Ethic in Communication

Faculty of Medicine

Sriwijaya University

A team

Remember Youll work in a team

A team is a small group of people with complementary skills who are committed to a common purpose, performance goals, and approach for which they hold themselves mutually accountable.

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Credo for Ethical Communication

Questions of right and wrong arise whenever people communicate. Ethical communication is fundamental to responsible thinking, decision making, and the development of relationships and communities within and across contexts, cultures, channels, and media.
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Credo for Ethical Communication- Cont.

Moreover, ethical communication enhances human worth and dignity by fostering truthfulness, fairness, responsibility, personal integrity, and respect for self and others. We believe that unethical communication threatens the quality of all communication and consequently the well being of individuals and the society in which we live.
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Ethical Guidelines
Keep Confidences Ensure Timeliness of Communication Confront Unethical Behavior Cultivate Empathic Listening

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Effective Communication
The message should be understood. The message should achieve its intended effect. The message should be ethical.

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What is Ethics?

Ethics are the beliefs, values, and moral principles by which we determine what is right or wrong. An ethics of a particular kind is an idea or moral beliefs that influences the behavior, attitudes, and philosophy of life of a group of people.

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ethics

Ethics is the study of principles of conduct that apply to an individual or group Four moral considerations used in ethical dilemmas:
1. 2. 3. 4.

Rights Justice Utility care

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Seven principles for ethical communication:

1. 2.

3. 4. 5. 6. 7.

Abide by relevant laws Abide by the appropriate corporate or professional code of conduct Tell the truth Dont mislead your audiences Be clear Avoid discriminatory language Acknowledge assistance from others
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Telling the 'truth'

Here's an area that seems to be clear-cut: Don't falsify data or state as truth something that you know to be false Don't deliberately misrepresent the facts.

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Telling the 'truth (Cont.)

Less clear-cut, because they are not always so easy to do, are the following:
o o

Distinguish between facts and opinions Always check the facts Don't assume that what an 'expert' has said is the truth; experts can make mistakes too, or they might lie

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Rhetoric - choosing your words

Even if you have the facts, you can distort the message, either deliberately or accidentally, through such techniques as:

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1. Using loaded words

Rhetoric (Cont.)

Terms like 'admitted' instead of 'said' or 'stated' ('admitted' makes the speaker sound reluctant, as if he or she would prefer to hide something), or 'alarming' and 'dramatic' when a statistical increase or decrease is fairly small. I don't 'admit' that I am a feminist; I may proclaim, announce, or state it.

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2. Using discriminatory language

Rhetoric

(Cont.)

Audiences will be only too aware of this practice.

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3. Using sentence structure to convey subtleties of meaning

Here are two statements:

The first sentence leaves one with the impression that Jean might not be the speediest worker, but her results are excellent. The second sentence suggests that although Jean's results are very good, she takes far too long to achieve them.
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'Jean's work is slow, painstaking and meticulous.' 'Jean's work is meticulous, painstaking and slow.'

4. Sensationalizing
This is related to the use of loaded words, mentioned above. To get peoples attention, one often feels the need to find something dramatic or sensational to say. When is this ethical, and when isn't it?

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5. Using logical fallacies Presenting something as proof when it is only evidence is one very common logical fallacy. Sometimes it's caused by a lack of understanding, but other times is deliberate. Other logical fallacies include taking things out of context and jumping to conclusions; there are many more.

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Commitment to professional excellence and ethical behavior means that you will:
1.

2.
3.

4. 5.

Use language and visuals with precision. Prefer simple, direct expression of ideas. Satisfy the audience's need for information, not my own need for selfexpression. Hold myself responsible for how well my audience understands my message. Respect the work of colleagues, knowing that a communication problem may have more than one solution.
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Using Words to Establish Supportive Relationships

1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6.

Describe your own feelings rather than evaluate others Solve problems rather than control others Be genuine rather than manipulative Empathize rather than remain detached from others Be flexible rather than rigid toward others Present yourself as equal rather than superior

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Be an Effective Communicator

When we communicate effectively and feel understood, work and lifeare satisfying. We feel in control, valued, trusted and respected.
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Are you an effective communicator?

Listen attentively to what colleagues say. Feel empathy for associates. Know how people with different cultural backgrounds or learning styles generally react in given situations. Respect others' opinions even if they differ from mine. Recognize others' contributions. Summarize what I hear others say during a conversation.
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Some tips:
Respect others and value their opinions. Respect is a key ingredient in nourishing relationships and creating a just society. It requires trust, equality, empathy and connectedness in all kinds of relationships. Practice listening. Attentive listening is an active process. It requires energetic participation, openness and receptivity. Sometimes it requires intense conversation; other times it requires being silent.
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Practice the following active listening skills:

Clarify. Ask questions when you're not clear about something. This will enable you to get more information and demonstrate your interest and concern. "Please tell me more about that. "Can you give me an example?"

