Sikkim Manipal University - MBA - MU0011– Management and Organizational Development

Semester: 3 - Assignment Set: 2

Q.1) Explain the role negotiation technique in detail.

Ans:-

Role Negotiation

Role Negotiation was first described by Roger Harrison.

The idea

The expectations of others largely decide a person's role. When these are clear, role conflict and role
ambiguity can reduce. Everyone knows what everyone else expects. Role negotiation is a process for
clarifying these expectations. You negotiate with an individual not a group.

The method

1. Each person writes down privately the following: -

In order for me to achieve my objective (For example to contribute effectively to the work), I
would like you to: -

Do these three
things....................................................................................................................

Keep doing these three

things.......................................................................................................

Stop doing these three

things.........................................................................................................

2. Each person then shares their information with their partner. At this stage just listen and seek
clarification, don't argue or get defensive! It helps to have equal time to talk.
3. The parties now negotiate their expectations. A party can: -

Say "Of course I will accede to your request". This would be sensible if the request is easy and gives
you an immediate benefit.

Say "I can't do that because......" The request might violate your values, by being (say) unethical, or it
might be politically impossible..

Say "I would be prepared to meet your request if you would help me with this one of mine". The
request might not give you an immediate benefit and demand work. Acceding would help your
colleague and the team. You would also get something back directly.

4 The parties record and preferably display their agreements. This helps people to follow through with
their decisions.

Hints
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• Play the negotiation straight. If you use tactics or manipulation, then people will not use the
technique again. They will also become suspicious of all the management techniques you use.
• Make your requests small, clear and doable. People can agree to use the right form for
something and deliver this. It is not sensible to ask people to be more efficient and expect them
to deliver that.
• Aim for equity in the negotiations. If people "give in" to every demand they will feel exploited
later. People who want something for themselves for everything they give will lose co-operation.
People will think they are mean.
• People have found an external facilitator helpful. This person can help to build a supportive and
equitable climate and manage the process. Both can be difficult for a manager who is involved in
the negotiations personally.
• Give the process enough time. The expectations take time to clarify. This is often the first time
people have talked directly about how they work together.

Q.2) Explain the Johari Window model.

Ans:-

Johari Window
Known to Not Known to
Self Self

Known to Others

Not Known to Others

The Johari Window, named after the first names of its inventors, Joseph Luft and Harry Ingham, is one
of the most useful models describing the process of human interaction. A four paned "window," as
illustrated above, divides personal awareness into four different types, as represented by its four
quadrants: open, hidden, blind, and unknown. The lines dividing the four panes are like window
shades, which can move as an interaction progresses.

In this model, each person is represented by their own window. Let's describe mine:

1. The "open" quadrant represents things that both I know about myself, and that you know about me.
For example, I know my name, and so do you, and if you have explored some of my website, you know
some of my interests. The knowledge that the window represents, can include not only factual
information, but my feelings, motives, behaviors, wants, needs and desires... indeed, any information
describing who I am. When I first meet a new person, the size of the opening of this first quadrant is
not very large, since there has been little time to exchange information. As the process of getting to
know one another continues, the window shades move down or to the right, placing more information
into the open window, as described below.

2. The "blind" quadrant represents things that you know about me, but that I am unaware of. So, for
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example, we could be eating at a restaurant, and I may have unknowingly gotten some food on my
face. This information is in my blind quadrant because you can see it, but I cannot. If you now tell me
that I have something on my face, then the window shade moves to the right, enlarging the open
quadrant's area. Now, I may also have blindspots with respect to many other much more complex
things. For example, perhaps in our ongoing conversation, you may notice that eye contact seems to
be lacking. You may not say anything, since you may not want to embarrass me, or you may draw your
own inferences that perhaps I am being insincere. Then the problem is, how can I get this information
out in the open, since it may be affecting the level of trust that is developing between us? How can I
learn more about myself? Unfortunately, there is no readily available answer. I may notice a slight
hesitation on your part, and perhaps this may lead to a question. But who knows if I will pick this up, or
if your answer will be on the mark.

