Use and develop systems to promote communication free essay sample

When communicating with Young People in our care we need to analyse their communication needs upon admission. This is usually carried out with a Pre Planning Care meeting upon the child coming into our care. For example we could have a Young Person who is deaf and requires a hearing aid. As Carers we would ensure the maintaining of the device on a daily basis. This Child may also need Carers to have a knowledge of sign language and this is a skill that we as carers would need to have for the child to come into our care to ensure effective communication. The Child may have complete hearing loss and no hearing device would be sufficient so therefore it would require the team to use Pictures as a form of communicating. This could be used by using PECS. PECS (Picture Exchange Communication System) is a successful approach that uses pictures to develop communication skills. We will write a custom essay sample on Use and develop systems to promote communication or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page It is appropriate for children and adults with a wide range of learning and communication difficulties including autism. Easy to access, affordable to implement and scientifically supported as one of the most effective communication interventions, PECS is an opportunity to open the door to spontaneous communication. As Team Leader it is part of my job role to be able to communicate with a range of groups and individuals. I regularly change the use of my language on a variant of levels dependant on the target audience. I deal daily with young people who respond effectively to language relevant to them, normally within a relatively informal setting. I am responsible for information sharing across a wide range of professionals and parents, including Social Services, Health Workers and Education and so my approach needs to be that of a more professional nature when dealing with them. Not only do I have to communicate with all of the above verbally but via email, telephone and postal correspondence. It is even equally important that I am able to do so clearly and effectively in this instance. It is important I train and develop staff knowledge and understanding on how to change and develop their  use of language and other communication techniques in order to break down any barriers they may face, particularly when dealing with the young people directly. The young people may be upset, frustrated or excitable making communication quite difficult. I ensure staff and myself understand how to be assertive, sensitive and able to respond appropriately to different behavior. I have been on mental capacity act training which promoted the understanding in my practice to take into consideration the individual’s ability to communicate with you. An outcome of the training enabled me to reflect and alter any communication I have with those who may find it difficult to communicate effectively with others 1.2 It is important to have good communication skills to develop positive relationships and share information with people using services. I also need to be able to communicate well with Young Peoples families, Social Worker, colleagues and other professionals. I use several different forms of communication within my job role. Interpersonal skills are those skills that enable me to interact with another person, allowing me to communicate successfully with them. Good communication skills are vital for working in Health Social Care as they help to: Develop positive relationships with service users and their family and friends, so they can understand and meet their needs. Develop positive relationships with work colleagues and other professionals. Share information with people using the services, by providing and receiving information. Report on the work I do with people. One to one communication: One to one communication means one person communicating with another person with no other people joining in. I use this form of communication daily within my job role. Examples would be communication between me and a client. Communication between me and the Social Worker in relation to a Young Person. Communication between me and the GP in relation to a Young Person. Communication between me and my line manager to discuss cases and approval for services etc. Verbal communication: Verbal communication uses words to present ideas, thoughts and feelings. Good verbal communication is the ability to both explain and present your ideas clearly through the spoken work, and to listen carefully  to other people. E.g. telephone call to Social Worker, Education, Young People and Families. Discussion at team meetings, One to One Supervision etc. We have regular Team Meetings at least once a month an d I carry out Supervisions to my staff at least once a month. My Line Manager carries out Supervsion once a month with myself. 1.3 Effective Communication is significant and a fundamental relationship-building skill in the workplace for any employee especially for managers to perform the basic functions of management, i.e., Planning, Organising, Leading and Controlling. If people dont communicate well they limit their ability to connect on any meaningful level which can create conflict. Depending on the position in workplace, others will have expectations of how an individual should communicate with others. It is important that for any employee show respect to those he or she works with. The general social care council’s code of practice states that communications should be conducted in an appropriate, open, accurate and straightforward way. By communicating in this way others will have trust and confidence in any employee and their abilities. Workplace relationships become a lot stronger when people can clearly and effectively communicate what they need and allow others to do the same. There are several barriers that affect the flow of communication in an organisation. These barriers interrupt the flow of communication from the sender to the receiver, thus making communication ineffective. It is essential for managers to overcome these barriers. The main barriers of communication are summarised below. The first barriers to check out are those that an employee could be creating. People may think that they are doing everything possible to assist communication, but they should make sure that they are not making it difficult for people to understand what they say for instance using abbreviations another person does not understand. People should avoid professional jargon and terminology. Physical barriers – these are due to the nature of the environment where people are trying to communicate. It could be there