Unit-5

Collaboration
 We might all be working towards the same goal.
 Leading teams effectively can actually be quite challenging.
Why collaborative working requires a flexible communication style
 It’s in the business’ best interest to have a leadership team that understands the people working for them.
 As leaders, it’s our role to be able to communicate, motivate and inspire action from different people in our team.

Communication tips for better collaboration

1. Understand who is introverted and who is extroverted in your workforce
• It’s pretty clear who’s an introvert and who’s more of an extrovert.
• Encourage frank and open discussions with people as individuals and as a team.

2. Try out different personality traits to see what works

• When communication styles are too misaligned, misunderstandings, errors, wasted time and money are often the result.
• when styles matches, you’ll find that your team can have much more influence and be more persuasive.
• If you’re an introvert yourself, it might be worth exploring the application of some extroverted qualities to your communication style to see if it better connects with
members of your team.

3. Allow flexibility and personal preferences in work practices

• You need to create an environment that allows each team member to flourish.

• open plan offices might need some private work areas built-in, so that introverted colleagues or staff members who are easily distracted, can seek
solitude to become more productive
 Elements of Collaboration

• 1. Cooperation
• 2. Assertiveness
• 3. Autonomy
• 4. Responsibility/Accountability
• 5. Communication
• 6. Coordination
• 7. Mutual Trust and Respect
 Cooperation and Assertiveness
1. Cooperation refers to each provider’s willingness to seek out, to listen to, and to learn from one another.
2. Assertiveness refers to each provider’s willingness to offer information with confidence, valuing and supporting his/her own
profession’s approach to care and personal experience.
When faced with interpersonal problem solving individuals choose to avoid, to accommodate, to compromise, to compete, or
to collaborate.
• Also, if one provider is perceived as being especially assertive, moving toward aggressive, other providers may feel
uncomfortable offering their input and only appear to agree or "compromise".

• The cooperation and assertiveness of each member mean that decisions are made based on consensus. Consensus is
facilitated by the full participation of the team using a balance of co-operation and assertiveness (all concur but do not
necessarily completely or unanimously agree). Each provider agrees to support the decision and the resulting integrative plan.
• Role negotiation: within the team the presence of each provider impacts on the work of every other provider especially when
knowledge and skills overlap. Flexible roles need to be negotiated to ensure that contributions are complementary and not
restricted or competitive.
• The openness required for co-operation and assertiveness helps both to avoid and resolve conflict.
• Listening and contributing freely support innovative approaches, stimulate new learning and professional growth.
• HIGH degree cooperation and assertiveness supports consensus, role negotiation, dispute or conflict resolution, and
innovation.
 Autonomy & Responsibility/ Accountability
3. Autonomy refers to the authority of the provider to make decisions independently and carry out a plan of
care. It is based on the provider’s scope of practice and individual expertise.
Autonomy is not contrary to collaboration and serves as a complement to shared work. Without the ability to
work independently, the provider team becomes inefficient and work becomes unmanageable.
4. Responsibility/Accountability involves being accountable for decisions made and actions taken. It includes
both independent and shared elements.
Independent responsibility: each provider assumes sole responsibility for autonomous decisions and actions.
Shared responsibility: Providers participate in decision making, assume joint responsibility for agreed upon
decisions, are responsible for implementing a portion of the agreed upon plan of care,
and accept shared responsibility for the outcomes of that plan of care.
Providers are encouraged to exert their appropriate degree of authority.
As long as a provider is acting within his/her scope of practice there is no need for another provider to feel
responsible for or to supervise their actions.
Referring to the spectrum of collaboration, providers enter into shared responsibility when they consult/refer or
engage in co-provision of care.
 Communication
• Communication: Each team member is responsible for what (content)
and how (relationship) he/she communicates.

• Communication between providers is not always for the purpose of shared

decision making. The purpose may be for confirmation, affirmation or support.
Such communication, especially praise for good work, helps solidify relationships.
 Coordination
One of the main concerns expressed regarding teamwork is that without one provider consistently “in charge” care will
be fragmented and duplicated and “patients will fall through the cracks”.
Coordination includes efficient and effective organization of the necessary components of the treatment plan.
For each patient situation, providers need to be clear about who does what, who will carry out which part of the plan and
who will take the lead to ensure that the overall plan is implemented.
This is important for patients and families to know. Efficient and effective coordination protects against fragmentation
and unintentional duplication, and ensures that comprehensive care is delivered by involving all appropriate providers.
Coordination allows you to accomplish what may seem to be impossible: providing the highest quality of patient care
that is effective and efficient while fostering positive work environment for the team. Herding Cats provides an analogy.
 Mutual Trust & Respect

“Mutual trust and respect are common to and bind all other elements together.” Jones & Way

Being clear about “who does what” supports trust and respect as do time, commitment, patience and previous positive team experience.

