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Effective communication at work is essential for so many reasons and is especially crucial when you work in healthcare. Delivering the best possible patient care is always the priority in a healthcare setting, and effective communication between staff members is essential to achieve this. Being able to communicate effectively delivers a wide range of positive benefits that will help your clinic to thrive and ensure the best patient experience. So, it is worth investing time and attention to nurturing your workplace communication to enjoy its many benefits. Here are some of the reasons improving internal communication at your clinic is a great idea and how you can make this happen:

Increase Productivity by Defining Roles and Responsibilities

Communication plays a vital role in maintaining high standards and ensuring your patients have the best experience when scheduling consultations and dealing with your clinic. To ensure your clinic maintains a professional reputation, your clerical staff members need to clearly understand the tasks they perform and the purpose of their role. Dealing with patient records is important to work, but unless your team members understand precisely what they are doing, there is room for errors to be made.

Ensuring every member of your administrative staff understands their role and responsibilities clearly will make it much easier for them to maximize productivity and reduce the chances of errors being made. So, offering thorough initial training, communicating exactly what your team needs to do, and equipping them with the knowledge to make it happen will ensure high productivity levels and that potentially sensitive information is dealt with professionally.

Improved Employee Engagement

When employee engagement is low, it is hard to keep the team motivated, and the lack of enthusiasm can impact the quality and quantity of their work. In a healthcare setting, the attitude of your clerical staff plays a crucial role in maintaining the reputation of your clinic. An employee who does not believe in what they are doing is unlikely to take pride in what they do, and this may be reflected in the way they relate to patients and other staff members. So, it is in the interests of your clinic to boost employee engagement.

Effective communication and employee engagement go hand in hand, so changing your communication methods could help improve your team’s engagement levels. Understanding and assessing how you communicate and then making improvements to your communication style can make a significant difference. Taking a Firo B Assessment is an excellent way to develop a clear understanding of your communication style. The insights you gain from the assessment will enable you to develop your communication methods into an engaging style that helps motivate your employees and ultimately benefits your patients and your clinic.       

Develop a Positive Workplace Culture

The workplace culture of your practice plays a significant part in its success. Ensuring the internal culture is positive makes your clinic a great place to work and is essential to getting the best from your employees. To maintain your clinic’s reputation and ensure your patients get the best treatment and service, you need your employees to feel a sense of pride in where they work.

Effective communication helps to foster a positive workplace culture by creating an environment where every employee feels valued and like their opinions count. Many employers forget communication works both ways, so as well as communicating effectively with your team, you also need to ensure you listen to them. Being open to feedback and acting on it to improve the culture in your clinic is essential and will provide you with valuable insights.

Encourages Staff Retention and Loyalty

Everyone wants to feel valued and have their efforts recognized when they work hard. However, some managers are reluctant to praise their teams and can be overly critical of them and the standard of their work. Constant criticism and a lack of recognition for their hard work can leave employees feeling undervalued. Working in a healthcare setting and performing the administrative tasks involved is an important role, and having experienced staff looking after the clerical side of your clinic is a significant advantage.  

If you hope to keep hold of your experienced employees, it is essential to start communicating effectively. This can be achieved by praising team members for a job well done, thanking them for their efforts regularly, and communicating with them in a respectful manner. Simply devoting a little time to improving your communication in the workplace can have a far-reaching impact and is well worth the effort.