3. The "hidden" quadrant represents things that I know about myself, that you do not know. So for
example, I have not told you, nor mentioned anywhere on my website, what one of my favorite ice
cream flavors is. This information is in my "hidden" quadrant. As soon as I tell you that I love "Ben and
Jerry's Cherry Garcia" flavored ice cream, I am effectively pulling the window shade down, moving the
information in my hidden quadrant and enlarging the open quadrant's area. Again, there are vast
amounts of information, virtually my whole life's story, that has yet to be revealed to you. As we get to
know and trust each other, I will then feel more comfortable disclosing more intimate details about
myself. This process is called: "Self-disclosure."

4. The "unknown" quadrant represents things that neither I know about myself, nor you know about
me. For example, I may disclose a dream that I had, and as we both attempt to understand its
significance, a new awareness may emerge, known to neither of us before the conversation took place.
Being placed in new situations often reveal new information not previously known to self or others. For
example, I learned of the Johari window at a workshop conducted by a Japanese American psychiatrist
in the early 1980's. During this workshop, he created a safe atmosphere of care and trust between the
various participants. Usually, I am terrified of speaking in public, but I was surprised to learn that in
such an atmosphere, the task need not be so daunting. Prior to this event, I had viewed myself and
others had also viewed me as being extremely shy. (The above now reminds me of a funny joke, which
I cannot refrain from telling you. It is said that the number one fear that people have is speaking in
public. Their number two fear is dying. And the number three fear that people have, is dying while
speaking in public.) Thus, a novel situation can trigger new awareness and personal growth. The
process of moving previously unknown information into the open quadrant, thus enlarging its area, has
been likened to Maslow's concept of self-actualization. The process can also be viewed as a game,
where the open quadrant is synonymous with the win-win situation.

Much, much more has been written on the Johari window model of human interaction. The process of
enlarging the open quadrant is called self-disclosure, a give and take process between me and the
people I interact with. Typically, as I share something about myself (moving information from my
hidden quadrant into the open) and if the other party is interested in getting to know me, they will
reciprocate, by similarly disclosing information in their hidden quadrant. Thus, an interaction between
two parties can be modeled dynamically as two active Johari windows. For example, you may respond
to my disclosure that I like "Cherry Garcia" by letting me know what your favorite ice cream is, or
where a new ice cream shop is being built, kinds of information in your hidden quadrant. Incidentally, it
is fattening, so be careful on how much you eat!

We believe disclosure to be healthy, at least that's the impression one gets after reading Freud.
However, Anita Kelly recently wrote that self-disclosure of personal secrets has its dangers. We are
often better off not telling secrets regarding our sexual behavior, mental health problems or large-scale
failures. "If you give people information about yourself, you give them power over you," she says.
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Monica Lewinsky's disclosure to Linda Tripp and the ensuing scandal that enveloped President Clinton is
a case in point. Be forewarned that most secrets get passed along to at least two more parties. People
also misjudge how others respond to secrets. Sometimes you get negative feedback. For example, a
women who reveals that she was raped may be seen in the future as a victim, or by men as damaged
goods. Now, if you must tell your secret to someone, chose that person very carefully. Chose someone
whose response will give you some insight into your problem. Unfortunately, such a person is often
hard to find. So if you cannot find anyone appropriate, consider this: that keeping secrets is healthy
and tasteful, because it is a way of managing your identity, and indicates you are secure and have self-
control. But it takes energy, because you have to be on constant guard not to accidentally reveal
something that is potentially damaging.

