Assignment:
Discussion Topic
Write a 175 to 265 word response to the following:
When learning new content, it is important to ask yourself what you know and do not know about the content. In addition, it is vital to reflect on how concepts actually work in the real world. Reflection allows you to ask these important questions this week. Once you know where you are on understanding this week's content and objectives, you can spend time reading the texts for the week or completing outside research to help you learn the material better. Consider only the concepts discussed and illustrated in the text this week.
Review your Weekly Overview and ask yourself the following questions:
- What content or objectives do I excel at understanding?
- What content or objectives do I still need help with?
Discuss your responses with the class and faculty.
Overview
Effective communication is the key to healthy relationships, whether personal or professional. Clear and effective communication is essential for success in any career or industry, but even more so for health care where people's lives are at stake. This week you will be introduced to the elements of the communication process. One of these elements is perception. Perception is how we become aware of objects, events, people, and their behaviors. Our perception can be shaped by our background and personal experiences, which may lead to issues in how we perceive certain things. Although perception is often overlooked in everyday conversations with others, it is a fundamental process in all communication. We must examine effective ways to perceive situations accurately to improve our interpersonal and work relationships.
Although cross-cultural communication is not new, global communication has become easier and more accessible because of the internet and other new technologies. Effective intercultural communication helps avoid conflict, prevent misunderstandings, and foster respect in the workplace. Communication between individuals of different cultures is successful when we learn to create cultural bridges. These bridges require an understanding of other cultures and our personal values. There are many cultural barriers in a typical diverse workplace. Besides differences in language, other factors challenge people who are trying to work with others from a different background. We must learn how to move beyond stereotypes and understand the differences in people.
As you work through readings and activities, what topics do you anticipate will reinforce your knowledge or provide new insights for you?
What You Will Cover
1. Introduction to communication in the workplace
a. Explain the major types of communication in the workplace.
1) The process model describes the following elements of communication:
a) Sender and receiver in which you are the transceiver.
b) Encoding is changing thoughts and feelings into symbols
c) Decoding is assigning meaning to the symbols
d) Message is the idea, thought, opinion, or feeling communicated
e) Channel is the medium through which the message travels
f) Feedback is the receiver's response to the sender's message
2) Communication occurs on different levels
a) Small talk: establish contact and build a rapport
b) Information talk: coworkers use this to get their job done
c) Opinion talk: You share your thoughts with others. You must be careful when employing this in the workplace.
d) Feelings talk: You expose your innermost thoughts and are more vulnerable to hurt, criticism, and ridicule, but taking this risk often has benefits.
3) Communication barriers
a) Internal noise: can occur inside the receiver and the sender
i. Beliefs
ii. Assumptions
iii. Values
iv. Defensiveness
b) External noise: distractions outside the sender and receiver
c) Semantic noise: occurs when a receiver of a message does not understand a sender's gesture or word or interprets it differently
4) Technology and communication
a) Health care technology
i. Use of laptops and mobile devices
1. Online health resources
2. Online support groups and social media
ii. Videoconferencing and video consults
iii. Electronic medical records
iv. Teleconferencing
1. Social media
b) Positive effects
i. Convenience of instant communication
ii. Increased access to communication tools
1. Email
2. Instant messaging and texting
3. Teleconference and videoconference
4. Mobile devices
iii. More global communication
iv. Tools to help with communication, such as grammar and spell check, speech to text, and so on
v. Easier mass communication: social media
c) Negative effects
i. Reliance upon technology for communication
1. Errors in writing due to spell check and grammar check
2. Use of smartphones and tablets for written communication can lead to misspelling and bad grammar
ii. Decrease of interpersonal communication skills
iii. Harder to control flow of information and message
iv. Constantly changing technology and trends
v. Drawing the line between personal and professional communication in social media
5) Diverse cultures: Gaps occur because people are different.
a) Gender
b) Age-generation gap
c) Ethnicity
d) Race
e) Status
f) Sexual orientation
b. Explain how perception affects communication in the workplace.
1) You communicate your perceptions by the language you use
a) You interpret others' words and body language through perceptual filters
b) Definition of perception: the way in which an individual gives meaning to reality
i. Objective reality is the actual message, object, or event
ii. Subjective reality is the result after applying filters
2) Perception as a model-how we translate objective reality into subjective reality
a) Prior knowledge
b) Prior experiences
c) Psychological state
i. Identity
ii. Personality traits
iii. Values and worldview
iv. Self-concept
v. Emotional state
vi. Physical condition
3) Perception processes and concepts are how you shape your perceptions
a) Selective attention: focusing on certain messages, certain stimuli, things that interest you, and denial
b) Self-fulfilling prophecy: see what you want or expect to see
4) Stereotype threat: Negative cultural stereotypes about a group can create for its members' belief in the stereotype.
a) Halo effect: assumptions based on limited information
b) Attribution error: attributing causes of events to personalities or external situations
c) Projection: seeing your faults or strengths in others; calling others' attention to these traits
5) How to minimize communication breakdown resulting from perceptual differences
a) Recognize the difference between objective reality and subjective reality
b) Differences in perception are rooted in individual differences
c) How you look at differences matters
d) Communication is central in the perception process
6) Sharpening your perceptions
a) Distinguishing fact from opinion
b) Checking perception: impression checks
c) Learning conversations: learning about others' perceptions
c. Identify the principles of cross-cultural communication in the workplace.
1) Factors to consider
a) Race
b) Language
c) Gender
d) Ethnicity
e) Religion
f) Culture
g) Age
2) Intercultural communication: What are the different perspectives?
a) Person sending the message
b) Person receiving the message
c) Nonverbal message and cue
3) Cross-cultural communication principles
a) The greater the linguistic cultural difference, the greater the likelihood of communication breakdown is
b) When communication breaks down with cross-cultural encounters, it is usually attributed to cultural differences
c) When communicating cross-culturally, most people are more conscious about their communication
d) Cultures vary with respect to the number and kinds of taboos
e) Learning about the norms and variations in a particular cultural group's communication styles helps increase your understanding of that group
f) If you see others as friendly, cooperative, and trustworthy, barriers will be more easily overcome
4) Cross-cultural communication differences and barriers
a) Cross-cultural communication differences: value differences
i. Task-oriented versus relationship-oriented
ii. Individualism versus collectivism
iii. High versus low power differences in relationships
iv. Masculinity versus femininity
v. High versus low uncertainty avoidance
b) Cross-cultural communication barriers
i. Certain topics create tension for people who have been historically oppressed
ii. Hot buttons: words that evoke an emotional response in another person
iii. Stereotyping: when you apply what you have learned about a group and apply that learning to all members of that group without considering any variations within that group
iv. Language, vernacular, or accent bias
5) Cross-cultural communication tools
a) Overcome personal biases: racism, stereotypes, discrimination, sexism, homophobia, ethnocentrism, scapegoating, and institutional racism
b) Relate culture to communication
c) Empathize with those for whom English is not their first language
d) Recognize your privileges
e) Develop cross-cultural competence: Often, health care institutions have diversity training for their staff