Interpersonal and Intercultural Paper - Essay Example

 Interpersonal and intercultural paper Introduction Patton-Fuller Community Hospital (PFCH) is virtual organization located in the City of Kelsey and has been providing high-quality healthcare to the local communities. The hospital offers inpatient, outpatient, emergency, radiology, laboratory and physical therapy services to the local population. One of the critical events that are affecting communication within PFCH is changes in management department heads that will force the organization to change its communication strategies in order to overcome the negative situation and attain a positive outcome. Interpersonal communication ethics Communication is the process of imparting or interchanging thoughts, opinions, or information through either verbal or non-verbal means of communication such as speech, writing or signs (West & Turner, 2011). On the other hand, ethics provides the moral-immoral dimensions relevant to interpersonal communication that differentiates the right and wrong aspects of communication. Communication ethics enables one to maintain the right balance while speaking and listening and use the right degree of criticism or praise during communication (Novinger, 2001). Patton-Fuller community hospital ensures the principle of honesty, responsible thinking and considers the cultural context of communication in all aspects of communication with the stakeholders. Application of interpersonal communication ethics can help the hospital to respond to this critical event through advocating for truthfulness, honesty, and accuracy and endorsing the freedom of expression and diversity of perspective in all interpersonal communications (West & Turner, 2011). The senior management must be willing to tolerate dissent in order to ensure informed and responsible decision-making in appointing effective departmental management heads (Novinger, 2001). Richard Johanneson (2002) concluded that ethical issues that arise in human behavior have a significant impact on other people when the behavior entails conscious choice of means and ends, and when the behavior is judged by standards of right and wrong. According to utilitarian ethics, interpersonal communication ethics must aim at benefiting all parties and should focus on the consequences of the decisions or actions (West & Turner, 2011). On the other hand, virtue ethics requires the communicators to respect the moral character and dignity of a person during communication and avoid unethical practices such as deception, coercion, tapping telephones and inappropriate jokes (Solomon & Theiss, 2013). Perceptions of power The current changes in departmental management heads have shifted the perceptions of power in the hospital thus leading to conflicts. The event has generated power imbalances and misuse of power thus hindering effective communication and interpersonal relationships in the hospital (West & Turner, 2011). The junior staff members perceive the new departmental heads as very powerful due to the position power attached to their title in the hospital. The new management of the department has excess informational power and have hindered effective horizontal communication in the hospital (West & Turner, 2011). Communication during conflict Conflicts at the hospital can lead to hostility and resentment thus hurting interpersonal relationships between the employees. Communication during conflict provides the necessary opportunity for all conflicting parties to contribute to the communication and express their opinions or perspectives on the issue (Novinger, 2001). The communication must involve interpersonal responsibility by creating a balance between closeness and distance through advocating for virtues like sympathy and empathy during communication (Singer, 1998). The best communication strategy during conflicts is to identify the problem and come up with several alternatives to possible solutions that will amicably solve the problem. The management of the hospital must have shared goals and create urgency for the conflict resolution (Solomon & Theiss, 2013). The conflicting parties in the hospital must then select a mutually acceptable solution that will end the conflict and gain mutual commitment to work together in order to solve the problem. The senior management must be committed to the implementation of the solution and continuously review the progress of conflict resolution in all communications (West & Turner, 2011). Intercultural and diversity conflict Communication code of ethics requires sensitivity to cultural values and beliefs and thus communicators should respect the cultural diversity of the audience and stakeholders in the organization (Novinger, 2001). The hospital has a diverse workforce that comprises of doctors, nurses, radiologists and senior management from different cultural backgrounds, different races, religions and gender and thus intercultural communication will be effective in ending the persistent cultural conflicts (Singer, 1998). The intercultural and diversity conflicts at the hospital are evidenced by the numerous prejudices and stereotypes on the competency of the new management heads and lack of trust among the employees (Solomon & Theiss, 2013). Communication climate Communication climate refers to the internal environment of information exchange among people through the organization’s formal and informal networks. The organizational communication climate depends on the channels of communication, the job specialization, the ownership of information and structure of authority in the organization (Solomon & Theiss, 2013). The changes in department management heads have led to hostility between the employees, inappropriate communication messages, and bureaucracy in the dissemination of information to the subordinates (Novinger, 2001). The changes in department management heads have led to poor communication climate that hinders clarity since the doctors and nurses do not believe whether the new management heads are competent and trustworthy. The changes have hindered interpersonal relationships thus new management heads are not capable of incorporating constructive feedback from the subordinates in their tasks. The changes have led to cultural clash and biases (Singer, 1998). How application of theoretical perspective would help the hospital deal with the critical event Organizational theoretical perspectives on communication can help the hospital deal with this critical event that has led to intercultural and diversity conflicts in the hospital.The senior management must develop and reinforce trust in order to cultivate close interpersonal relationships (Novinger, 2001). In addition, the senior management must affirm the hospital mission, vision, and values in all the communications and facilitate a two-way flow of information throughout all the levels in the hospital. How implementation of effective communication strategies will enable the hospital to overcome this negative situation and arrive at a positive outcome Implementation of effective communication strategies will enable the Patton-Fuller Community hospital to overcome the negative situation that has led to interpersonal conflicts and poor communication in the organization. The senior management must create an open communication climate that fosters trust and interpersonal relationships in order to ensure constructive feedback from all stakeholders within and outside the hospital. The communication channels must ensure a two-way flow of information and respect cultural diversity of the staff in the hospital (Novinger, 2001). The departmental management heads must use their position and information power wisely in order to effectively disseminate information and end the intercultural conflicts that are associated with changes in the department management heads (Singer, 1998). The new department management heads must refrain from misusing their position power to coerce their juniors through disciplinary measures or sanctions in order to meet the deadline, but must use their reward power to motivate the doctors and nurses through positive appraisals and recommendations to those who remain committed to the overall hospital mission (Novinger, 2001). The new management must ensure medical specialists use their expert power in providing high-quality healthcare to the clients and provide the specialists with an opportunity of promotion to the senior management levels in the hospital departments. In this regard, the new department management heads must consider the unique needs of all employees, provide a favorable communication climate that fosters constructive feedback and encourages the subordinates to air their grievances and participate in decision-making (Solomon & Theiss, 2013). The hospital must focus on intercultural communication strategies and avoid reactive communication through managing the preexisting cultural perceptions and avoiding stereotypes that may lead to cultural conflicts (Solomon & Theiss, 2013). The employees must be trained on how words, use of tone and body language vary across the diverse workforce in order to avoid negative body languages like gestures or physical touches that may be offending to employees from a particular culture. The hospital must ensure equal opportunities and avoid discriminatory practices in all communication and employment matters in the hospital in order to ensure a sense of belonging to the cultural minorities (Novinger, 2001). Conclusion The management must promote a communication climate of mutual understanding and trust that respects the differing needs of the individual communicators and condemn all the communications that are aimed at distorting, coercing, intimidating or expressing hatred towards other employees or departmental heads in the hospital. The interpersonal communication should respect privacy and confidentiality of the employees. The communication messages must respect cultural diversity through avoidance of negative stereotypes and body language that may offend the receivers of the messages. References: Novinger, T. (2001). Intercultural communication: a practical guide. Austin: University of Texas Press. Singer, M.R. (1998). Perception & identity in intercultural communication. London: Intercultural Press. Solomon, D & Theiss, J. (2013). Interpersonal communication: putting theory into practice. New York: Routledge. West, R.L & Turner, L.H. (2011). Understanding interpersonal communication: making choices in changing times. Boston: Wadsworth. Read More