ORGANIZATION COMMUNICATION

Organizational Ladder

• CEO
• Administrators
• Managers (also medical staff)
• Staff nurses
• Technicians (including LPNs)
• Aides; housekeeping; maintenance

Communication

• Two-way process
• Ideas, thoughts, feelings & opinions
• Shared understanding
• Giving-receiving information
• Latin word “Communis” = “to share”
• Effective if info is understood in the way it was
intended

But giving information is only a small part of

communication.

• Communication models demonstrate that

communication occurs on several levels and
includes more than just giving information.

• Communication involves:

• 1. Spoken words • Critical to the strategic planning of orgs

• Crucial for short and long-term org goals
• 2. Nonverbal message
• Good communication affects
• 3. Emotional state of people involved o Patient safety & quality care
o Employee satisfaction
• 4. Outside distractions o Customer relations & satisfaction
• 5. Cultural background that affects their • If something cannot be communicated in a
interpretation of the message. consistent and inspiring way, it cannot be
• Superficial listening often results in done, no matter how well it is planned and
misinterpretation of the message. financed. (Adamson, Emswiller, and Ollier,
1991)
• An individual’s attitude also influences what
is heard and how the message is interpreted. • Occurring along a continuum

• Active listening is necessary to pick up all o Interpersonal Com – Small-Group

these levels of meaning in a communication. Com-Organizational com

A. Interpersonal Communication
• Face to Face – 2-3 people or more
• There is spontaneity to the comm –
no need for messages to be
prepackaged
B. Small-group Communication
• Becomes more complex due to
participants increasing
• 2-7 participants
C. Organizational Communication
• Participant # is greater
• Communication occurs within the org
hierarchy
• Structured & goal oriented – roles
• Higher degree of strat planning
Internal Communication - Acknowledging the value of the
other’s contributions

- Expressing appreciation

External Communication

Flow of Communication

1. Vertical Communication
• Between Superiors & subordinates
o 1.1 Downward Comm.

-Information is passed a traditional line

-Contribute to greater staff dissatisfaction

o 1.2 Upward Comm.

-Manager summarizes info & passes it upward
-More personal involvement in decision making

2. Horizontal Communication
Basic Communication Skills
• Managers and others communicate
1. Ensure understanding by: w/ people on the same level in the
org
- Assuming an attitude of value for the • Info is passed between department
person speaking or personnel
• Increases interdependence
- Clarifying by asking specific 3. Diagonal Communication
questions (what do you mean? • Managers interact w/ managers,
physicians & and groups in other
- Confirming by stating one’s
departments NOT in the same level
understanding of what was heard.
• Usually informal
2. Enhance value by: 4. Grapevine
• Common vehicle for informal comm
- Identifying the merits of the & unsanctioned information
suggestion. • In the absence of facts, employee
will fill the gap w/ rumors -- Dowd,
- Building on these merits with slight Davidhizar, and Dowd (1997)
refinements or changes. • +&-
- Balancing by specifying the merits Formal vs Informal Communication
and concerns, asking for
suggestions or reactions, and Formal
checking back.
• Follows the formal line of authority in the org’s
- Refraining from criticizing may be hierarchy
more effective to enhance value • Occurs when a nurse manager takes a unit
problem to an immediate superior.

Informal
- Support by:
• Occurs between people at the same or
- Giving timely and specific feedback
different levels of org hierarchy
about positive aspects of another’s
• Do not represent formal lines of authority or
ideas or efforts
responsibility
 Barriers to Communication 7. Promotional Materials
• Brochures & new releases
1. Physical barriers (e.g., deafness, noisy
• Writing for social networking sites
environments, speech difficulties, poor eyesight, poor
8. Public speaking
cognitive abilities)
• Oral presentation
2. Emotional barriers (e.g., aggression, fear 9. Group task
perceptions, prejudices, threats) • Group talks
• Taking minutes
3. Faulty reasoning 10. Informal reports
4. Poorly expressed messages: Lack of clarity and • Structuring & writing indispensable
precision resulting from inadequate vocabulary, tools of business
poorly chosen words , poor organization of ideas, and 11. Formal reports
lack of coherence. • Producing significant reports

