Making the conversation with employees and colleagues a success
Nursing is often a stressful job. Unfortunately, communication with employees and colleagues often falls by the wayside. Yet it is the be-all and end-all for preventing misunderstandings in work processes as well as in interpersonal relationships. Peter Flume, a rhetoric trainer, gives tips on how to conduct conversations successfully in everyday care.
Communicate clearly
Many nursing staff are familiar with the situation: it’s actually lunch time, the stomach is rumbling, but another resident urgently needs help. While sprinting from room to room, professionals meet in the hallway, want to briefly exchange some information, and the whole thing ends in a brusque exchange of words. „Especially when things have to happen quickly and the stress level is high, texts should be short, to the point and relevant,“ says Flume. Furthermore, he says, it is important not to assign blame to anyone, but to speak purely in terms of the task at hand. „It also helps to take the stress out for a moment,“ advises the rhetoric trainer.
Breathing helps
Stress-free conversations are especially important when it comes to personal aspects. But how do you manage to take the stress out for a moment? „There are a few simple relaxation exercises that take no more than a few seconds and still have a great effect,“ knows the Nürtinger. The simplest: close your eyes and take three deep breaths. „That means: by no means react immediately, but first build up distance. In fact, focusing on breathing is something that helps super.“
Objective feedback vs. „I-messages“
Giving feedback to the other person can benefit future processes. However, professionals should phrase the feedback – especially negative feedback – correctly to effect change in the desired direction.
„To avoid making the person feel personally attacked, the speaker should phrase it objectively,“ Flume says. In addition, examples of a wide variety of situations help to justify the feedback. „In this way, the person being evaluated learns that it is a matter of recurring patterns that are visible at a wide variety of moments. He or she can understand the criticism better this way than if an example is used to try to justify the assessment.“ Likewise with positive feedback: the person giving the praise should provide clear and objective feedback based on examples of what is particularly praiseworthy.
On the other hand, in acute cases, such as a colleague’s brusque tone between doorsteps, it makes sense to formulate in a first-person message with added impact. For example: Stefan, I find your tone very aggressive. It makes me angry and I fear that our conversation could escalate unnecessarily. In general, however, Flume advises: „Allow your conversation partner, and also yourself, to get carried away once in a while. Every word doesn’t have to land on the gold scale.“
Listen and observe
Good communication also involves listening properly to colleagues or employees and paying attention to body language. „If I listen selectively and do not observe how the other person’s body underpins their words, I only react to stimulus words or key words,“ clarifies the rhetoric trainer. These words reflect one’s own reality and interpretation rather than the other person’s statement. „So an exchange stands or falls with the right listening and observation.“
Inner and outer attitude
When talking with colleagues, interest and respect for the other person’s opinion are essential. This is even more true if the people do not share the same view. „The important thing is to have the inner attitude of being genuinely interested in what the other person is saying,“ Flume knows. Otherwise, an exchange planned as a conversation can quickly turn into a debate. „There it is no longer about successful cooperation, but about presenting one’s own opinion.“ As a current example, the rhetoric trainer cites the vaccination debate surrounding Covid-19.
The external attitude, on the other hand, concerns appearance. „In order to conduct a conversation, I have to face the other person,“ says the rhetoric trainer. He advises seeking eye contact in an engaging manner, consciously setting pauses and thus giving the interlocutor the chance to process what has been said and to react appropriately.
