Free Essay: Communication, Facilitative, Collaborative, and Teamwork Skills

While in my internship at Kaiser Permanente, I learned several things regarding healthcare management. I also gained the administration experiences with the help of my medical directors and managers that aided in giving me the best interactions and skills that boosted my performances. However, this program learning outcome will encompass the diverse skills and knowledge that I developed in the program, and how it assisted me to boost my performances. While at Kaiser Permanente, I engaged myself with different medical and healthcare activities that made me draft a report of my experience in the facility and all the administrative activities.

Is your time best spent reading someone else’s essay? Get a 100% original essay FROM A CERTIFIED WRITER!

Order now

However, while in the program, I developed different facilitative, communication, collaborative, and teamwork skills that helped me in diverse ways. Firstly, communication was one of the crucial aspects of the program. I used several communications skills that I developed with the help of the medical directors and my managers. My internship program became achievable because of the different communication skills that I encompassed, especially when dealing with the patients and doing all the healthcare activities. Moreover, my communication and interaction with the managers helped me teamwork skills that boosted my performances.

One of the communications skills that I used in the internship program is friendliness, as learned in the readings (Vries,, Bakker-Pieper & Oostenveld, 2010). I enhanced my friendship with my managers and directors. This was an action that added me an advantage because of how we interacted and how we worked together in the healthcare program. My friendliness with these kinds of people made me understand how different situations are solved and how the patients are handled with the great care. Another example of the communications skills that I used in the program is confidence and listening (Bambini, Washburn & Perkins, 2009). In most of the perspectives, confidence is the crucial aspect that can improve the competency of working. With this concept in mind, confidence and listening made me understand things that I did not know in the past. For instance, I approached the clients with diverse issues. Confidence made me accomplish such practices. On the other hand, I listened to what I was told by the managers and directors, and that is why my internship became perfect with the communication skills.

Conversely, my professional and ethical standards aligned my personal and organizational conduct. I was responsible for the patients and community in terms of care and support as evident in the readings (Bodenheimer, Wagner & Grumbach, 2002). I learned a number of things based on dealing with the patients with the support of the community and the external environment. I accomplished all these activities by using the best communication and facilitative skills in the program. The other communications skills that I used in the program are clarity and concision. Through these communication skills, my work was perfect and it led to positive outcomes. Throughout the program, I learned to be clear and brief. This was intended to save time in the department.

Therefore, I developed these communications skills with the aim of gaining knowledge and working perfectly. On the other hand, I used several ways to develop these communication skills. One of the ways is that I searched all the significant materials that talk about the importance of encompassing communication skills in the working areas (Suter, Arndt, Arthur Parboosingh, Taylor & Deutschlander, 2009). This made me develop more communication skills that helped me to perform my works in the department. Another thing that made me develop the communications skills is the support from my manager and medical administrators. They taught me how to perform well and interact with the patients and community by using communication and facilitative skills. The process of interacting with the people was accomplished by using the collaborative and teamwork skills. This was also the way that the skills were developed- through teamwork and collaboration with the community.

While in the program, I maintained a close relationship with the internal and external customers. I facilitated these interactions through concise and clear communications. This shows that I encompassed and developed the communication skills that helped me in so many ways including my performance in the department.

Another aspect based on the communication, facilitative and collaborative skills that I developed is that my experience in the program was made through interactions and how I communicated with the directors and administrators. The communication skills such as verbal and non-verbal communication developed through daily activities. For instance, I used non-verbal communications when dealing with the customers with critical conditions and those who cannot talk. On the other hand, I developed verbal communications with the patients and community when dealing with less critical situations that needed time. Therefore, the applied skills enhanced the relations and association with all the internal and external customers.

Professional speaking abilities were also one of the communications skills that I developed while in the program. Because I was one of the interns in the program, using the professional speaking abilities was crucial. I used the medical and healthcare terms to describe a situation and encompass my profession in working with the community. However, I developed my professional speaking abilities through daily experiences and interaction with other personnel who understood all the activities and facilities in the department.