Trust
Feeling comfortable depending on each other, believing that everyone is competent and reliable and will act within their own scope of
practice.
Respect
Knowing and valuing the unique and complementary contributions that each profession and individual team member has to offer.
 Work Teams and Groups

Groups & Teams

Group - two or more people with
common interests, objectives, and
continuing interaction

Work Team - a group of people with

complementary skills who are
committed to a common mission,
performance goals, and approach
for which they hold themselves
mutually accountable
Characteristics of a Well-Functioning, Effective Group
Relaxed, comfortable, informal atmosphere

Task well understood & accepted

Members listen well & participate

People express feelings & ideas

Conflict & disagreement center

around ideas or methods

Group aware of its operation & function

Consensus decision making

Clear assignments made & accepted

GROUP
COMMUNICATION
• Nowadays the importance of teamwork and group communication
has increased in almost all organizational set-ups.
• This has been particularly so as more and more business
enterprises, government organizations, and educational institutions
embrace the concept of an open organizational climate and
participative management.
• Hence organizations now look for people who can interact
successfully in small groups and make significant contributions during
such interactions.
• Acquiring and developing team-building skills and group skills lead
to effectiveness in managing organizational affairs.
• Today you find teams in factories, corporate offices, research
laboratories, universities, hospitals Law offices, government agencies, and
every other kind of organization you can imagine.
• Teams have become an integral part of so many organizations largely because
of the growing complexity of the decisions they need to make.
• Though teams are different from groups per se in that the former is process
based while the latter function-based, they share common
communication processes.
• For example, when a company sends one of its project teams to
develop software for its clients abroad, that particular team carries out a
process.
• Members of an organization communicate in groups to achieve any of the
purposes listed below:
• to share and exchange information and ideas
• to collect information or feedback on any project/policy/scheme
• to arrive at a decision on important matters
• to solve a problem which is of concern to the organization as a whole
• to discuss the issues related to a particular topic in relation to the group
itself or for the benefit of a larger audience
• to elaborate upon any work undertaken or research done in order to elicit
feedback.
• Depending upon the purpose and structure, group communication takes various names such as
• meetings
• seminar
• group discussion
• symposium
• panel discussion
• conference
• Convention, etc.
• Though all these forms fall under the category of group communication, they differ slightly in
terms of their purpose, structure, characteristics, and procedure
• All these forms of group communication are oral & They require effective oral communication
skills which would enable the members to present and discuss the matter and also to persuade
and convince the other members of the group.
 Ethics in Business Communication.
• Ethical communication is a type of communication that is predicated
upon certain business values, such as being truthful, concise, and
responsible with one’s words and the resulting actions. As a set of
principles, ethical communication understands that one’s thoughts
must be conveyed and expressed effectively and concisely, and that
the resulting actions or consequences will [potentially] be based
solely on how the message was communicated. Thus, ethical
communication defines a framework or set of acceptable
communication principles that align with an enterprise’s overarching
code of conduct or code of ethics.
 Fundamentals Of Ethical Communication
• Openness and Transparency
• Truthfulness & honesty is the most core principle of ethical
communication. This means that speaking 99 percent of the truth in a
matter – while leaving out one percent of the facts – is not ethical
communication, as omitting any detail (intentionally) changes the way
that a listener will perceive an event. Thus, being 100 percent open
and transparent, and hiding nothing, is key in order for all business
relationships – whether within a business between its members, or
with business and their partners, or even customers – to succeed in
the short term and long term.
• Consideration for Any Potential Roadblocks
• When communicating with another party, truly ethical
communication entails considering any potential factor that may
influence how the recipient understands – or receives – the
information that is being communicated. If there are any known
roadblocks, then ethical communication principles dictate that the
speaker/communicator utilize whatever means possible to mitigate or
attenuate the roadblocks and ensure that the recipients of the
information are able to fully understand what is being communicated.
• Language Use
• Obviously, ethical communication dictates that speakers utilize the
language that listeners understand. It would make little sense to
present a business presentation in English to a non-English speaking
Chinese audience. Taking this example further, it would also be
unethical to communicate the information mostly in Chinese, with a
certain section in English, presenting only parts of the data to the
Chinese audience.
• Jargon
• Every industry has its own jargon. When speaking to a layperson, it is
ethical to speak with simple, easy-to-understand words, while
avoiding the use of heavy jargon, resulting in portions of the
presentation/communication being incomprehensible to a portion of
the audience.
• Language Fluency
• Ethical communication takes into account the level of fluency as well
as the language spoken by listeners so that recipients of the
communication (whether it be spoken or written) are able to fully
understand what is being communicated.
• Accessibility to Technology
• In this information and digital age, some take accessibility to advanced technology for granted.
For instance, while smartphones are readily available, and translation apps are abundant, not
everyone is able to access such applications or platforms. If a business wanted to present certain
pieces of information to an audience while expecting the audience to translate it into their native
language via an application, there may be confusion. Thus, the ability to access certain technology
– and the know-how on how to use certain applications – may be a roadblock when it comes to
ethically communicating to a particular audience.
• Development of Relationship
• The art of communication allows people to express themselves in order to develop relationships.
In business, this can be an employee dealing with a manager, executives communicating with
stakeholders, or managers talking with other business representatives. It is critical for there to be
no confusion or misunderstandings when businesses try to develop relationships within
themselves and with other business entities or clients/customers. To accomplish this, ethical
communication principles must be followed, ensuring that all parties can receive the consistent
truth, and understand what needs to be done, and how it needs to be done.
Conflict Resolution
and Negotiation
Conflict
• Conflict Defined
• A process that begins when one party perceives that another party has
negatively affected, or is about to negatively affect, something that the first
party cares about
• That point in an ongoing activity when an interaction “crosses over” to become an
interparty conflict
• Encompasses a wide range of conflicts that people experience in
organizations
• Incompatibility of goals
• Differences over interpretations of facts
• Disagreements based on behavioral expectations
Transitions in Conflict Thought
Traditional View of Conflict
The belief that all conflict is harmful and must be avoided

