Stick#7 - Communication

Emailing is my life at work. I think email has, in increased the speed of messages getting to individuals and has helped communication by allowing multiple people to be messaged at the same time or to receive a copy keeping them in the loop. At the same time, it has negative components. At my company, not everyone has email; it is a matter of money and a decision on the part of administration or IT that not everyone needs it because their job does not require sitting at a desk. This decision creates a division and makes it incumbent on managers to communicate by two methods--email or verbal or in writing. I liked the tips to create more efficiency--use of templates and changing the autocheck setting.

IM is not used at my workplace. It requires both people have devices at their fingertips. Many staff at the hospital don't spend their day sitting at their desk; they are mobile. I know cell phones can be used; however, they also have the potential to interfere with biomedical equipment signals, so they are discouraged. There may be other mobile communication devices that could serve this purpose and support communication.

Webinars are widespread in health care. Every week I receive multiple emails about available Wedinars. I find the medium to be helpful. Staff take less time away from the office to attend education sessions and more people are able to "attend" because the cost is lower than if we are paying for travel. I have not previously thought about the ability to provide in-house webinars, but I think this option would be worth exploring as getting staff to an educational event can be challenging due to the need to cover patient care 24/7.