluctuation and work accidents. Buletin Stiintific, 20(1), 86–95.

Suggested Reading In order to access the following resources, click the links below. The following article is a brief look at what signs one should watch for that indicate communications are failing in an organization, and José found it very helpful in identifying issues where he works. Asserud, K. (2016). 11 signs your wires are crossed. Canadian Business, 89(7/8), 18.

https://libraryresources.columbiasouthern.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direc t=true&db=a9h&AN=116832782&site=ehost-live&scope=site

The following article addresses the role that communication plays in dealing with workplace conflict, employee absenteeism, and other issues José identified using the article above. Tanasescu, D. A., Florea, N. V., & Tanasescu, I. A. (2015). Communication and monitoring: Necessary

processes for managing and measuring conflicts, absenteeism, fluctuation and work accidents. Buletin Stiintific, 20(1), 86–95. https://libraryresources.columbiasouthern.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direc t=true&db=a9h&AN=109154553&site=ehost-live&scope=site

Learning Activities (Nongraded) Nongraded Learning Activities are provided to aid students in their course of study. You do not have to submit them. If you have questions, contact your instructor for further guidance and information. In order to access the following resource, click the link below. Go to the Mind Tools website by clicking the link below, and there you will find a communication quiz that can help you discover if you communicate effectively. Mind Tools. (n.d.). How good are your communication skills?

https://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/newCS_99.htm