For your initial post, describe an effective or ineffective workplace experience without using names. Analyze it considering a human behavior communication theory. Using textbooks and scholarly research, explain the theory and then provide your rationale for its effectiveness.
In your responses to these two (2) peers,
When responding these two posts, discuss the resulting impact of effective and ineffective communication. Provide recommendations for improvement based upon a different communication human behavior theory than your peer describes.
With every initial post throughout this course, support your initial post and response posts with scholarly sources cited in APA style.
1- Matt Dwyer ‘s Discussion Posts
The area of my job where I have seen communication be most crucial to patient outcomes is in the trauma bay. Imagine a relatively slow day, you are sleepwalking though your shift trying to get to 7am and the overhead PA goes off “Trauma Stat ETA 5 min.” Immediately (with ideal staffing) 3 nurses, a pharmacist, 2 physicians, one tech and a respiratory therapist descend on the code room, hopefully, before the patient arrives. In that minute or two, roles have to be assumed, information needs to be shared, expectations set, and an entire shared mental model needs to be created. Good traumas are calm, relaxed, quiet, respectful, almost casual. Bad ones are loud, tense, chaotic and confusing. Communication systems are what make the difference between the two.
An article in the Canadian Journal of Emergency Medicine attributes 70–80% of healthcare errors to poor communication. Communication in the trauma bay is particularly prone to errors due to the dynamic environment, unfamiliar providers, high stress situations, and numerous distractions. Emergency medicine and pre-hospital medicine has largely borrowed from military and ,surprisingly, aviation to create models of communication for trauma medicine. One such system is the T-NOTECHS, which measures leadership and communication through and evaluation of leadership; cooperation and resource management; communication and interaction; assessment and decision making; situation awareness/coping with stress (Bhangu et al., 2022).
Another aspect of team building that affects communication is team structure. The ED lends itself to an informal communication structure, but in the trauma bay that has to quickly convert to a highly structured communication system. In an ideal trauma there is a cooperative leadership structure where the charge doctor is responsible for the patient and the charge nurse is responsible for running the room. The charge doc concentrates on making the medical decisions, the charge nurse is responsible for maintaining clear and calm communication, making sure orders are carried out correctly, and ensuring everything is documented. Both leaders practice structured communication through assigned nodes of communication with closed loop feedback so the room doesn’t devolve into side conversations and people yelling over each other. Leadership will often take “time outs” to recap and plan next steps, ask questions of other providers in the room, and elicit feedback in real time (Fornander et al., 2023). This system creates the necessary shared mental model as the situation changes in real time. Developing shared awareness requires team members to share information, narrate their actions and observations and elicit feedback from team leaders. Trauma teams that implement shared awareness have higher-level performance and better patient outcomes. Communication systems need to be developed and practiced at individual institutions based on resources and expectations, but there are a few national level communication tools that can be used as a template such as Crew Resource Management (CRM) and Team Strategies and Tools to Enhance Performance and Patient Safety (TeamSTEPPS) (Barney, 2023).
The trauma bay may not be exactly what the text had in mind when describing management communication systems but I think it applies well. The interdisciplinary and centralized models fit the description in the text as systematic and extensive in upward, downward, and lateral directions. Closed loop communication ensures what the receiver understands is just as important as what the sender says. Without going into each step-in detail, all eight steps of an effective two-way communication process are followed with every order to ensure accuracy and safety. Physical and semantic (jargon) barriers are avoided as much as possible using standard language and optimizing the physical layout. Performance feedback, as simple as a “thank you” is important so the leader knows his order was received and the task completion was observed and appreciated. A good leader will follow up with individuals after with a “good job” or fist bump; outcomes even in good codes are sometimes bad so it helps people know that they performed well regardless of the outcome (Newstrom, 2020). The text provides a good framework for communication even in the most nontraditional work environments.
References
Barney, P. (2023, April). Trauma Team Communication during trauma Resuscitation: A literature review. BYU ScholarsArchive. https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/studentpub/362
Bhangu, A., Notario, L., Pinto, R. L., Pannell, D., Thomas-Boaz, W., Freedman, C., Tien, H., Nathens, A. B., & Da Luz, L. (2022). Closed loop communication in the trauma bay: identifying opportunities for team performance improvement through a video review analysis. Canadian Journal of Emergency Medicine, 24(4), 419–425. https://doi.org/10.1007/s43678-022-00295-z
Fornander, L., Laukkanen, K., Molin, I., Nilsson, L., & Berggren, P. (2023). Team communication patterns during real and simulated trauma resuscitation—a social network analysis. Ergonomics, 67(2), 225–239. https://doi.org/10.1080/00140139.2023.2221000
Newstrom, J. (2020). Organizational behavior: Human Behavior at Work (14th ed.) [VitalSource]. McGraw-Hill Higher Education.
2- De’Ahnera Manyfield ‘s Discussion Posts
Good Afternoon Class,
One ineffective workplace experience I encountered involved a company’s shift in project management software. Leadership decided to implement a new system without properly informing all employees or offering sufficient training. Many team members were left confused about how to use the software, leading to delays, frustration, and miscommunication.
Analyzing this situation through the lens of Lewin’s Change Management Theory helps explain why the communication failed. Lewin’s theory consists of three stages: unfreezing, changing, and refreezing (Sarayreh et. al, 2013). In the unfreezing stage, people must first be prepared for the upcoming change, which requires clear communication about why the change is necessary. In this case, leadership neglected this stage, leaving employees unprepared and resistant. The changing stage requires ongoing support and education as employees transition to new practices, which also lacked adequate follow-up in this case. Finally, in the refreezing stage, employees solidify their understanding of the change, but since the earlier stages were ineffective, this process was never fully realized.
For a transition to be effective in software, leadership and many other examples, Lewin’s theory highlights the need for comprehensive communication throughout all phases of change. The lack of preparation and support in this case hindered the implementation of the new software, demonstrating the critical importance of communication in facilitating successful organizational change.
-De’Ahnera
Resources
Sarayreh, B. H., Khudair, H., & Barakat, E. A. (2013). Comparative study: The Kurt Lewin of change management. International Journal of Computer and Information Technology, 2(4), 626-629.
All work submitted through Turnitin will be checked for originality.
Let me know if you need more information from me to complete the assignment. Please see all the attachments.
Any references to the textbook or other outside sources must be properly cited using APA-formatted, in-text citations.