5. Time pressures Memo writing

6. Selective perception: (people hear what they • Emails & memos

want to hear according to their values, attitude, o Similar in formatting & follow many of
and assumptions) the same guidelines
o Go to anyone
7. Uncommunicated assumptions • Memos
8. Staff facilitation of downward communication o Sent to people w/in your own org.
o Traditionally on paper; electronic
9. Physical distance (i.e., organizational complexity) memos
o Usually company letter heads
10. Physical environment (e.g., location of office, ▪ To – From – Date – Subject
temperature, noise)
Purpose
11. Technical facilities (e.g., telephones,
loudspeakers,) • Make information clear & concise.
• Can make back tracking information easier
12. Gender differences
Guidelines
13. Culture differences
1. Keep it short
• Facial expression is the most important
2. Make subject line informative
nonverbal behavior in cross-cultural
• “This is me!” “Important!” may get
communication
you relegated to the junk mail
• Some culture view eye contact as indicating • Ideal “Email from Bill Sykes”
trustworthiness such as white Americans. • Include important details
3. Use short paragraphs
• 6-8 lines per paragraph
Business Writing and Reporting Skills • In a business letter first lines are
NOT indented
Basic guide 4. Use lists whenever possible
5. Make sure the email contains all relevant
1. Plain Language
information
• Clear, concise, concrete & specific
6. Avoid emoticons & other cutesy email
2. The 8 Cs
symbols & abbreviations
• Concise, concrete, specific, 7. Use upper & lower case
complete, courteous, coherent,
constructive & correct. The overall guidelines for memos are similar to
3. Copy-editing emails, with the following additions:
• Finished touches
4. Document design 1. Not needed to put the title of the sender or
recipient unless relevant
• Making written material attractive
2. Make sure the subject line has enough
5. Business & professional correspondence
information to signal clearly what the memo
• Emphasis on persuasive letters
is about
• “Bad news letters”
3. Formal memos usually do not have greetings
• Letters that tell customers that you or closing but end w/ polite worded request
can’t do what they’re asking while for action
keeping their good will 4. Content: Purpose, summary, discussion,
6. Job-search letters & resumes conclusion, actions & recommendations.
• Cover letters & resumes 5. Memos can be lengthy
• May or may not land you a job
 6. For multi-page or printed memos use 2. How do you want your audience to feel at the
conventions as you would for block letter for end?
2nd & subsequent pages 3. What do you want your audience to do?
• Upper left corner put the recipient’s Parts of a presentation
full name 1. Introduction
2. Body
• Date under
3. Conclusion
• Upper right corner or bottom center Remember AIDA in giving presentation:
page number • Attention
7. Reader friendly by using; • Hook them w/ something interesting
• Headings, lists, tables & charts • Provoke desire in the introduction
8. Key: Keep the reader in mind • Interest
• Build it by giving concrete specific facts
Minutes of Meeting
about the problem topic
• Orgs need to record who was present/absent • Make your appeal
• Record what was discussed & decisions • Delivery
make • Desire
• Create it by giving benefits
• Tedious chore
• Appeal to the emotions or authority
• The Agenda - Sent out to all attendees prior
• Action
Formats • Attention
• Stimulate action from the audience
• A letterhead or heading for the organization • Change their thoughts, feelings or opinions
the group works for
• Date and place of the meeting Preparation and Conduct of Meetings
• Time the meeting is to begin
Preparation
• Attendance; record date & time = arrived &
left • Your group must make several decisions
o Members present before the talk:
o Absent • Should the group’s appearance be
o Regrets/Excused coordinated?
o Recording Secretary • Should there be a group leader?
o Time the meeting began • How should the speakers be ordered?
o Approval of the minutes from • How will the group deal with questions?
previous meeting • LOOK LIKE A TEAM
o Reports from group members • Respect the speaker
o Other/New business • Do not move unless they work the PPT or
o Adjournment AV equipment, hands should be stationary
• Can be in bulleted or numbered format & in front
written in full correct sentences • APPEAR INTERESTED ON WHAT’S
GOING ON
Presentation of Reports

