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Communication and Interpersonal Skills

Evidence 1: Complete the table below describing 6 different tools used for communication within your scope of practice – have a look around your work space for starters. Do you, your department or the Trust use any of the following communication tools:

 

  • Email

  • Instant messaging

  • Post

  • Notice / white boards

  • Telephone / mobile

  • SharePoint

  • Fax

  • Video conferencing

  • Web sites / Internet

  • Social networking

1. Evidence piece for different communication tools used

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  • Describe 6 different tools used for communication within your scope of practice:

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Evidence 2: For this piece of evidence describe a past situation when there was a communication problem with someone outside of your department:

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2. My experience of poor communication with someone outside of the department

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  • Give a brief introduction to the situation: (explain the place and setting and also what happened)

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  • Why and how did this situation arise? (what do you think was the cause of the above problem e.g. lack of understanding, misinterpretation, poor method of communication, use of jargon etc.)

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  • How did you overcome this situation? (what immediate remedial actions did you take, or someone else, to rectify the problem or situation? Were there any follow actions taken later on to stop it happening again?)

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  • How successful were you? (was the recipient happy with the resolution, was a complaint received about the situation? Did the recipient receive a good quality service?)

Evidence 3: For this piece of evidence you will need to provide 3 examples from your workplace where you have access to information that should be kept confidential and not passed onto others.

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Remember this information could be available to you in both written and electronics forms.

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3. Example 1:

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  • Reasons why this information should not be shared?

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  • Who is authorised to request / see this information?

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3. Example 2:

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  • Reasons why this information should not be shared?

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  • Who is authorised to request / see this information?

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3. Example 3:

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  • Reasons why this information should not be shared?

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  • Who is authorised to request / see this information?

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Evidence 4: For this piece of evidence describe how you would respond to the following situation:

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A team member misunderstood your request and is angry as they missed their break in order to complete some unnecessary work.

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Answer the following questions:

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Q. What different communication skills would you use when dealing with this situation?

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Q. How would you prevent it from happening again?

 

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Hint! If you remember from part I of the certificate of achievement:

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The following are examples of good communication skills:

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  • Listening

  • Nonverbal communication

  • Verbal clarity

  • Tone and Friendliness

  • Confidence

  • Empathy

  • Open-Mindedness

  • Respect

  • Feedback

  • Picking the right medium (e.g. face to face, phone, email)

 

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The following are examples of barriers to effective communication:

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  • The use of jargon

  • Religion and / or Cultural differences.

  • Lack of attention, interest, distractions to the receiver (or information overload)

  • Differences in perception and viewpoint.

  • Physical disabilities such as hearing problems or speech difficulties

  • Language differences and the difficulty in understanding unfamiliar accents.

  • Expectations and prejudices which may lead to false assumptions or stereotyping.

  • Emotions

  • Clarity, tone and pace of the conversation (e.g. too fast, too slow, too loud, too quiet)

  • Technological / equipment / IT Barriers

 

Use examples from both lists above when writing up your piece.  

4. How would you respond to the above situation?

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  • What different communication skills would you use when dealing with this situation?: 

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  • How would you prevent it from happening again?

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Evidence 5: You will need to complete a personal statement for this piece of evidence - a personal statement is a piece of writing that you submit showing what you think about something.

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Write a personal statement (3 or 4 paragraphs) on how to present a positive image when communicating with other service users in our organisation (again you may use the good communication skills examples mentioned previously).

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It can also help if you:

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  • are sincere

  • are helpful

  • use the person's name or title if you know it

  • avoid sarcasm and flippancy

  • suppress tempered outbursts

  • answer phone calls, emails, letters, etc promptly and include your name and department

  • answer to the best of your knowledge (or know who to ask) when asked questions

  • thank any people who may assist you

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Sign off: After you have collected each piece of evidence, hand them into your trainer / mentor who will then countersign them. Please note that they may ask for additional evidence or ask you follow up questions. Also ensure that:

 

  1. You have date and signed your work

  2. You only submit evidence for checking once it is completed (you may take individual evidence pieces out of your portfolio)

  3. Ensure any countersigned checked work is returned back (in order) to your portfolio 

 

Try not to hand in multiple pieces of evidence for marking at once - this will create too much work for your trainer / mentor, instead spread submissions out throughout your training.

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Trainer notes: Ensure the candidates line manager completes the 'Line Manager's Comments' section as each module in the portfolio is completed - continuous assessment of the candidates work is required throughout the training period.

 

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