Staff to Staff Communication

Communication mishaps can be funny to some or quite hurtful to others. Read this article to find out how to increase the opportunities for positive communication with your co-workers. 

Exercise:

Practice this exercise with your co-workers. Make two lines of people, facing each other with some distance between you. Walk towards each other with your arms crossed and a scowl on your face, but tell your co-worker across from you something nice. When you are finished change roles. What did you experience? Was the intended message received? Did you believe the message? 

Communication either verbal or nonverbal is the key to the relationships we build with the individuals around us. Last time in our article we discussed communication between doctor and team members.  This time we are going to focus on team-to-team communication. There are several principals you can apply when communicating with coworkers that will help you build stronger relationships and decrease opportunities for miscommunication.  Verbal communication is the message that we are delivering when we talk to people around us. It may be the words we are saying or it may be the tone behind the words.  

In order to help communicate better, you can institute a simple stop and think policy. Stop before you talk and think about the words that you are going to say. It is important when communicating with other staff to communicate in a professional manner, even if you disagree with the message.
Nonverbal communication is the actions behind our words. It is our body language and our hand gestures. It is the look in our eye or the smile we have when communicating. Our nonverbal communication is sometimes stronger and communicates more than our verbal communication. If you are saying something nice, but your arms are crossed it gives off a completely different message.   
Our nonverbal communication should be assessed while we are communicating with co-workers in order to deliver a successful message. Are you smiling? Is your body language relaxed, or are you standing straight and tall? Are you pacing back and forth?

We may think that our words are the message but they are only one part of the message.

Article was originally published by Tri-County Dental Society 

Great teams take effort. Take time to work on your practice regularly to build quality communication and strengthen your results. For more information and to read other articles, please visit us at www.saltdpm.com.

Austine Etcheverry is a positive, dedicated professional with over 10 years of experience in the dental field. Austine has a keen eye for designing websites and blogs. She has experience in social media and search engine optimization.