As ones level of confidence and self esteem develops, one may actively invite others to comment on
one's blind spots. A teacher may seek feedback from students on the quality of a particular lecture,
with the desire of improving the presentation. Active listening skills are helpful in this endeavor. On the
other hand, we all have defenses, protecting the parts of ourselves that we feel vulnerable. Remember,
the blind quadrant contains behavior, feelings and motivations not accessible to the person, but which
others can see. Feelings of inadequacy, incompetence, impotence, unworthiness, rejection, guilt,
dependency, ambivalence for loved ones, needs to control and manipulate, are all difficult to face, and
yet can be seen by others. To forcibly reveal what another wishes not to see, is "psychological rape,"
and can be traumatic. Fortunately, nature has provided us with a variety of defense mechanisms to
cope with such events, such as denial, ignoring, rationalizing, etc.

The Johari window, essentially being a model for communication, can also reveal difficulties in this
area. In Johari terms, two people attempt to communicate via the open quadrants. On the simplest
level, difficulties may arise due to a lack of clarity in the interaction, such as poor grammar or choice of
words, unorganized thoughts, faulty logic etc. This induces the receiver to criticize you, the sender, by
revealing something that was in your blind quadrant. Then, if the feedback works, you correct it
immediately, or perhaps on a more long term approach take a course in reading and writing. On a
deeper level, you may be in a group meeting, and while you secretly sympathize with the minority
viewpoint, you voted with the majority. However, blind to you, you actually may be communicating this
information via body language, in conflict with your verbal message. On an even deeper level, you in
an interaction with others, may always put on a smiling, happy face, hiding all negative feelings. By
withholding negative feelings, you may be signaling to your friends to withhold also, and keep their
distance. Thus, your communication style may seem bland or distant.

And let's not forget the parable of the blind men and the elephant. Our society is constructed so that
many of us get very specialized, knowing only a small academic field very well, while being virtually
ignorant of all others. This specialization is blinding many of us to what is happening in the world today.
According to R. Buckminister Fuller, this system of education was done on purpose, to channel the most
intelligent people into specialties, enabling them to be more easily controlled. Noam Chomsky has
made similar comments with regards to the manufacturing enterprise, and how Adam Smith's writings
have been purposely misrepresented.

Q.3) Discuss quality circles.

Ans:-

Quality Circles are (informal) groups of employees who voluntarily meet together on a regular basis to
identify, define, analyze and solve work related problems.
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Semester: 3 - Assignment Set: 2

Usually the members of a particular team (quality circle) should be from the same work area or who do
similar work so that the problems they select will be familiar to all of them. In addition,
interdepartmental or cross functional quality circles may also be formed.

An ideal size of quality circle is seven to eight members. But the number of members in a quality circle
can vary.

Other Names of Quality Circles

• Small Groups
• Action Circles
• Excellence Circles
• Human Resources Circles
• Productivity Circles

Objectives of Quality Circles

• Promote job involvement

• Create problem solving capability
• Improve communication
• Promote leadership qualities
• Promote personal development
• Develop a greater awareness for cleanliness
• Develop greater awareness for safety
• Improve morale through closer identity of employee objectives with organization's objectives
• Reduce errors.
• Enhance quality
• Inspire more effective team work
• Build an attitude of problem prevention
• Promote cost reduction
• Develop harmonious manager, supervisor and worker relationship
• Improve productivity
• Reduce downtime of machines and equipment
• Increase employee motivation

Quality Circle Meetings

• Meetings are important part of quality circle's working.

• Meetings are attended by all the members of the quality circle.
• In general, meetings take place once a week or once in a fortnight.
• Each meeting lasts for approximately one hour, though variations are possible.
• Apart from the frequency of the meetings, what is important is the regularity of the meetings.

What Takes Place During Quality Circle Meetings?

Any of the several activities may occur during a meeting such as:

• Identifying a theme or a problem to work on.

• Getting training as required to enable members to analyze problems.
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Semester: 3 - Assignment Set: 2

• Analyzing problem(s).
• Preparing recommendations for implementing solution(s).
• Follow up of implementation of suggestions.
• Prepare for a presentation to the management.

What Quality Circles are Not? (Misconcepts)

• Quality Circles do not tackle just quality problems.