are distractions or noise, such as the TV on or interferences from a loudspeaker. These barriers can affect how individuals try to send and receive messages. If there is a lot of background noise than the receiver may not hear what the sender is saying. If the temperature in a work environment is too hot or too cold the sender may not be as focused on the message that they are trying to send. If people in the work place are separated by others, communication is not as effective. As long as people still have a personal space that they can call their own, proximity to others aids communication because it helps us get to know one Emotional Barriers Your emotions could be a barrier to communication. If you are engrossed in your emotions for some reason, you tend to have trouble listening to others or understanding the message conveyed to you. According to the College of Marin, if someone is angry, resentful, happy or excited, that person may be too preoccupied with emotions to receive the intended message. Emotions mainly involve fear, mistrust and suspicion. Excessive fear of what others might think of us and what we say can interfere with what we want to communicate and our ability to form meaningful relationships 1.4 Building relationships and appropriate verbal and non-verbal communication. It is very important to build relationships with people who use services involve skills listening, together with appropriate verbal and non-verbal communication. It also may be important to use friendly, warm non-verbal behavior that expresses interest in another person such as: Making effective eye contact(varied and appropriate contact with another person’s eyes Smiling-looking friendly rather than frozen or cold in expression Adopting a relaxed and calm body posture Using an appropriate gentle tone of voice Using hand movements and gestures that show interest Nodding your head slightly while talking to communicate messages such as â€Å"I see,’ or ‘I understand’, or ‘I agree†. It is important to build an understanding of the needs of people we work with in health and social care. Very often, people will make their preferred method of communication obvious. Sometimes a medical or professional social work assessment may needs in order to clarify the person’s needs and their preferred method of communication. All the skills of recognizing and overcoming barriers to communicate will be useful to avoid trigger situation, such as aggression. Reflective listening skills are vital in order to make the other person feel listened too. 1.5/ 2.2 Verbal Communication Verbal communication is one way for people to communicate face-to-face. Some of the key components of verbal communication are sound, words, speaking, and language. 2) Non Verbal Communication The process of communication through sending and receiving wordless messages is known as Non Verbal Communication. Such messages can be communicated through gesture; body language or posture; facial expression and eye contact. 3) Written Communication Written Communication means communication by means of written symbols as explained previously using PECS. We also use the Phone, Email, Companies Intranet and Local media to gain information and access information within our setting. What exactly is communication? Communication is the process of sharing information between two or more people. Now this is just the basic definition of communication, and we know that the process is not just confined to information sharing. Rather, it is a mode of sharing thoughts, feelings, expressions, and many other things too. 2.1- 2.4 Communication is an art. For some it comes naturally, while others are too nervous when it comes to communicating. Communication is necessary in all walks of life, be it professional or personal, so to master it, one needs to practice this art, and this comes with knowledge and experience and is paramount within our workplace looking after LAC Children. Communication forms an important constituent of every organization. It is necessary that every person in the workplace communicates with one another for better coordination and maintaining good working relations, besides keeping everyone on the same page as far as the companys goals are concerned. Here are some basic but important tips that can help in a big way to improve communication at work and that I as a Team Leader like to demonstrate. Workplace Communication Skills There are two types of communication; formal and informal. Informal communication is between Colleagues but when it comes to formal communication, there are some etiquette and rules that need to be followed. Here are some factors for effective communication in the workplace with your subordinates, colleagues, as well as seniors. Be Clear and Transparent: You need to be very clear and transparent in the way you communicate, especially at work. Avoid statements that may be dubious or with a double meaning. Whatever you communicate, be it any changes in the rules, regulations or policies, everything should be explained properly and clearly with examples. Be Well Prepared: Remember this is professional communication, so you should always have a proper documentation of all the points to be covered while communicating with your employees or colleagues. Include everything that you want to communicate, as missing out on even a single important point might create a hassle later on. Be Precise: You are here to communicate about organizational matters, and so you need to honor the time of everyone involved directly or indirectly. For this, you have to be precise. So do not drag the discussion unnecessarily and come to the point directly. Be Generic: Communicating on a professional level needs discussion on a generic level. Pointing at anyones mistakes or errors is not desirable, as this might result in a conflict. Use the word we for success as well as failures, and try not to use the word you unless there is a need for mentioning something specifically. Be Assertive: Communicate in an assertive manner. It should be such that you, as well as the person in front of you should be benefited. Be open and honest about what you say, while respecting the feelings of others. Do Not Assume: Never work with any assumptions, at least as far as communication is concerned. For example, if there is a set of tasks that need to be performed, make sure you specify all of them along with the end result, and do not assume that everyone involved will know most of the things needed to be done anyway. Encourage Two-way Communication: Always give the other party a chance to speak. Ask questions, and take the other persons opinion too, once you have finished speaking. Such a two-way conversation forms the basis of a