Communication to Develop Staff and Transform an Organization - Essay Example

How Leaders Can Communicate Effectively To Develop Staff and Transform an Organization Student’s Name: Institutional Affiliation: How Leaders Can Communicate Effectively To Develop Staff and Transform an Organization Introduction Leadership is a process that ultimately focuses on fostering change. It is concerned with change that improves development and growth in an organization. It sets a good direction and a vision to an organization. Leadership is sometimes compromised with management. However, the two concepts are different in application. In management, the focus is to control and direct the resources of an organization in order to accomplish the principles, mission and objective that set by the organization. Management therefore follows an initiative to change by the leaders. Communication is a concept that is vital in leadership. The set objectives and mission cannot be properly functional without communication. Leadership communication may take a horizontal or vertical format (Gupta, 2005). The former refers to communication of the intended change strategy t the same level of management while the latter refers to communication in a bottom up approach or from top to bottom approach. Effective communication in leadership only occurs where the intended recipient understands the whole concept or idea that the leader intends to submit. Major problems arise in an organization after the intended information fails to reach the intended group of recipients and due to wrong interpretations. This leads to confusion and causes a fail of plan to change. Effective leadership is essential in our daily activities. The current fallbacks that are being faced in many firms that have resulted to a major decline in the performance of private sector, have resulted due to lack of proper leadership and communication. Development of staff and the transformation of an organization as a whole is purely dependent on the management and leadership of an organization. The topic on the effect of communication and leadership in transformation of an organization and the development of its staff is very crucial. This topic has been developed from reports from different health organizations on the role of effective communication in leadership. Good leaders should be good communicators. Good communication helps in preparing the workers on what to do, expect, their responsibilities, and the intended change. Communication aspect is a two-way process. In order for a leader to communicate properly, there has to be hearing and understanding. Communication to the intended change should clarify the goals, deliver the message, have recipients, and create a critical analysis room for evaluation of its effectiveness. Good leadership requires commitment and organization (Flauto, 2010). In order to communicate freely and employ good leadership capabilities at the same time, values, knowledge, skills, and the behaviors of the worker assessed and predetermined. Success in leadership for example in nursing is dependent on how well the characteristics of the leaders match the nurses’ values. A successful leader makes all the effort to learn and put into place the knowledge and skills. The major components of leadership are the skills and the ability to communicate, teamwork, the knowledge and understanding, risk taking, visioning, and recognition of the values of others and encouragement. A blend of the above components of leadership, blended with proper communication skills and strategies, and proper styles of leadership, brings about effective communication, development of staff, and transformation in an organization (Austin & Pinkleton, 2010). Literature of leadership and communication The analysis of good leadership skills has a history from as early as the 1900’s to the 1950’s. Leadership studies at this time attempted to distinguish the effective leaders from the ineffective leaders. Researchers examined leadership skills suing a variety of perspectives. These leadership studies attempted to outline which leadership characteristics exemplified to be applied for effective leadership. To understand and come up with the recommendations, the researchers applied the contingency model to examine the connection that exists between personal traits, leader effectiveness and the situational variables (Kikoski, 2009). Leadership studies in the late 20th Century again gave focus to the individual traits or characteristics of leaders that influence or contribute to their effectiveness and the success of their organizations. This research recommended that leadership is crucial but a complex component in an organization. In contemporary practice, leadership in nursing has shifted from the controlling of the nurses to creation of an empowerment practice within the range of the profession. This has taken a long time to implement due to the complexities related and it has occurred during times that tremendous changes needed in health organizations. Scholars suggest that the contemporary leadership strategies in nursing need to take a shift to form a symbiotic mutual relationship that inspires and influences changes in the health departments. Leadership in nursing should include a responsibility to provide acre and safety of the patients and enhance the growth of the organization (Holtz, 2008). How leaders can communicate effectively to develop staff and transform an organization Effective communication determines the levels of productivity from the workers, which has a great influence in growth, and transformation of an organization. The workers are made aware of what to do, expect, their responsibilities, and the intended change. The means and modes used by the leaders in communicating strategies, new developments, change etc are vital in contributing to the attitude and passion of the worker in executing their duties. Moreover, the choice of the mode of communication has an effect in the development of the staff, the use of traditional means of communication for instance use of messengers, May not always be convenient in to most of the workers (Parker & Begnaud, 2008). While choosing the means of effective communication, the leaders should put into place factors like technology that boost growth. A critical analysis on how effective communication promotes development and transformation of an organization and staff, in a clinical setting is discussed below. Senior nurses usually engage in a variety of leadership activities in their daily routines. Some naturally adopt effective leadership styles while others may simply take their roles as nurses and forget about leadership. Effective leadership in health care organizations is critical in the development and delivery of quality care, safety, and staff development. Leaders are visionary, full of strategies, plans