• Quality Circle is not a substitute or replacement for task forces, product committees, joint plant
councils or works committees, quality assurance department, suggestion schemes.
• Quality Circles do not change the existing organizational structure or the chain of command.
• Quality Circles are not a forum for grievances or a spring board for demands.
• Quality Circles are not a means for the management to unload all their problems.
• Quality Circles are not just another technique.
• Quality Circles are not a panacea for all ills.

Pitfalls and Problems

• Lack of faith in and support to Quality Circle activities among management personnel
• Lack of interest or incompetence of leaders/facilitator
• Apathy, fear and misunderstanding among middle level executives
• Delay or non-implementation of Circle recommendations
• Irregularity of Quality Circle activities
• Non-application of simple techniques for problem solving
• Lack of or non-participation by some members in the Circle activities
• Circles running out of problems
• Antagonism of non-members towards Quality Circle operations
• Inadequate visibility of management support
• Complexity of problems taken up
• Non-maintenance of Quality Circle records
• Too much facilitation or too little
• Language difficulty in communication
• Communication gap between Circles and departmental head
• Change of management
• Confusing Quality Circle for another technique
• Resistance from trade unions

Structure of Quality Circles Program

Six Basic Elements

• Circle participants or members.

• Circle leaders/deputy leaders.
• Program facilitator.
• Steering/advisory committee.
• Top management.
• Non-participating management/members.

How Do Quality Circles Operate?

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Semester: 3 - Assignment Set: 2

• Appointment of a steering committee, facilitator and QC team leaders.

• Formation of QCs by nomination/voluntary enrolment of QC members.
• Training of all QC members (by an expert consultant).
• Training of non-participating employees (by an expert consultant).
• Problem data bank and identification of problems for QC work.
• QC problem resolution by QCs through standardized techniques.
• Presentation of QC solutions to management.
• Evaluation of award/recognition.

Code of Conduct for QCs

• Attend all meetings and be on time.

• Listen to and show respect for the views of other members.
• Make others feel a part of the group.
• Criticize ideas, not persons.
• Help other members to participate more fully.
• Be open to and encourage the ideas of others.
• Every member is responsible for the team’s progress.
• Maintain a friendly attitude.
• Strive for enthusiasm.
• The only stupid question is the one that is not asked.
• Look for merit in the ideas of others.
• Pay attention- avoid disruptive behavior.
• Avoid actions that delay progress.
• Carry out assignments on schedule.
• Give credit to those whom it is due.
• Thank those who give assistance.
• Do not suppress ideas- do express.
• Objectives and causes first, solutions next.
• Give praise and honest appreciation when due.
• Ideas generated by the group should not be used as individual suggestions to suggestion
scheme.

Problem Solving Tools and Techniques Used by Quality Circles

Given below are the most commonly used tools and techniques. These are called the old QC tools:

• Brainstorming.
• Pareto analysis.
• Cause and effect diagram (or fish bone diagram or Ishikawa diagram).
• Histogram.
• Scatter diagram
• Stratification
• Check sheet
• Control charts and graphs

New QC Tools

Quality circles started using additional seven tools as they started maturing. These are:
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1. Relations diagram.
2. Affinity diagram.
3. Systematic diagram or Tree diagram.
4. Matrix diagram.
5. Matrix data analysis diagram.
6. PDPC (Process Decision Program Chart).
7. Arrow diagram.

Benefits of QC

• Self development.
• Promotes leadership qualities among participants.
• Recognition.
• Achievement satisfaction.
• Promotes group/team working.
• Serves as cementing force between management/non-management groups.
• Promotes continuous improvement in products and services.
• Brings about a change in environment of more productivity, better quality, reduced costs, safety
and corresponding rewards.

Q.4) What is the role of organizational politics? Explain.

Ans:-

Organizational politics is an inescapable and intrinsic reality. Organizational politics is so intricately

woven with management system that relationships, norms, processes, performance and outcomes are
hugely influenced and affected by it.

