Communication is one of the most important activities in any organization. Strong organizations usually have very well-developed communication systems (Miller & Webb, 2011). This paper explores the communication processes at St. Duke’s Hospital. This facility is a medium-sized health care center with 100 beds. It serves an average of two hundred patients in a day. The hospital will serve as a case study in the relationship between organizational structures and the effectiveness of communication.
Organizational Model
St Luke’s Hospital is a private hospital owned by a mission agency. The hospital has a board appointed by the mission agency. The superintendent of the hospital is also an appointee of the mission agency. The superintendent oversees all functions of the hospital and makes decisions daily. The hospital uses a bureaucratic structure to run its operations. There are three main departments in the hospital, each headed by a manager. The three departments are Pharmacy, Finance, and Administration. All the workers in the hospital are members of a department. The three managers and the superintendent form the management committee of the hospital.
Knowledge Sharing in the Organization
The flow of information in the organization follows its administrative lines. When the superintendent wants to communicate officially with all members of staff, the information first goes to the departmental managers. The managers then transmit it to the staff. Similarly, information flows from employees to the superintendent via the managers. This means that any delay in transmitting the information from one level to another delays action.
The system is sufficient for the needs of the hospital because the hospital does not deal with large volumes of information. The hospital also uses email, a bulletin board, and text messages for various purposes. Departmental meetings are the primary means of relaying official communication from the board and the superintendent to the rest of the staff members. Unless it is urgent, departmental managers hold on to information until the next staff meeting, before relaying it to the rest of the employees.
Effective Knowledge Sharing Techniques
Email is so far the most effective communication method at the hospital. The instantaneous nature of email, coupled with its ability to send many messages simultaneously, makes it very easy for the hospital to communicate with various stakeholders (Phillips, 2010). The hospital also relies on phone calls where there is a need for immediate feedback. The members of staff in the hospital make many calls every day to people within the hospital and external stakeholders. Other means of communication that are effective in the hospital include posting important announcements on the notice board at the staff canteen, and the use of text messages.
Ineffective Knowledge Sharing Techniques
Most of the communication that takes place in the hospital usually relates to the immediate work of the staff members. However, there are still major challenges whenever there is a change in the operations of the hospital. Emails do not seem to explain well enough to staff members the changes in the operating procedures of the hospital. There is always a need to expound on the matter in subsequent staff meetings. Similarly, the use of phone calls and text messages also present difficulties. Phone calls and short messages are not easy to retrieve. There is no easy way of keeping a record of communication done using these means. The flow of official communication up to and down the system is also slow.
Application of Knowledge Sharing
The use of emails, text messages, and the notice board at the staff canteen are all very effective ways of passing on information within the hospital. Calls too are effective for solving problems quickly. What is lacking is a reliable system to communicate official information from the board or the superintendent’s office to the rest of the staff. The reluctance to use email in these cases comes from the fear that staff members may not appreciate the importance of the issues if they form part of the regular emails.
The hospital needs to consider using a web-based forum, or internal website to post official communication to reduce the communication steps between the higher officers and the lower-level workers. Email is also an important technology that the organization can use to improve upward communication. However, there will be a need to develop policies governing the use of email in these cases.
The Use of Technology in Knowledge Sharing
The use of technology in knowledge sharing has several advantages and disadvantages. A case in point is the use of email within the hospital. The low cost of email and the capacity to send multiple copies at no extra cost makes email prone to misuse (Holmes, 2005). However, controlled use of email can lead to significant improvement in the effectiveness of communication. Technology is also prone to data loss (Corson, Heath, & Bryant, 2000).
This means that there is an ongoing need to back up the information stored in technological systems. The use of bulletin boards or private websites can help to limit the noise caused by interactive communication systems. It also makes it possible for people to follow the progress of the issues raised without having to sift through large amounts of information in their email inbox.
References
Corson, D., Heath, R. L., & Bryant, J. (2000). Human Communication Theory and Research: Concepts, Context, and Challenges (2nd ed.). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Inc.
Holmes, D. (2005). Communication Theory: Media, Technology, and Society. London, UK: SAGE.
Miller, E., & Webb, L. (2011). Active Listening and Attending: Communication Skills and the Healthcare Environement. In L. Webb, Nursing: Communication Skills for Practice (pp. 52-72). Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Phillips, J. (2010). IT Project Management. New York: McGraw Hill Professional.