Communication
Internal and External Stakeholder Communication
- How should Jamie deal with the information that Catherine provided?
Primarily, Jamie should give time to have a good conversation with Catherine. Jamie can also ask for any evidence that will show proof regarding Catherine’s allegations about her co-workers. It is clear that there is an attitude issue within Jamie’s staff. That is why, it is important that Jamie should be aware of her staff’s attitude and behavior. Nancy Borkowski (2011) says that attitude is a complex mixture of a person’s beliefs, personality, behaviors, values, and motivation. Therefore, Jamie should primarily analyze her individual staff’s attitude in order for her to choose the applicable communication method for each staff and for the whole department.
- What do you think of Jamie’s methods of communicating with her staff?
Jamie has a communication method issue with her staff. The way Jamie communicates with her staff through monthly meetings could be no longer meaningful based on Catherine’s allegations. Jamie’s verbal communication through face-to-face meetings is the highest form of communication (Guo, 2011) and could be one of the most valuable methods (King, 2009). However, there might be a room for improvement when it comes to her communication methods such as using or adding different approach on her communication methods.
- Do you think that she should use a different form of communication with Catherine?
Using a different form of communication with Catherine is not needed. Even on this scenario, a face-to-face communication is still the best approach in order for Jamie to get a rapid response from Catherine. This scenario would also be the best time for Jamie to discuss the issue. Just like Guo (2009) says, the closer the message gets to the sender’s intent, the more effective the communication will be. That is why; this face-to-face communication could be an effective approach for Jamie to analyze Catherine’s information.
It’s Not My Job
- What should Dan do to address the problem?
Since Dan is the administrator, this scenario calls for his actions. This scenario calls for his proper communication approach, not only with Leah, but with the whole staff. Primarily, Dan needs to have a face-to-face meeting with Leah. In that way, Leah can also provide her feedback regarding her day-to-day job routine. Kristina Guo (2009) says that feedback is used in order to make improvements as well as enhance the operations toward effective performance. After gathering feedback from Leah, Dan must include them in his meeting with his staff.
- Should Dan meet with Leah individually or communicate with all staff?
Dan should meet with Leah at first. After his one-on-one communication with Leah, Dan should have gathered enough information as to how the operation, including answering the phone calls. A meeting must be conducted with all staff in order for Dan to present his operational strategies and then followed by information richness dissemination through electronic mail. Additionally, Dan must also be able to change the work attitude of his staff. Guo (2009) says that healthcare managers should apply conflict resolution and counseling techniques in order to change the employees’ attitudes when needed. Therefore, communicating with all his staff after Leah would help in changing their work attitude.
- Because Dan works in a different building, who should have communicated this ongoing problem to Dan?
Since Dan works in a different building, he should appoint a person from the other building whose part of the job is to monitor any conflicts between the employees. However, this sometimes causes another conflict from another employee. If the first recommendation is not applicable, an open communication would be a better option such as using electronic mail. In this case a non-verbal communication can be used to exchange information between Dan and his staff. Therefore, since Leah is the one who seems to be the most affected in this scenario, she should be the one who communicated this matter to Dan so that he can address it right away based on Leah’s feedback.
References
Borkowski, N. (2011). Organizational behavior in health care (2nd ed.). Sudbury, MA: Jones and Bartlett Publishers.
Guo, K. L. (2009). Effective Communication in Health Care: Strategies to Improve Communication Skills for Managers. The Business Review, 12(2), 8-17.
King, S. W. (2009). Connecting strategically with BCBSF's employees.