Causes
• Poor communication
• Lack of openness
• Failure to respond to
employee needs
Types of Conflict
Task Conflict
Conflicts over content and goals
of the work

Relationship Conflict
Conflict based on
interpersonal relationships

Process Conflict
Conflict over how work gets done
The Conflict Process
Stage I: Potential Opposition or Incompatibility
• Communication
• Semantic difficulties, misunderstandings, and “noise”
• Structure
• Size and specialization of jobs
• Jurisdictional clarity/ambiguity
• Member/goal incompatibility
• Leadership styles (close or participative)
• Reward systems (win-lose)
• Dependence/interdependence of groups
• Personal Variables
• Differing individual value systems
• Personality types
Stage II: Cognition and
Personalization
Perceived Conflict
Awareness by one or
more parties of the
existence of conditions
that create opportunities
for conflict to arise
Conflict Definition
Negative Emotions
Felt Conflict
Emotional involvement in
a conflict creating anxiety,
tenseness, frustration, or
hostility
Positive Feelings
Stage III: Intentions
Intentions
Decisions to act in a given way

Cooperativeness
• Attempting to satisfy the other party’s concerns
Assertiveness
• Attempting to satisfy one’s own concerns
Stage III: Intentions (cont’d)
Competing
A desire to satisfy one’s interests, regardless of the
impact on the other party to the conflict

Collaborating
A situation in which the parties to a conflict each desire to
satisfy fully the concerns of all parties

Avoiding
The desire to withdraw from or suppress a conflict
Stage III: Intentions (cont’d)
Accommodating
The willingness of one party in a conflict to place the
opponent’s interests above his or her own

Compromising
A situation in which each party to a conflict is willing
to give up something
Stage IV: Behavior
Conflict Management
The use of resolution and stimulation techniques to
achieve the desired level of conflict
Conflict Management Techniques

Conflict Resolution Techniques

• Problem solving
• Superordinate goals
• Expansion of resources
• Avoidance
• Smoothing
• Compromise
• Authoritative command
• Altering the human variable Source: Based on S. P. Robbins,
Managing Organizational Conflict:

• Altering the structural variables A Nontraditional Approach (Upper

Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall,
1974), pp. 59–89
Conflict Management Techniques