Furthermore, I also developed negotiation and excellent presentation throughout the program. These communication skills came up during the application of the business principles such as strategic planning and quality improvements. During my internship period, I could negotiate with the external customers when there is a necessary implementation or any quality improvement. These activities enhanced my communications skills and the performance in the Kaiser Permanente.

The criteria in which the communication skills were developed depended on the type of communication skill and where it was used and applied. For instance, presentation and negotiation skills were developed during the meetings with the external customers and all the related associates. On the other hand, verbal and non-verbal communication skills were developed during the interaction with the patients and all the internal customers. The same thing applies to friendliness and confidence. These skills were developed during the interaction between me and my manager or the administrator.

On the other hand, I developed persuasive speaking as one of the communication skills. While in the program, I used persuasive speaking to approach patients who have diverse issues. By so doing, it made them believe in themselves and the future. This was one of the skills that improved the well-being of the patients and all the internal customers in the healthcare organization. Persuasive speaking developed with time depending on the number of issues to be solved and also the type of presentations to be presented to the crowd. This was, therefore, one of the crucial communication skills that assisted in the enhancement of the healthcare and administration facility.

Based on the teamwork skills, these were the skills that I developed regarding the relationships and the ability to perform different activities with both the internal and the external customers as learned in the readings (Kalisch, Curley & Stefanov, 2007). Teamwork was developed by using various criteria. For instance, duties and responsibilities were shared with the interns depending on whether he or she can do them. This enhanced teamwork and relationships in the administration.

Therefore, all the works that were done while in the program were enhanced by the diverse communication, facilitative, collaborative, and teamwork skills that were applied. The diverse skills helped me in performing my tasks and being one of the best interns in the department. I learned several aspects while in the program that included care and maintenance of the patients. I also learned how to approach problems with the help of the medical director and administrator. However, there were some other skills that were developed that included multitasking, technical skills, interpersonal and intrapersonal skills, dependability, and prioritization. All these skills came up because of my experience in the department and the way I was guided by my manager and the administrator. Thus, my experience in the Kaiser Permanente was one of the achievable attainments for my internship. I understood the healthcare system and all the activities and practices that were carried out in the environment. Through my communication, facilitative, collaborative, and teamwork skills, I achieved a successful performance and also attained the organization's strategic change. Consequently, what I learned in the program made me an experienced intern who understand all the healthcare strategies and business principles in the medical perspective. The growth of my communication skills developed through the encompassment of course works and other materials that influenced by communication and collaboration in the department.

Leadership, Strategic Planning, and Change Management Skills

While in the program, there were several leadership skills, strategic planning skills, and change management skills that were developed. These skills were to ensure that the healthcare activities were carried out successfully to enhance better performances. Thus, as interns, our leader conveyed diverse leadership skills that motivated us throughout the program. The leader also developed some of the strategic planning skills that helped in implementing some of the innovations and developments in the internal environment. Change management skills also encompassed the different kinds of changes that were made to the program regarding the healthcare and administration.

Therefore, one of the leadership skills that were developed in the program is creativity (Mumford & Simonton, 1997). This is the skill whereby a leader comes up with new strategies that can improve the performance of an organization. Creativity was developed and used in place of the situations that needed critical thinking. With these concepts in mind, I learned that creativity was used to enhance my performance as an intern. Another leadership skill that was developed in the department was motivation. As widely known, motivation entails the use of influencers and other forms of motivation to improve the working ability of the customers and employers. This type of leadership skill was used to influence the interns to work hard and put their effort when dealing with both the internal and external customers. For instance, the medical director, the administrator, and all the healthcare representatives used diverse motivations to teach me and other interns the ways of achieving the goals and being successful in the career.

Another leadership skill that was used in the program is communication and responsibility (Scarman, 1986). According to the research, a good leader communicates to the employees and always come up with the strategies that will benefit all the internal customers of an organization. Therefore, while in the internship program, communication was highly encouraged. Furthermore, responsibility was developed. This is a skill where a leader performs his or her tasks as required.