• “People live and die on presentations. It’s as Informal Reports

important as being able to turn on your
computer.” • Usually short, 2-3 pages
• “showing you can make a good presentation • Often internal (sometimes they are extended
is essential these days to climbing the memos)
corporate ladder and getting the attention of • Outside the org – follows a block-letter format
senior management.” Informal reports come in two main types; informative
Individual Presentations & analytical

A strong talk involves three simple principles: 1. Informative reports

Preparation • E.g progressive report
• Content 2. Analytical reports
• Delivery. • Analyze problems or issues
• Preparation • E.g problem-solving reports, incident
1. Know your audience reports & proposals
2. Know your venue
3. Know your purpose Four kinds of informal report:
4. Know your material
5. Know your visual aids 1. Progress reports
Before you deliver your talk, ask yourself… 2. Problem-solving reports
1. What do you want your audience to remember? 3. Incident reports
Electronic or paper document that provides a detailed, o Developing Agendas
written account of the chain of events leading up to o Opening Meetings
and following an unforeseen circumstance in a o Establishing Ground Rules for
healthcare setting Meetings
o Time Management
• Should be completed 24 hrs by the witness o Evaluations of Meeting Process
• If not witnessed, the person who notified it o Evaluating the Overall Meeting
should submit it
o Closing Meetings
• Should always include
o Who, What, when, where & how? Customer Engagement Management
o Date, time, and facility location
o Where the incident occurred • How you interact w/ customers both on/offline
o Incident type • Increases conversation, customer success,
o Name of the person(s) affected by retention & satisfaction
the incident • Improves company’s reputation, reference
o Witnesses or names and titles of ability, revenue & capability to drive referral
other involved persons
from customers
• Written summary of what happened, which
can include: • Accomplished via marketing campaigns,
o Detailed description of the event with websites, new content & outreach via social
events listed chronologically media
o Witnesses or injured party • Involves customers' willingness to actively
statements advocate for and recommend your brand and
o Injuries sustained by the person(s) product offerings
as a result of the incident or the
outcome How to increase customer engagement
o Actions taken immediately after the
incident occurred 1. Create great customer experiences
o Treatments administered 2. Make your brand relatable and meaningful
o Contributing factors 3. Use push notifications
o Name(s) of who was notified (i.e., 4. Take advantage of conversational marketing
doctor, supervisor) 5. Focus on retention
o Recommendations for change to 6. Sharpen your social media marketing
prevent future incidents 7. Capture hearts and minds with video
• Customer engagement manager
• Completed by the nurses or other licensed o Customers are spoken to digitally or
personnel traditionally
o For risk management o Nurtures appropriate skills among
▪ Identify & eliminate potential employees to solve problems
risk • Landing Page engagement
o Quality assurance o Measured on how much time a user
▪ Patient safety spends on it or clicks it gets
▪ Customer satisfaction o You want conversation: sign up,
▪ Improvement purchase, download etc.
▪ Patient-centered care
• Customer conversion rate: marketing
o Educational
▪ Learning from mistakes performance, the rate potential customers
o Legal purposes take specific desired action.
▪ o Action/Total * 100 = x
• Used to communicate important safety
What is a good conversion rate?
information to hospital administrators
4. Proposal reports. • A good conversion rate is above 5 to 10%,
with some businesses achieving an average
Formal Reports of 11.45%. Placing you in the top 10 globally.

• Basic goals: Inform or to analyze

• Often external documents
• Longer – can be thousands of pages
• Structured writing w/ sub/sections
• Closer to academic writing

Preparation & conduct of meetings

• Expensive, time consuming & high cost of

labor TAKE THE MEETING SERIOUSLY
• Basic guides to conduct an effective meeting
o Selecting Participants