healthy communication, and you also come to know about peoples thoughts over certain things. You never know, anyone can come up with a great idea when least expected. Importance of Communication in the Workplace Building Trust Employees would always feel motivated if the management communicates about any changes in the working strategy or the company policies. This boosts the employees morale and builds trust and confidence between the management and the employees. It always allows everyone to know whats going on and what they need to work towards as a team. Good Working Relations One of the most important benefits of workplace communication is establishing and holding good working relations with peers, subordinates, and seniors as well. Good working relations at the workplace ensure a friendly and conflict-free working environment. There will be no room for difference of interests and any sort of confusion whatsoever. Problem Solving No workplace is ever free of conflicts, contradictions, and problems between the employees! However, communicating with colleagues and seniors about the issues help to solve the problems and thus prevents them from further aggravation. Festering of problems inside only leads to bigger conflicts and problems later on, which will adversely affect the company in some way or the other. Healthy from Business Point of View Communicating with the employees about any changes, amendments in the rules, regulations, policies, work rules, etc., helps in getting a better idea of things, and implementation of the work becomes easy. This further results in increased productivity and accuracy, minimizing wastage of resources and time. It is like everyone taking the shortest route to a designated point in the simplest way, all together. Giving feedback simply means telling people how theyre going at work. But the real art of feedback is the ability to also accept feedback yourself – being prepared to listen to what others tell you, without being defensive if its bad news. Building a communication culture in your workplace, where everyone is comfortable about giving and receiving feedback about their performance, builds staff morale. Accepting feedback yourself helps you discover ways to improve your own or your business performance. Many managers though equate feedback with delivering bad news, with criticism of poor performance. But feedback also can, and should, be about giving good news. The reality seems to be that it isnt often done. Giving, and receiving, feedback starts at the top, with the business owner, the manager, even with the team leader. It means stepping back from the immediate action to look at the bigger picture, at the business from a leaders perspective. What do leaders do? They do things that inspire people to follow them, to help them build the business. Your people need to know exactly what they have to do, or not do, and how well they are going. They need feedback – and so do you. As a leader you can give positive feedback, deliver negative feedback in a constructive manner and also encourage feedback for yourself. This kind of give and take builds a communication culture that encourages employees while it builds your business. Five-Step Process for Building a Communication Culture . 1. Think and act like a leader Learn why you need to be a leader, what people want from a leader, what it takes to be a leader and how feedback is an essential part of leadership 2. Clarify what you want Clarify your vision for the business or department and decide what needs to be done to achieve it. 3. Understand staff needs Learn from research what all staff want; then apply some practical strategies for improving your own workplace relationships and business. 4. Plan, discuss, agree, commit Turn your staff into a team and have fun, whether you own the business or manage a team or department. 5. Give and get feedback Deal with the hard stuff constructively, knowing what to say and how to say it. Then encourage staff to give you feedback. Developing a communication culture means encouraging people to feel comfortable about giving and receiving feedback about their performance – in the interests of better business and their own personal development. Feedback doesnt have to be negative; indeed there are far more occasions when positive feedback should be given. As a leader, you can seek those occasions using the above simple five-step process. 3.1/3.2/3.3 Within our workplace there is a lot of Partnership working to ensure the young people we look after receive the best care. We liaise with Dentists, Pharmacists, Opticians, Social Workers, Education and Pathways teams. It is  vital that all communication is clear concise and accurate. I tend to mostly use telephones and emails. Emails are more effective as you have a clear record of all conversations. I tend to use these more so on a daily basis. Sometimes it is not always possible to communicate by email so I ensure there is a clear log of all telephone conversations I make to multi agency recorded and on file. 4.1/4.2 Within our field it is paramount that we work together as a Multi Agency and all information in relation to the child and their background is always disclosed within the team as a need to know basis ensuring all risk assessments are completed with full detail for all proffesionals working within our field. However, from a legal point of view we have to abide the laws associated with maintaining confidentiality and these are as follows: Data Protection Act 1998, Human Rights Act 1998 and the Skills for Care guidelines. 4.3 As a Registered Organization we are governed and Registered by Ofsted. This requires that us as a Organization abide by all regulations. We have to ensure that our homes are run to a Required minimum standard and failure to do this could result in closure of the home. However, Ofsted are there to help and guide us run our homes to a adequate level. Ofsted visit our homes twice a year. Once to carry out a full inspection which then determines what standard the home has reached for the care of the child. It runs in four categories which is Outstanding, Good, Adequate and Inadequate. If you were unfortunate to receive inadequate they can serve you a notice to ensure you prepare the home to a adequate standard. This is usually a 12 week notice depending on the severity. However, if you comply with all guidelines this should not happen. In Our team meetings we have once a month I ensure the NMS and companies policies and procedures are discussed ensuring all staff have effective knowledge. All young Persons records are held electronically as well as paper version and it is a legal responsibility that companies keep all information for 75 years.