Clear communication skills are necessary to motivate and inspire surgery center employees, to promote disciplinary accountability and strategic alignment and to sell a center’s services.
“I fundamentally believe communication is one of the top three skills ASC administrators and physician leaders need to have,” Ms. Albers said. “Not enough time is spent on communication. We focus so much time on the clinical areas, but as leaders we need to focus on a whole different level of communication.”
Many myths about communication exist, she said. Some reminders about communication include:
• You only decide you are going to participate proactively in communication, not whether or not it should occur.
• The context drives how people interpret the message.
• The grapevine never stops, and often the absence of communication is worse than directly speaking about uncomfortable topics.
• You need to repeat messages over and over for others to absorb.
Establishing trust, honesty and transparency are also key to your staff understanding you, Ms. Talcott said. Several ways to do this include eating lunch in the employee lounge, visiting physicians at the end of their day, sending out agendas for every board meeting ahead of time and having a clear set of expectations for employees.
Be present, choose your attitude every day, go out of your way to make someone’s day and have fun, Ms. Talcott said.
More Articles on ASC Leaders:
ASC Leader to Know: Jared Leger of Arise Healthcare
ASC Leader to Know: Terry Bolke of National Surgical Hospitals
ASC Leader to Know: Jennifer Hadley of Siouxland Surgery Center