and desire to direct and control their teams and provide service for future goals. Effective leaders are supposed to employ problem-solving processes, maintain cohesion in-group work and develop group identification. They should be passionate, dynamic, have motivational influences and be solution focused to inspire their followers. Effective communication in nursing leadership requires all the above qualities of good leaders. The knowledge and the understanding of duties of the leaders, the subject of mission of the organization, the roles of each employee, and the intended change or strategy. In a health, setting effective communication is characterized by understanding the essential of health and nursing. A good leader in such an organization should hear and understand all the primary procedures, the roles of the medical practitioner and the nurses and the purpose of a designed agenda. The awareness of the subject of discussion that the group is involved in is very important to effective communication (Gupta, 2005). Organizations should understand that once there is new initiated idea, it might take time for the employees to be able to assimilate and implement it at a manageable speed. Giving the workers and understanding and opportunity to react and assimilate the new change boosts development of the staff. The workers should be heard, for example if the new duty requires a change in work shift of the nurses (Yrle, Hartman & Galle, 2010). The knowledge in health and nursing assists in communication of an expected change, and in formulation of strategies that lead to growth of the organization. It assists in understanding the roles of each nurse and in establishing the capabilities of the nurse in implementing the change. Awareness of the skills enables easy communication in the organization. For example, if the organization wants a nurse research on a proposed dosage of pneumonia, then the leaders should be able to establish the baseline of the survey, the impacts of the treatment, and assess its effect in the growth of the organization. It’s required in such a case that the leader understands the concept of research and development in the field of nursing and its effects in the field. In some instances, the knowledge and understanding my not always be effective in communication to the staff. This is because of the limitations that may come with it. Sometimes the initiation of a new agenda or change may not require the understanding of the roles of the nurses. In instances where the change imposed on them, the style may not work. Effective communication requires good communication skills and ability to communicate. For a good leader to be able o develop the staff and transform the organization to the expected levels, the leader must be able to express him/herself with simplicity, confidence and clarity. There must be a creation of a listening space and an assessment of the criticism of the idea. The leaders should be able to understand the feelings of the listeners, if for example a nurse is to be added an extra role in implementing the intended change. The leader should not impose the change to the workers but rather should exercise the feeling of understanding and be able to express the need to change. Paraphrasing and restating the critical issues may play a role in the communication. This intends to clarify the information and attract the attention of the listeners (Grunig, Dozier & Repper, 2009). Communication is a basic factor that influences the behavior of the employees, an ongoing process incorporates all the activities that lead, and inform. For example, of you ask employees what sort of information is valued most from a leader, most of them will till you that the information should help them execute their duties and roles, manage their careers, and would want to know what duration the organization is headed to. Such is the information that a good leader should avail to the employees. Effective communication here creates a bridge of understanding between the leaders and the workers. The responsibility to communicate and develop a compelling and growing organizational vision lies on the hands of effective communication (Moss, Newman & Desanto, 2005). Good leaders should also emphasize on teamwork, commitment and organization. In order to communicate effectively, a leader should involve the members of the group. Teamwork in communication enables technical assistance, and emotional support. Effective leaders should always insist on the support and the assistance of those intended to be affected by the project. Successive change in the health care setting involves issues on human resource, safety an care of patients, and the growth of the organization. In order to carry out the intended change therefore, a good leader should involve most of the members of the departments that a change is expected to affect. Such a leader practice patience and allow for criticisms and additions to the idea of change. Bad execution of the rights and freedom in leadership may affect teamwork in communication. Some changes are instant and may not require or have time for discussions. This may limit the effectiveness of communication in good leadership (Parker & Begnaud, 2008). Teamwork in leadership may also influence the focus of change due to the areas of development that may come with the change. Unfortunately, during crises, many leaders tend to communicate to the staff in an inauthentic way. Leaders should not use communication to examine their feelings or expose their attitude towards the workers. Health care leaders should be able to deal with their own reactions to a new initiative publicly. While dealing with a group of employees, a good leader should always try to be discrete on his/her views. The leaders’ reactions to the message must not reveal to the audience. Sometimes, a leader may be into a task of communicating for example bad news. By showing, how he/she feels about the news may affect the reasoning and assimilation of the message to the recipients. Good leader should always show the positive side of the message and limit the discussion on the negative implication. Expressing the negativity of an agenda may affect the attitude of the followers in a group (Christ, 2008). Effective communication is a tool of technology and equipment management. A successful leader should learn and put into place the knowledge and skills. A general understanding of information technology is critical for all care leaders, leaders must understand how the hospital information systems work and how to use the technology to make communication and operational processes more efficient. Providing information on the software that critical nurses can use reduces errors in medication process. The use of harnessed communication technology as a tool of communication in health care facilities promotes awareness