Communication in a business enviroment: outcome 1 and 2

Communication in a business environment (Unit 304)
Outcome 1: Understand the purpose of planning communication
1.1 The purpose of communication is to allow exchange of information, ideas, emotions, thoughts and opinions. Communication is a huge part of life. There are many different benefits of knowing the purpose of communication; the most significant benefit to me personally is to know how to respond to something, to whether the communication was in order to start a debate, send a message to someone or just a general information briefing and know how to interpret the information. Knowing the purpose of communicating is also important when someone (a patient) is angry or they disagree with someone or something in the surgery, they may want to make a complaint, in such situations it is important to analyse the two points of view, (you can only do this through communication) so that both parties can come to a sensible agreement rather than have conflict which is unnecessary. We also communicate – especially in Uppingham Surgery to help one another, listen to each other’s' problems, solve difficulties we face at work and find solutions to obstacles that may cause concern in the Surgery.
1.2 Knowing the audience to whom communication are presented is very important, for example, if you have to disclose quite serious information to somebody you should be sympathetic and compassionate. If you are communicating to young children you must use short, simple words that they can understand; the whole purpose of communication is getting information across to someone and if your audience don’t understand what you’re telling them then that information won’t get absorbed or taken in. It’s very important to communicate with a positive view in the Surgery rather than say anything negative, it’s better to turn something in to a positive rather than negative. Also, if you’re talking to an elderly citizen with possible hearing difficulty’s it’s important to say things slowly and clearly.
1.3 The purpose of knowing the intended outcomes of communication is extremely important, if you don’t know what you want to say or you want the outcome to be then how are you able to put it across to your audience? Knowing the intended outcomes of communications informs you if the information you give is what the other person needed and if they were satisfied or need more in depth information. Knowing the outcome of communication can also benefit you in the future as you can change and adapt the way you communicate for better outcomes in the future.
1.4 There are lots of different methods of communication in Uppingham Surgery: Communication can be classified as: verbal and non-verbal, and formal and informal. Here is some example of communication in the Surgery:
Notify someone on System 1: You would use this if you want your message to get to the person intended for it to go to quickly or if you want to just notify a simple point e.g. ‘Cake in staff room’ and you can send notifications to more than 1 person at once.
Email: If you want someone to receive information with attachments.
Fax: If a medical document needs to be sent to a hospital quickly it will be faxed not sent in the post as it is a lot more efficient, medical documents never get emailed.
Telephone: If reception has a patient on hold, they can put in a certain number such as ‘123’ to get to another part of the Surgery quickly.
These are all examples of verbal, informal and formal communication there is also non-verbal communication which is classed as ‘communication through body language’ for example some people who are hard of hearing or talking can use sign languages or facial expression to communicate what they feel, waving to indicate ‘hello’ or ‘goodbye’ is also another example of non-verbal communication. It also could be written, facial expression and gestures that help understand the person with whom you are communicating. It is not very effective like the verbal communication.
Outcome 2: Understand how to communicate in writing
2.1 Relevant sources of information that may be used when preparing written communication in Uppingham Surgery could be the internet to search different medical problems, a medical dictionary, to check spellings of medication or to know what a medication is. More often than not when preparing a letter you would have to go on to systm 1 to allow yourself to look in to patients medical records to see things like DOB and address also medical problems that may need to be written about in the written communication. Sources come under 2 main sources; Primary and Secondary – anything obtained off the internet or from books that is second hand information is a secondary source. Anything you’ve sourced yourself, for example questionnaires or data you’ve put into spreadsheets is a primary source of information.
2.2 The communication principles for using electronic forms of written communication in a business environment is 100% cheaper than sending documents in the post, the electronic forms will get to the intended person a lot quicker and its more environmentally friendly because there isn’t any fuel being wasted, for example through e-mail, fax or notification on system 1.
2.3 Depending on the situation the tone and language may vary in written communication, for example, communication between colleagues can be relatively informal (casual) and shortened so there’s not really much need for words in between, just the key words need to be put across in a notification or task, this sort of communication is used on a day to day basis. Written Communication between patients has to be formal and well written to show that were professional, it has to include all the relevant information but straight to the point information rather than information which include long, medical terms that a patient may not understand, therefore there may need to be a change in vocabulary. Written communication between Dr’s usually include medical terms which I personally don’t understand but it’s important Dr’s use medical terms when explaining a patients problem so that they understand 100% what the problem is. When I communicate to Dr’s my notifications are usually written differently to my co-workers in the office, they usually tend to be more formal and include ‘Dr.’ and ‘Thanks’ to finish the notification. Emails being sent externally to Hospitals or Enhanced Services (external sources that we provide services to, to obtain extra income to the Surgery) are usually formal.
