Teamwork is a fundamental aspect of success within a business. Where animal care is concerned, working in a team and effectively communicating with one another is integral. Remember you are dealing with the lives of animals, some of which are the only companions individuals may have. Effective team communication is vital to the successful running of a business. When looking at animal care, without effective communication, there are risks to the health and care of the animal, without it resentment, incomplete tasks, bullying and many other negative aspects may occur.
Before we look into the basic principles of communicating with a team, the following video illustrates communication that has taken place between Dr. Chris Brown and a police officer bringing in a puppy. As you watch the video, be mindful of the communication between the two and listening techniques and responses that take place. You will also find, a snippet of an emergency where the VET applied swift communication with his team in response of the treatment being applied to the animal.
When you are looking at effectively working in a team, there are basic communication principles that you can apply to ensure you and the rest of the team are effectively communicating.
Consider the following principles.
Respect one another
Everyone has a right to provide a suggestion or have an opinion and they deserve to be heard. You don't necessarily need to agree with their idea, but you do need to respectively listen to them and if need be, offer a constructive counter argument. Another element of respect is the attitude you display to your supervisors. They have earned their right to be respected and you must be polite and follow their instructions.
Be polite and courteous
Simple manners can make all the difference when communicating with team members. Please, thank you and excuse me are easily inserted into a conversation, request or statement and should always be used.
Support one another
If a team member is extremely busy with a difficult situation then you should offer to help them out. By supporting them in their time of need will hopefully be an act that is returned if you ever require assistance.
Tolerance
Workplaces can be very diverse. Differences in religion, race, age, gender, and sexual orientation can present some challenges with communication, however tolerance should always be practiced. Try to familarise yourself with different customs, hobbies and interests of your teammates. It goes without saying that abuse and discrimination should never occur, it is illegal and essentially cruel.
Empathy
Sometimes people are experiencing a hard time either work related or in their personal lives. Try to show understanding and consideration to their situation, however, don't offer direct advice unless you are specifically asked to.
When engaging in any type of communication, it is important to consider how you can present yourself when you are speaking. This is not a matter of what you wear or how you look, but the style in which you facilitate a presentation to stakeholders, whether they are internal colleagues or external clients.
There are several types of presentation styles, however we are going to look closely at the following which you may observe or need to apply in the animal care industry. Some of these may include:
- storyteller
- freeform
- visual
- director
- data scientist
- connector
- instructor.
Let us look at these in further detail to help establish your understanding of each presentation style.
Storyteller
Those with a storyteller presentation style will often use an emotive approach from past experiences to gauge the audience’s attention. In animal care, you may observe a veterinarian providing examples of previous experiences during training, or consultations with clients to help with a message resonating. Those facilitating with the storyteller style of presentations use this when they have ample time and do not need numbers, data or statistics to support their work.2
Freeform
The freeform presentation style is reserved for those with an abundance of experience on the topic which they are facilitating. In animal care, there are veterinarians that have specific fields of expertise such as ophthalmology for animals. These vets would be able to use a freeform presentation style when they hold specific experience in their field. Like the storyteller, the freeform presentation style also applies the sharing of short stories or personal experiences to convey a message to the receiver.2
Visual
The visual presentation style, as the name suggests relies heavily on the use of visual aids such as graphs, charts, and images to enhance the audience experiences. Though if you are choosing to use this presentation style, you will need to ensure you have a balance of both imagery and text to help support the presentation. One of the benefits of using this presentation style, especially with the complexity of animal studies, using visuals can help the audience understand what you are explaining. For instance, a vet may use an X-ray as a visual aid to help explain the issue to the nurse assisting with treatment.2
Director
The director presentation style tends to add focus to a logical flow and will often have notes, scripts or palm cards prepared during their presentation. When using a PowerPoint to carry out a slide show, they will have arranged the slides in such a way that it aligns with the logical flow of their presentation style.2
Data scientist
Those who apply the data scientist presentation style, hold emphasis on the facts and data they have collated from statistics. This presentation style is one that holds key advantages with persuasion if necessary. Though contrary to this, where data is concerned there is really no room for error, and you must ensure the information you are using, or you have collected is legitimate and obtained from reliable sources. In the animal care industry data can be particularly useful when it comes to advising treatments for animals. For example, data may have been collected over time for the treatment of arthritis in dogs, if you know the specific statistics of the success rate of these treatments, the level of professionalism is elevated because there has been enough research conducted to support the recommendation.2
Connector
The connector presentation style is one to consider in the animal care industry because it relies on developing a connection with their audience. Humans are naturally compelled to interaction and are more than likely to develop a sense of trust when they are connected to others. This is particularly important when establishing a relationship with the client and their pets. As you will come to learn, some people have only animal companions and often become rather distressed when their animals are unwell. Developing a connection between the client and the vet can help support a nurturing and trusting relationship.2
Instructor
Finally, we look at the instructor presentation style. This particular presentation style is one you will find very early on in your career with those more experienced than you are, taking this approach to teach (or instruct) the high level of complexity in this industry. The instructor presentation style will often use a logical order to support the ideas they are teaching or conveying to then break down in a simplified and easier to understand version of the same idea.2
Your job role in the Animal Care industry will have many types of rules, regulations, and instructions that you are required to abide by. It is your responsibility to ensure you are aware of them and endeavour to follow them all.
