1. Something not specifically mentioned but certainly implied in your list of good traits are good communication skills. These are soft skills necessary for good leadership. I think that communication skills are very important; they can really make or break relationships between managers and employees. Listening effectively is a part of good communication, too. When messages are vague then there the potential for problems both regarding outcomes and team members’ relationships.
We study abuse prevention continually in long-term care. Ineffective communication is a facility characteristic that can lead to abuse or neglect. Communication is so important that a resident’s right to be free from abuse can be contingent upon facility employees communicating rightly. As I teach our staff these principles, we brain storm together to identify areas where quality of communication can be improved. We also review how to better communicate in our QAPI program.
Effective communication is important in all aspects of business, and is good for the customer, too, i.e. in my example the patient is the customer. Class: What might you have learned about communication that you can share with the class? When we think about interaction between managers and employees, does anyone have an example of how a specific intervention has remedied a communication problem so that everyone benefited?
2. You mention the importance of the leader connecting with employees. I agree that coaching and mentoring are very important and relative to job satisfaction. Clear definitions of expectations are important; I think about this as you have pointed out the importance of communication. Employees should understand what is expected. I think that it’s important that employees have a way to voice concerns so that, if expectations are understood, then if the employee truly has obstacles that hinder meeting the requirement then they should have a voice so that upper management can understand.
Recently at one of my employee (covid) screening stations there were problems with screeners and employees getting screened not adhering to our policies. We managers regrouped, re-educated staff, etc., and so far we have achieved good compliance. We made sure when we restructured that there were avenues in place for employees to say what was good or bad for them regarding the screening process. By doing this we gave them a voice whereas when our system was failing we did not give them clear channels to communicate problems.
Class: When there aren’t clear methods outlined for employees to voice concerns, what have you experienced? Have you ever worked in an environment where there was really good communication when there were problems and if so what processes were in place?
