The Role of Effective Organizational Communication - Admission/Application Essay Example

Effective Organizational Communication Introduction Effective communication plays an essential role in in the success of health care organization as it translates into smooth flow of information from one level to another and between colleagues. Provision of quality health care is seen as an outcome of established communication patterns that reflect practitioner’s commitment to offering their best to their patients. The objective of this essay is to explore the contribution of effective communication to the success of health care organizations focusing on strategies adopted by Mateor Hospital. The essay will explore effective communication in Mateor Hospital with strategies related to communication styles, types of communication, staff training, communication technology, branding, marketing strategy, conflict management and negotiation being the areas of focus. Effective Communication The health care organization has linked effective communication into essential organizational operations to ensure high quality interaction between employees, employees and the management and employees and outside contacts. While communication process is always perceived as being constant in multiple contexts, the organization has enhanced its level of communication by introducing a unique concept based on interlinking the process with organizational structure (Roussel, Swansburg and Swansburg 223). This approach to effective organizational communication was adopted due to the increased evidence that organizational structure influences the patterns of communication. In this case, organizational structure alludes to existing patterns of relationship that informs engagement between employees and as a guide for interaction between different organizational units (Lunenburg 1-2). This perception of effective communication has made it possible for the management to develop levels of accountability with officers granted different levels of responsibility to ensure all levels are functional. Therefore, their explicit strategies to deal with different types of communication based on whether participates are engaging in upward, downward or horizontal communication. This communication is also linked to overall climate in the organization as the management strivers to affect the level of employee commitment to achievement of organizational objectives. Therefore, established communication patterns respond to the needs of those interacting by considering various objectives realized through the interaction process (Verma 65). There has been increased realization that formal organizational communication is mostly conducted through downward and upward mechanisms as members of different organizational hierarchies discuss the best ways of moving forward organizational decisions. Therefore, the distance been the management and the rest of staff has been reduced through measures that ensure increased interaction between these groups. The management has established communication channels that ensure access to staff through immediate supervisors who have been empowered to relay the wishes of senior managers to the rest of staff members. The management has also established effective communication within the organization by undertaking direct communication with the staff through formal engagements in meeting and informally through interactions outside the workplace requirements (Roussel, Swansburg and Swansburg 220). The significance of vertical communication in determination of effective communication is found on the role that such communication seeks to perform within the organization. Downwards communication is an important avenue for the senior managers to transfer their objectives into action as employees’ access information relating to procedures and directives on effective approaches to meeting organizational goals. To enhance this communication, the management developed three strategies including openness in communication between senior managers and their juniors, superior employees being approachable and development of an open and transparent communication pattern. Openness in senior management to subordinate communication involves is perceived as essential in effective communication where the management and the rest of members of staff freely express their ideas on how different areas of concern should be addressed by those responsible (Verma 65). Senior managers have demonstrated their readiness to respond to the needs of employees by adopting quality propositions generated by subordinates. This level of interaction has increased the level of employee commitment, as they perceive the organization and its management as propagating transparency in the decision-making processes (Holbeche 269). While there is increased effort to enhance the level of openness to adopting various ideas regardless of their source being superior or subordinate officers, the management has also been tasked with evaluating all the suggestions to determine their merits based on effectiveness as options to solving particular organizational challenges. Assessment of reliability and genuineness of information obtained from junior members of staff and other colleagues is always conducted to determine their suitability as alternatives to existing interventions. Senior managers continue to be important in developing a workplace environment where positive communication climate is promoted (Verma 65). Through an open door policy, the rest of organizational staff has increased contact with senior managers who are accessible to provide time resource when employees seek clarification in matters related to workplace policies, request for approvals or implementation of innovative idea emerging from junior staff members (Roussel, Swansburg and Swansburg 178). While introducing measures to improve communication in the organization, there have also been efforts to eliminate communication barriers that have hindered the sharing of information in the past. Measures to eliminate the barriers have targeted a number of critical issues seen as having greater influence on the quality of interaction by staff. Therefore, among the issues of concern include eliminating communication challenges resulting from personal values differences in individual personality, hierarchy in organizational units of administration, existence of disruptive behavior, diversity in culture and ethnicity, generational