CHILDRENSAND YOUNG PEOPLES SETTINGS
1.1 Identify the different reasons people communicate
Within the care setting I communicate using: Communication books, Handover with Colleagues, staff message book, Staff meetings, meetings with my Line Manager Etc.
Effective communication is important as it ensures that information is: clear, concise, accurate, non-judgmental, and informative. This reduces the possibility of mistakes being made, and ensuring appropriate care service delivery. It is important to work as a team with your colleagues, so that you all work to achieve the same outcomes and targets. Communication can be defined as information transfer. This can be the exchange of thoughts, messages, feelings or the like.
The way we transfer information is by speech, signals or writing, to express oneself in such a way that one is readily and clearly understood. 'We all use a variety of communication techniques to both understand and be understood.'
Methods of Communication can include:
Body language
Speaking
Writing
Visual aids
Team meetings, consulting, consensus, and decision making, group problem solving. Sharing ideas through communication has meant that each generation of humans has been able to refine and improve the previous generations work.
Communication plays a vital part in our survival, for example a baby cries (which is a form of communication) when it is hungry. Our survival and success as humans has been dependant on our ability to communicate with others.
People communicate for different reasons, which are as follows:
To teach: We communicate is to impart knowledge and to teach. This way of communication allows future generations to acquire the knowledge and expand on it. Examples of this include information about what products are safe to eat or how to invent.
To learn: Communication is also used in the other direction for the reason to learn and understand. People use communication to question and acquire knowledge from others. This includes asking a teacher or management about difficult situations or policies.
To relate: (establish, maintain, and adjust relationships): One of the most important reasons that we communicate is to build relationships. These relationships may be romantic, friendly or strictly professional but all of them require communication to build a basis (shared understanding).
Some other reasons why people communicate:
To maintain and promote good working relationships
To encourage the children to communicate effectively
To ensure that everybody knows where they stand
To get their point across and ensure safety in the work environment
To help people understand how you are feeling and act accordingly
To work together
To prevent errors
Express your wants and needs
To help build and maintain trust
To negotiate and liaise with others
People communicate for different reasons, for example their emotions, pain, feeling, opinions. The communication could be on a professional level (formal) or on a personal level (informal). When you are working with in a social work environment it is important that information is recorded as this may be used for legal reasons. Communication between your colleagues at work is important, so that it ensures a continuity of care for your service users and so that you can pass on any information, this could be an incident that has just happened. Communication between your service users is also important, so that they can express their views and wishes.
All communication is confidential and on a need to know basis.
1.2 Explain how communication affects relationships in the work setting.
Communication is a fundamental relationship-building skill in the workplace. If people don't communicate well they limit their ability to connect on any meaningful level and, at the extreme, can create conflict.
Positive communication skills like listening, open-ended