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Practice the following active listening skills-(Cont)

Some people feel threatened by questions, so be gentle and supportive. Be careful with "why" questions. Instead of, "Why do you want to take a night course?", try "Is there something special you want to learn?"

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Practice the following active listening skills-(Cont)

Reflect content. Summarize what you hear the person say to correct misunderstandings. Reflect feelings. Let the person know you hear the emotional content.

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Practice the following active listening skills-(Cont)

Listen between the lines. What's the person feeling but not saying? Try empathy. "If I were experiencing that I would feel sad." Learn to be assertive. Stand up for your rights in a friendly way. State your perceptions, share your thoughts and feelings, and make your needs and desires clear.

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Practice the following active listening skills-(Cont)

Ralphfiennes Voldemort

Watch your body language. When speaking to others, maintain eye contact. This conveys honesty and confidence. Speak in a level, modulated voice. Avoid grimaces, lip biting, fidgeting. Relax your arms and legs, stand tall.
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Practice the following active listening skills-(Cont)

Stick to the facts. Avoid words like "always" and "never." These seldom describe reality and often elicit defensive reactions. Make specific requests rather than complaints. "What can we do to keep the refrigerator clean?" This will initiate more constructive action than, "Look at the dirty, smelly refrigerator. It hasn't been cleaned for a year."

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Practice the following active listening skills-(Cont)

Establish appropriate limits for your personal and professional life. Separate the person from the task. Say "No" to the request without rejecting the requester. If the requester persists, say: "I understand your need; I just can't take on any more right now."

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Practice the following active listening skills-(Cont)

Recognize individual differences. Gender, cultural background, birthplace, occupation, learning preferences and personality types are just a few factors contributing to different communication styles. Recognizing and respecting differences can reduce misunderstanding, frustration and resentment.

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Practice the following active listening skills-(Cont)

Extroverts, for example, may monopolize conversations, take initiative, and talk without thinking. Introverts, who are more private and think before acting or speaking, may find extroverts rude and annoying. Extroverts may find introverts aloof and detached. Both types could benefit from understanding how others perceive them and modify their communication to accommodate different styles.
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Practice the following active listening skills-(Cont)

Feedback and recognition. Feedback, praise and support are necessary to evaluate performance, achieve feelings of accomplishment, confidence and self-reliance, and enhance productivity. Let others know you appreciate their efforts or achievements. Praise is most effective when it's linked to a specific activity, quality or attribute.
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Receiving Feedback from Others

Few people are eager to have others disagree with them, and even fewer people want to discuss issues with someone who is angry or hostile. Nonetheless, part of effective communication is being able to productively engage in conflict and to be able to give and receive constructive criticism.
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Here are four things you can do when someone disagrees with you, your opinion, or a proposed solution:
1.

2.

Many times, when a person is criticizing our ideas, we decide that the person is criticizing our personhood (Ruiz). Practice not taking criticism personally. Evaluate if you are taking the constructive criticism personally.

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. you can do when someone disagrees with you

3.

4.

Get yourself in a continuous improvement mood; that is, this feedback is information that can help you become better better at the substance of the issue or better at interpersonal skills. Find something that you can agree with and express that agreement.

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A major source of problem in communication:

Defensiveness

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Defensiveness

A major source of problem in communication is defensiveness. Realize that when people feel threatened they will try to protect themselves; this is natural. This defensiveness can take the form of aggression, anger, competitiveness, avoidance among other responses.
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Defensiveness Cont.-2)

A skillful listener is aware of the potential for defensiveness and makes needed adjustment. He or she is aware that self-protection is necessary and avoids making the other person spend energy defending the self.

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A supportive and effective listener does the following:

Stop Talking: Asks the other person for as much detail as he/she can provide; asks for other's views and suggestions Looks at the person, listens openly and with empathy to the employee; is clear about his position; be patient

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A supportive and effective listener (cont.)-3

Checks for understanding; paraphrases; asks questions for clarification Don't control conversation; acknowledges what was said; let's the other finish before responding Focuses on the problem, not the person; is descriptive and specific, not evaluative; focuses on content, not delivery or emotion

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A supportive and effective listener (cont.)-3

Attend to emotional as well as cognitive messages (e.g., anger); aware of non-verbal cues, body language, etc.; listen between the lines React to the message, not the person, delivery or emotion Make sure you comprehend before you judge; ask questions
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A supportive and effective listener cont.-2

Dumbledore

Listen and Respond in an interested way that shows you understand the problem and the other's concern is validating, not invalidating ("You wouldn't understand"); acknowledge other's uniqueness, importance

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A supportive and effective listener (cont.)-4

Make sure you comprehend before you judge; ask questions Use many techniques to fully comprehend Stay in an active body state to aid listening Fight distractions (if in a work situation) Take Notes; Decide on specific follow-up actions and specific follow up dates
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References

http://web.cba.neu.edu/~ewertheim/interp er/commun.htm#introd, July 23, 2006 http://www.foundationcoalition.org, July 23, 2006.

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