Conflict Resolution Techniques

• Communication
• Bringing in outsiders
• Restructuring the organization
• Appointing a devil’s advocate

Source: Based on S. P. Robbins, Managing Organizational Conflict: A Nontraditional

Approach (Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall, 1974), pp. 59–89
Stage V: Outcomes
• Functional Outcomes from Conflict
• Increased group performance
• Improved quality of decisions
• Stimulation of creativity and innovation
• Encouragement of interest and curiosity
• Provision of a medium for problem-solving
• Creation of an environment for self-evaluation and
change
• Creating Functional Conflict
• Reward dissent and punish conflict avoiders
Stage V: Outcomes
• Dysfunctional Outcomes from Conflict
• Development of discontent
• Reduced group effectiveness
• Retarded communication
• Reduced group cohesiveness
• Infighting among group members overcomes group
goals
Negotiation
Negotiation
A process in which two or more parties exchange goods
or services and attempt to agree on the exchange rate for
them.

BATNA
The Best Alternative To a
Negotiated Agreement; the
lowest acceptable value
(outcome) to an individual for
a negotiated agreement
Bargaining Strategies
Distributive Bargaining
Negotiation that seeks to divide up a fixed amount of
resources; a win-lose situation

Integrative Bargaining
Negotiation that seeks one or more settlements that can
create a win-win solution
Third-Party Negotiations
Mediator
A neutral third party who facilitates a negotiated solution
by using reasoning, persuasion, and suggestions for
alternatives

Arbitrator
A third party to a negotiation who
has the authority to dictate an
agreement.
Third-Party Negotiations (cont’d)
Conciliator
A trusted third party who provides an informal
communication link between the negotiator and the
opponent

Consultant
An impartial third party, skilled in conflict management,
who attempts to facilitate creative problem solving
through communication and analysis
 Business communication for leaders and
managers
• The Importance of Business Communication
• Effective communication helps us to connect with others and build
trust and respect within the organization. It plays a key role in the
decision-making process to allow for a better understanding from a
personal and business standpoint. Sometimes, a received message
can be misunderstood. Effective communication helps to solve
differences and resolve problems from both points of view.
• Be an active listener
• Allow the other person to talk without interrupting. When it’s your turn to talk, ask questions to
clarify what was said and to gain a better understanding of the person that you’re talking to.
• Say what you mean to say
• Non-verbal cues play a crucial role in communication. People tend to pay attention to these more,
so it’s important that your non-verbal behaviors align with your verbal message.
• Be clear and articulate
• The best communicators are the ones whose messages resonate with all different audiences in
every form. Your message must be clear and concise whether it’s written, verbal, or face-to-face.
• Broaden your communication style
• Effective communicators know that a “one-size-fits-all” communication style doesn’t work. It’s
important to develop a wide range of communication skills and deploy different methods for
different people in different situations that suit them best.
• Understanding Personal Communication Styles
• There are four personal styles that affect communication. How we communicate plays an important role in team dynamics and
how we approach others and our work. It’s good to understand your own personal style as well as that of your employees. This
better prepares you to help them grow and develop. Once you have a good understanding of your employees’ personal styles, it’s
important to tailor your communication to that of who you’re speaking to.
• Relator
• Relators are warm, friendly, slow, and easy. They’re cooperative, good listeners, and share their feelings.
• Socializer
• Socializers are enthusiastic, persuasive, fast-paced, and not afraid to take risks. They have a strong feeling of personal worth and
relationships are important to them.
• Thinker
• Thinkers identify as proficient perfectionists. They are slow and cautious, task-oriented, follow directions, and work well alone.
• Director
• Directors are fast-paced, decisive, and emphasize results. They care little about relationships and don’t openly share their feelings.
Additionally, they’re often seen as dominating.
• Benefits of Strong Business Communication
• When managers implement strong business communication practices with their
associates, everyone is on the same page with no confusion. A lack of communication
can result in disagreements, project delays, and budgeting issues. These can negatively
affect the organizational goals that your team is trying to attain.
•
• Effective business communication is imperative to a company’s growth and success.
When a communicative culture is in place, managers can channel their deliverables
clearly and associates can ask questions and offer ideas. Strong communication leads to
increased productivity and workflow efficiency which allows a business to perform at its
peak level.
• At SpecialtyCare, we strive for strong business communication within our organization to
yield the highest level of success for our leaders, associates, and hospital staff in their
careers.