2.4 In written communication you have to be tactful and use the correct language depending on what subject you are trying to convey, for example complaint, minutes, grievance, etc. Every issue has a different tact for communication, therefore you have to select and use language that suits the purpose for what you’re writing. When writing letters to patients you must try and make the letter as positive as possible, if the letter is regarding referral to hospital then the letter must include information about that referral; what the referral is for, the date and time and which hospital it is at, rather than using paragraphs just use snappy sentences to get the information across and always try to address in general to the organisation rather than making it personal. You must start off with positive points and then move on to the negatives, so that it does not have a shocking effect on the reader or receiver. Explain the facts straight, rather than using doubtful phrases (do not use indirect phrases) or waffling sentences which don’t particularly get anything across to the reader. While writing avoid using bold or CAPS, so that it does not intensify the issue or making the reader feel uncomfortable.
2.5 When organising, structuring and presenting written information we have to bear in mind the following:
- Important information to include
- Keep documents in the correct order, so that the communication goes in a proper flow without any confusions and errors, for example a letter about a shingles vaccination followed by a leaflet that informs patients about why they should have the Shingles vaccination and how their future could be better if they had this vaccine.
- While presenting, be clear in what you talk stating the objectives. Give an introduction on what the letter will include, why you are sending it to that patient in particular (could be because of age, gender, where they live) and why it is important.
- Present it step by step clearly using proper resources where needed.
2.6 Ways of checking written information for accuracy and content is writing bullet points beforehand on what your piece of written information needs to include and tick off points as you write in detail about it, that way you know you’ve included everything. Another thing you could do is skim read your written document after you’ve read it enabling you to know what you’ve included and what you haven’t so you can add points as you skim read through and realise you’ve missed points out. To check the accuracy so could ask another member of staff to read through it for you to allow another pair of eyes to look at it and there is also spell check and grammar check already installed on Microsoft Word 2010 which is what we use at Uppingham Surgery. System 1 allows you to write in a template and templates are available for most aspects of inputting data on to patient’s records which makes it a lot easier input data. In case there isn’t a template available, you should research through to find the correct style for the document that you produce depending on needs, department and organisation and follow the style guide to produce the document. As an organisation, documents have to be produced in a standard and professional format.
2.7 The purpose of using accurate grammar, punctuation and spelling in written communication is to allow the patient receiving the written communication that we’re professional and take our jobs seriously. We don’t cut corner when writing something personal to them and we take time to make sure everything is correct and how it should be – this lets patients know they’re important to us.
2.8 Plain English is presenting information so that in a single reading, the intended audience can read, understand and act upon it. Plain English means writing with the audience in mind and presenting information clearly and accurately, without ‘jargon’ etc. They do not have difficult or technical terms, instead have common words used and understood by everyone who speaks English.
2.9 The purpose of proofreading and checking work is to make sure everything you wanted to go in to your written communication is there and that any silly errors can be taken out.
2.10 The purpose of recognising when work is ‘urgent’ is so that work can be done immediately even if you were in the middle of a separate task. Work that is ‘important’ is similar to ‘urgent’ but doesn’t need to be done immediately it just needs to be prioritized AFTER urgent tasks are done In my day to day work schedule, I have a mix of tasks, some important, some urgent and some routine tasks. But all tasks have to be completed before the deadlines, as it is very important for the progress and running of the Surgery.
2.11 Every organisation has its own policies and procedures for saving and filing documents. At the Uppingham Surgery we have many different filing systems. For unpaid and paid invoices there are separate files for each yearly quarter (1st quarter: Jan – Apr 2nd quarter: Apr – Jun 3rd quarter: Jun – Sept 4th quarter: Sept – Dec). There are also files for income and expenses (income: money into the practice expenses: money going out of the practice) which are filled in the same 3 month period as invoices. There are also other files such as ‘payroll’, ‘Drug Invoices’, ‘Bank Transfers’, ‘Petty Cash’ etc. – These are all examples of paper files. There are filing systems for written notes on people personal medical records which are kept in the electriever which Is a highly secure medical notes storage unit and there is also system 1 (an online system) which patients records are kept on as well, only retrievable by an NHS Sytem 1 card holder. We also have the shared N Drive on all of our desktops which include all the spreadsheets and data we need.
Outcome 3: How to communicate verbally
3.1
3.2
3.3
3.4
3.5
3.6
3.7
3.8

Outcome 4: Understand the purpose and value of feedback in developing communication skills
4.1
4.2

http://livingsta.hubpages.com/hub/Communicate-in-a-business-environment-NVQ-Level-3-Diploma-in-Business-and-Administration