differences and gender gap. This personal attributes of individuals have been addressed while also evaluating the role of differences in professional differences found in area such as clinical responsibility, complexity of care and existence of staff with diverse elves of qualifications, status, and preparation (O’Daniel and Rosenstein 4). These barriers have been addressed to avoid conflict be different groups of staff such as surgeons against anesthesiologists and physicians against residents. Previously, the management had had trouble in dealing with conflicts between nurses and physicians as the professional background of the two categories of practitioners led to constant conflicts related to different perceptions roles and responsibilities during day-to-day interactions. There were increased chances that practitioners will prefer different approaches in addressing patient needs due to what was perceived as different goals for patient care. However, increased interactions among the members has resulted in emphasis of teamwork as important avenues for discussing and agreeing on the way forward instead of escalation of conflict leading to the involvement of the management (O’Daniel and Rosenstein 4). Negotiation between team members is perceived as being effective in ending areas of deference particularly as all the available options are seen as targeting movement of patient conditions. Communication style has been identified as having profound implication on the quality of care received by patients while also supporting or inhibiting interaction among members of staff. Effective communication style is practiced in line with the need to establish culture of safety and excellence that has seen practitioners receive various levels of training to enhance their professional communication skills. Consequently, employee training has also sought to ensure written, spoken and non-verbal communication is improved to reflect the level of expert clinical skills that practitioners possess (AACN 16). During staff training process, improvement of communication styles between staff has included the use flexible approaches to reflect individual preferences so that the level of productivity improves based on personal ability of acquiring information. There has been wider acceptance that members have deferent capabilities, as some are visual learners, while others readily retain more when communication is conducted orally. Demonstrations has also been encouraged as a practice that enhance communication within the organization as it facilitates the grasp of essential concepts during practice while addressing the preference for those who best through trying things out for themselves. The communication styles have also been supported by adoption of technology, which has enhanced both internal and external communication. The organization has responded to reforms in the health care sector where society is moving towards concerns about access, care delivery and insurance reforms. Technology is seen as having the capability to respond to demands for systems-based care with online association hubs acting as essential communication and information sharing platform. The organization encourages members to join web-based associations that create linkages between members and members while also creating access to public social media sites (Hicks and Nicols 85-87). While the practice of health care organizations has a number of differences that separates them from organizations operating in commercial consumer services and goods, there are a number of approaches taken to enhance branding and marketing strategy. The healthcare organization has undertaken to position itself as a partner in national and local efforts to fight against diseases through programs conducted in the health environment. Branding and marketing strategies is not conducted in a competitive mode but through strategies that positions the organization as an important health provider seeking to collaborate with others organizations with adequate resources to combat diseases (Okigbo 5). Conclusion This essay has highlighted organizational structure as having a major role in creating effective communication within the organization while noting organization structure should support different levels of interactions between employees occupying different positions. Effective communication is an outcome of openness between senior managers and their juniors, approachable superior employees and existence of open and transparent communication pattern. Additionally effective communication within the organization should support individual differences that results in preferences for verbal, written or non-verbal communication while also taking care of employee learning needs through such strategies as demonstration. Conflict management is effective when team members discuss areas of differences instead of seeking solutions from the management particularly when proposed interventions target the improvement the condition of patients. The essay has also indicated the role of branding and marketing in advancing organizational objectives of fighting diseases while communication technology is seen as creating linkages between members and different associations. Works Cited AACN. AACN standards for establishing and sustaining healthy work environments: A journey to excellence. Columbia: AACN, 2005. Hicks, Nancy & Nicols, Christina. Health Industry Communication. Burlington: Jones & Bartlett Publishers, 2012. Print. Holbeche, Linda. The high performance organization: Creating dynamic stability and sustainable success. New York: Routledge, 2005. Print. Lunenburg, Fred C. "Formal communication channels: upward, downward, horizontal, and external." FOCUS on Colleges, Universities, and Schools 4.1 (2010): 1-7. O’Daniel, Michelle & Rosenstein, Alan. Professional Communication and Team Collaboration. In Ronda Hughes (Ed). Patient Safety and Quality: An Evidence-Based Handbook for Nurses. Rockville, MD: AHRQ Publication. 2008. Print. Okigbo, Charles. Strategic Urban Health Communication. New York: Springer, 2014. Print. Roussel, Linda, Russell C. Swansburg, and Richard J. Swansburg, eds. Management and leadership for nurse administrators. Burlington: Jones & Bartlett Learning, 2006. Print. Verma, Priti. Relationship between Organisational Communication Flow and Communication Climate. International Journal of Pharmaceutical Sciences and Business Management, 1.1 (2013): 63-71 Read More