Instructions may include formal policies and procedures and workplace guidelines such as dress codes and hours of work. They are likely written in a Code of Conduct, or a Policies and Procedures Manual and you will be informed of them as part of your workplace induction. Ramifications of not abiding by these types of instructions may be that the business is breaking the law, or a serious accident may occur or there is a loss of money. Ensure you are aware of all the relevant policies and procedures that relate to your job role and undertake them to the best of your ability.
Other instructions may be less formal, they might be directions issued by your supervisor or they may be requests made by other colleagues. As these types of instructions are not usually written down (unless they have been emailed to you) it is important that you listen properly and seek clarification if you are confused about the request. Always follow through on informal tasks and report back to the person who issued the request with a progress report when you have finished.
Within the animal care industry, seeking clarification is particularly important as you are dealing with the lives of animals. In high-risk situations, you may be quite stressed and exhausted from keeping up with a high pace, so it is normal for someone to become flustered or miss things if their mind is not clear or present now. Sometimes you may not even recall every single step for a range of reasons. If you find that this is a common occurrence, it may also be that you just need a different method to keep up with the high load of new information. The following are some examples of how you can keep up with higher loads of information.
- Refer to poster.
- Take notes.
- Watch videos.
- Engage in further training.
Find out what works well for you and then discuss it with your supervisor to apply it to your role. It is always better to be proactive rather than reactive.
Team meetings are common and often a compulsory requirement in many companies or businesses. Workplace meetings usually follow some sort of set pattern. This may relate to when they are scheduled. Some may be weekly, how long they run for, perhaps 1 hour, where they are held in the board room or a more informal location.
They often have an agenda, which is effectively a list of the proposed discussion points. Usually, in the lead up to the meeting, the agenda will be circulated, and input requested. Depending on your workplace the team meetings may be very formal, or they might be quite relaxed chats, this will probably depend on the type of management structure that exists, and the topics covered in that meeting.
Formal meetings tend to be held in meeting/board rooms and have a chairperson. Formal notes, known as minutes, will be kept outlining the main discussion topics and follow up tasks. Minutes can be beneficial to anyone who did not attend the meeting.
Informal meetings may be smaller group chats held either in the office or outside, perhaps at the local coffee shop. Formal minutes may not be recorded however participants may be encouraged to take their own notes.
An example of an informal meeting could be a catch up on the happenings of the clinic via the social media platform and an informal meeting could be about staff first aid training which is to be scheduled in the coming days.
Regardless of the type of meeting, there are some basic guidelines that you should always follow.
- Read the agenda prior to the meeting, familiairse yourself with the proposed topics. Perhaps contribute your own item/s.
- If you are required to provide a report or summary of your duties then be prepared with any handouts, presentation, or statistics that you may require. Prepare some basic dot points of what you need to say so that you do not forget anything.
- Be an active participant in all the discussion topics, ask questions and provide suggestions.
- Be an effective listener for the duration of the meeting, understand that not all the ideas raised will be exactly what you have in mind.
- Remain open to new ideas and suggestions and give praise where possible. It is not easy to bring a new idea to the table, so it is important to acknowledge and show appreciation to ensure the other team members feel comfortable to share their thoughts.
- Take notes - while not necessary to jot down notes, it is an effective way to retain information for yourself or others to access or review. This way you can access this at a later time to simply obtain a refresher of what was discussed. E.g. In the meeting, the practice manager had explained that all pets coming in as a standard patient are to enter from front of building, however all other patients are to be entering from the back entrance to avoid having to use the staircase. This kind of information would be a small detail for the meeting, but it is important to remember for now and in the future.