in the field and allows for development ion research. The skills that are used in the means of communication, however determine the effectiveness of the technology. Modern lifestyle requires the use of technology in communication. Such enables fast and effectiveness sharing of information and easy access of roles and duties that a nurse is supposed to undertake. It also acts as a reference point to the nurses. Internet communication also induces creativity and innovation. The use of such facility to communicate should however be limited in access (Grunig, Dozier & Repper, 2009). Unlimited use of the internet s a means of communication in the medical field may divert the focus of the nurses from their filed (Austin & Pinkleton, 2010). Health care leaders should build an employee self esteem for effective communication. Leaders determine the attitude and the productivity of the workers. The perception of the employees should be acknowledged. The communication strategy should boost the motivation of the workers and lift their self-esteem. This increases their productivity in health care and research. The leaders should understand the issues that lead to failure of productivity among the employees and the conditions that lead to a feeling of lack of esteem. This creates a good working environment where all the workers are have the freedom and space to work. Development and growth involves risk. A good leader should be a risk taker and an innovator. The risks connected to development must be communicated to the worker. Such risk communication should not be intended to de-motivate the workers but to make them aware of the expectations. This increases the readiness in sorting the issue that may come up in implementing innovations (Christ, 2008). The communication of the risks involve, should have value recognition of the workers. For example in the health field, a risk that is intended to develop the organization, should not be intended to lower the capability of the nurses but should recognize their values and act as an encouragement. Communication on risk matters help in decision making in the career. Leadership comes with power and risk. The power of leadership is essential for staff productivity and the development of an organization. A good leader should exercise this power while communicating to the workers. In leadership, the observation of the laws and rule of an organization play a critical role in determining the productivity of the workers. These laws create a sort of strictness that every worker is supposed to adhere. In communication, the power of a leader should be exercised. Take an instance of a weak leader in nursing: the lack of power in such a leader may lead to lack of understanding of the challenges that the nurses expect in a topic of discussion. The use of power in communication creates an emphasis on the points considered and sets the leader apart from the other workers. It acts as a catalyst in understanding the seriousness that comes with an issue and indirectly helps the workers in measuring strategies that help in accomplishing their expected goals. The use of power in communication enables creativity, discipline, and improved efficiency among the workers. Use of power may on the other hand decrease the capability of the workers. In some instances, the use of power may create pressure that may lead to a decrease in the capability of the workers. A good nurse leader should therefore exercise his/her power in a way that the workers will not feel oppressed to work especially while dealing with care and safety of the patients (Moss, Newman & Desanto, 2005). In some instances, an organization may intend to lay off some of its employees either to cut down on the costs or to improve on the productivity of other employees. Such a step may affect the running and the public image of the organization despite its intended growth purpose. The layoff procedure has major impacts on all the employees, either affected or not. The employees may attempt to react to their anger to the management e.g. through demonstrations that may affect the image of the organization. This is an expected reaction from such news. How this bad news is communicated to the employees determine their reactions. Counseling the employees before the breaking of the news may sometime be necessary (Salwen & Stacks, 2007). A good leader needs to be confidential and precise on communication of such news in order to control the reactions that may affect the rest of the workers or the development process of the organization. However, this may not always be the case in many organizations. Layoffs create a bad public image of an organization. Regaining the trust of the workers for the security of their jobs may be a hard task from the management. The effectiveness of the means used to communicate may not work in such situations. Conclusion and Recommendations Communication plays a critical role in development of staff and transformation of an organization. The sharing of information helps in determining the roles and the behavior expected of every employee. It is through communication that the workers know the mission and the objectives of a company. Effective communication acts as a tool of development in any organization. The skills and means of the communication however, determine the impact of the message to the workers. A good leader should be able to communicate effectively. The mode of communication should be convenient to all the workers and focused on the goals of an organization. In a health care setting, effective communication and leadership determine the effectiveness of the workers. Communication is essential for the nurses in highlighting the processes of treatments and in ensuring care and safety of the patients. It also increases the chances of innovative growth and creativity. The modes of communication in such a setting, affects the development if the staff and the organization in general (Kikoski, 2009). Effective leadership and management of information in health care departments is recommended. The leaders play the biggest part in ensuring the growth in these organizations. By communicating, the workers are able to focus on their roles as they assimilate new duties that may be associated with a change, communication helps in psychological preparation on the expected changes and challenges in their line of duty. Communication acts as means of motivational creation and increases the passion to work. References Ahmmed, Z., Shields, F., White, R. & Wilbert, J. (2010). Managerial Communication: the Link between Frontline Leadership and Organizational Performance. Journal of Organizational Culture, Communication and Conflict, 14(1), 107-119. Atkinson, S. (2011). Nursing Management. The Journal of Excellence in Nursing Leadership. 42(9), 44-50. 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