Effective Communication
What are some ways you illustrate to your students the value of having effective communication skills?
In every class that I teach students are required to give presentations. The presentations consist
of both individual and group projects. Team work is stressed with group projects since this is a desired attribute in the work environment.
Before doing this, I believe in modeling effective communications (good eye contact, volume, engaging the audience, etc.). I emphasize the importance of expanding their comfort zones. I also show the relevancy for having effective communication skills by having them view job postings to show that this skillset is deemed important.
While teaching pharmacy technician students, the value of effective communication is discussed on a continuous basis.
We utilize scenarios in our mock retail lab addressing use of open ended questions as well as surrounding environment and how it all plays into the message we are trying to send to our patient. When we discuss the medication errors that occur on a daily basis due to lack of effective communication, the importance of this skill set becomes evident very quickly.
Paul,
Being able to discuss real life scenarios is a major plus in any class.
Shelly Crider
Communication is the key to success! I explain to my students the importance of good communication skills during a job interview, when explaining their qualifications, skills and experience to the recruiter. Also they need to be able to communicate effectively while working in a real kitchen and at school with their classmates and Chef Instructors.
Jeannette,
Communication is certainly what makes the world go round! With the ability to work with peers in different parts of the world via Internet, communication is once again at the top of the must have list!
Shelly Crider
When working with allied health students, I relate the patient/provider relationship in the correct and incorrect manner.
I ask students if they have been a patient in the hospital and what they remember about the Admissions person, Triage person, Tech, Nurse, Physician, Lab and Radiology personnel.
What did they do to make you comfortable as a patient?
What did they do to make you feel like a number or just doing their job.
I try to instill the importance of what it takes to be remembered as a caring, professional care provider in a healthcare setting and patient/family crisis.
We practice introductions, handshakes, eye content, speaking clearly and slowly, and at level of understanding.
K.Given
Karen,
Personal experience really is a learning environment all in itself!
Shelly Crider
My students are in the Operating Room so I need to foster good communication skills in them or something catastrophic can occur. I talk to them about finding their "voice". Without their voice there can be a mix up with medication or appropriate supplies may not be obtained. Failure to effectivly communicate may result in injury or death for their patient or another team member.
Ashley ,
I love this post! This is an excellent example of how important communication is.
Shelly Crider
Yes, that is a message I repeatedly set forth in my lectures, communication is key to ensuring the minimal of error. We practice in role playing just how one key bit of information can make the difference, even in identifying the patient, " don't ask ' are you Ms. Smith?', but rather 'please verify your name and date of birth'. We all are preoccupied at times and may respond with a simple yes, even if we didn't quite understand all of the question. Open ended prompts more thought process and their response elicits a response that better confirms that they did understand.
Travis,
We all get that preoccupied feeling at times and miss details. This is a good point.
Shelly Crider
I like to use money as motivation to develop good communication skills. When my students leave school and enter the workforce they will need to be able to communicate with their customers in a manner that they can understand. It is difficult to sell your services if the customer doesn’t understand why they need them. I know that I don’t want to give money for something that I don’t think that I need.
Ashley I agree with you wholeheartedly. Students in the medical profession must constantly be reinforced with the the importance of good communication as patients lives are at stake. Most errors caused in the profession is due to lack of or poor communication whether verbal or written. Given them senarios of such an act makes them value the importance of communication.
Jeremy,
It is so true about selling your services. If a customer does not understand, communication has not been made.
Shelly Crider
Students should take there yime and talk clearly and slowly when presenting and communicating.Knowlege of the subject matter research it first make note cards etc
Fortunately, in both our "schooling" and "future, real-world" environments of our profession, effective communication, on all levels, is the number one priority for "success". This is instilled in our students from the very beginning of their education. We are a barbering school, and without effective communication on all levels, our students come to realize that they, if they don't already know it, will not be able to "make it", either here at school or out in the real world. With 50 students in the school, and a continuous enrollment, the newer students are actually learning from the older students during their year with us, they quickly realize that it is the student that communicates with others effectively that gets the return clients and the "rewards" thereof. While we really don't have any specific classes on communication, the entire time they are here they are truly learning how to effectively communicate with other students, staff and the general public. Our students and our clients are from all walks of life and actually several generations. The variety is indeed the "spice of life" around here. I do conduct a short class, early on in their time here, concerning "semantics" and the importance of communication, how "descriptive words" are important and different to different people, that one person's "short", "dark", "long", etc. may not always mean the same to the next person! The successful students learn quickly, and the ones that have the idea that "they looked better with what I wanted to give them" also learn that that is not "effective communication"!
Susan ,
You know....many students do not know how to research. This would be a good discussion thread in any classroom!
Shelly Crider
Theodore,
Oh so true.....students will learn what is effective communication and what is not!
Shelly Crider
In our culinary world, effective communication is essential when you want to move up to an executive psoition. Training others and showing proper technique is prime. Also, in our teamwork environment, when one student is absent, the other steps up to show the other what needs to be accomplished. Also, when there is a lot of tasks at hand, communicating with each other on the division of labor, creative production, precise technique is of utmost importance, if not accomplished, a dish or a dessert might not only taste bad, it might look bad, too....
