Poor communication in healthcare organizations can lead to resentment and affect patient care.
Transparency and ensuring effective information conveyance are crucial for addressing communication breakdowns in organizations.
Deep dives
Improving Communication in the Workplace
Kelly, a nurse in a cardiovascular acute care unit, shares how poor communication among doctors, nurses, and other teams in the hospital leads to resentment, animosity, and ultimately affects patient care. She seeks advice on fostering an environment of better communication. The hosts discuss the importance of transparency and ensuring everyone hears important information. They suggest introducing informal ways for colleagues to get to know each other, like welcoming new staff members, having one-on-one meetings, or going to lunch together. They also encourage Kelly to take proactive steps and discuss these ideas with her manager and colleagues.
Addressing Communication Breakdown
The hosts delve into the larger issue of communication breakdowns in organizations. They emphasize the need for transparency and the 'why' behind actions, as well as the importance of processes that ensure information is effectively conveyed to everyone involved. They highlight the significance of surfacing and addressing problems rather than pushing them down, arguing that organizations should focus on elevating and improving upon identified issues. They invite listeners to share their own stories and challenges for future episodes.
Improving Systems and Mindsets
The hosts reflect on how the problem of communication breakdown stems from flaws in the system and lack of reflection time for operators. They suggest organizations should prioritize surfacing problems to foster continuous improvement. They encourage a top-down approach to meet the middle players who are working to make progress from the bottom up. The hosts invite listeners to reach out with their own stories and emphasize that when problems are surfaced, they become opportunities for growth and improvement.
Kelli is a nurse at a leading teaching hospital where communication issues are not only leading to resentment – they could also be affecting patient care. After hearing from Kelli about the larger problems at play in the healthcare space, Anne and Frances discuss the link between communication and transparency and guide Kelli into taking matters into her own hands. This is an episode of Fixable, another podcast from the TED Audio Collective. If you want to be on Fixable, call our hotline at 234-Fixable (that’s 234-349-2253) to leave Anne and Frances a voicemail with your workplace problem. To hear more episodes on how to fix your work problems, fast, follow Fixable wherever you're listening to this.