Effective Workplace Communication
EFECTIVE WORKPLACE COMMUNICATION
Fundamental and vital to all healthcare managerial functions, communication is a means of transmitting information and making oneself understood by another or others. Communication is a major challenge for managers because they are responsible for providing information, which results in efficient and effective performance in organizations. Communication is the creation or exchange of thoughts, ideas, emotions, and understanding between sender(s) and receiver(s). It is essential to building and maintaining relationships in the workplace. Although managers spend most of their time communicating (e.g., sending or receiving information), one cannot assume that meaningful communication occurs in all exchanges (Dunn, 2002). Once a memorandum, letter, fax, or e-mail has been sent, many are inclined to believe that communication has taken place. However, communication does not occur until information and understanding have passed between sender and the intended receiver. To make oneself understood as intended is an important part of communication. A receiver may hear a sender but still not understand what the sender’s message means. Being constantly engaged in encoding and decoding messages does not ensure that a manager is an expert in communication. Understanding is a personal matter between people, and different people may interpret messages differently. If the idea received is not the one intended, communication has not taken place; the sender has merely spoken or written. Communication in the workplace is critical to establishing and maintaining quality working relationships in organizations. Feedback is information that individuals receive about their behavior. Feedback can be used to promote more effective communication. There is a window that illustrates how to improve an individual’s communication skills through identifying one’s capabilities and limitations. The channels of communication are the means by which messages
Fundamental and vital to all healthcare managerial functions, communication is a means of transmitting information and making oneself understood by another or others. Communication is a major challenge for managers because they are responsible for providing information, which results in efficient and effective performance in organizations. Communication is the creation or exchange of thoughts, ideas, emotions, and understanding between sender(s) and receiver(s). It is essential to building and maintaining relationships in the workplace. Although managers spend most of their time communicating (e.g., sending or receiving information), one cannot assume that meaningful communication occurs in all exchanges (Dunn, 2002). Once a memorandum, letter, fax, or e-mail has been sent, many are inclined to believe that communication has taken place. However, communication does not occur until information and understanding have passed between sender and the intended receiver. To make oneself understood as intended is an important part of communication. A receiver may hear a sender but still not understand what the sender’s message means. Being constantly engaged in encoding and decoding messages does not ensure that a manager is an expert in communication. Understanding is a personal matter between people, and different people may interpret messages differently. If the idea received is not the one intended, communication has not taken place; the sender has merely spoken or written. Communication in the workplace is critical to establishing and maintaining quality working relationships in organizations. Feedback is information that individuals receive about their behavior. Feedback can be used to promote more effective communication. There is a window that illustrates how to improve an individual’s communication skills through identifying one’s capabilities and limitations. The channels of communication are the means by which messages
References: Dunn, R. (2002). Haimann’s healthcare management (7th Ed.). Chicago: Health Administration Press.