Organizational politics defined

Organizational politics can be described as self serving and manipulative behaviour of individuals and
groups to promote their self interests at the expense of others, and some times even organizational
goals as well. Organizational politics in a company manifests itself through struggle for resources,
personal conflicts, competition for power and leadership and tactical influence executed by individuals
and groups to attain power, building personal stature, controlling access to information, not revealing
real intents, building coalitions etc.

Interplay between leadership, authority, influence and followers

How organizational politics is related to leadership can be better understood from the fact that
organizational leadership occurs in the context of groups, where followers are influenced by the leader
to ensure their commitment and voluntary involvement towards predetermined outcomes.
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Political climate of an organization is impacted by a leader through treatment and use of authority
under different settings which is clearly visible during the acts of decision making, setting agenda and
interaction with others to mobilize support, inspire teams and individuals and recognize people.

This interplay between leaders and their authority & influence over the followers set the tone for
political climate in an organization.

Understanding of organizations’ political systems - key to success

Understanding of organizations’ political systems is absolutely essential for leadership to maneuver the
company towards the goals. Internally grown leaders will have an advantage of knowledge of general
political conditions prevailing in the company (different coalitions and centers of influence which can
create buy in or create road blocks). Leaders from outside must put efforts to learn and understand the
existing organizational politics through keen observation and focused interaction with different groups
of people. Some of the indicators available for leaders to assess political climate is general job
satisfaction levels, responsiveness to innovative ideas, efficacy of decision making machinery and speed
of implementation of decisions. Understanding is the key for leaders to exploit and smother
organizational politics and also to enhance their own leadership credibility.

Leveraging political understanding for advantage

Leaders use political leverage available to them under different situations in order to promote the
organizational interests.

Once the understanding of organizational politics is gained leaders may use political leverage available
to them under different situations in order to promote the organizational interests. Leaders exploit
organizational politics even to graduate to leadership positions as potential leaders with proper political
orientation may:

• Time the opportunity to highlight their contribution

• Ensure top management support for difficult decisions or initiatives
• Make use of suitable persons (experts, consultants, experienced persons with right image etc.)
to put their point across
• Show respect for hierarchy in spite of the hurdles that it may create
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Also political acumen of leaders is put to test when dealing with aspects such as change management
and crisis management. In such situations leaders need to quickly identify the group which is going to
support them and build a strong coalition with counter strategies backed by overwhelming facts and
reasons before the war begins thereby preempting a war. Also crucial at these times is the choice of
the persons made responsible to fight the war (change agents or crisis management team) and how
critical support is made available to them through subtle changes in organization structure and
resource allocation.

Promoting progressive culture not politics

Indisputably, leaders are source of power, influence and hence politics in an organization. Since people
have needs and leaders have the authority to fulfill these needs, those who fulfill the needs hold
potential power. Leaders can to a great extent smother political climate having negative impact on the
people attitudes and organization outcomes by aligning individual needs with organizational goals, in
such a way that fulfillment of collective goals results in automatic fulfillment of individual needs also.
Leaders must realize that organizational politics is a function of culture of trust in the organization,
which is built through values of fairness and transparency. Fair play, justice and transparency in
procedures and processes is key in creating an environment where organizational politics take back
seat and a progressive culture is established which gives prominence to organizational goals through
voluntary involvement of individuals. In other words, leaders must inspire people into action by
creating clarity and unity of purpose and build synergies through organizational values.

It is extremely important for leaders to understand, exploit and smother the political climate
in the company to maximize the organizational outcome and satisfaction levels of the
people.

Q.5) Discuss OD applications for merged and acquired organizations.

Ans:-

Gaughan (1991) defines a merger as a combination of two corporations in which only one corporation
survives and the merged corporation goes out of existence.

Vaara, defines a merger

“…as a combination of organizations of fairly similar size, which creates an organization where neither
party can clearly be seen as the acquirer.”

The three main types of mergers are :

Conglomerate merger – In this type the two companies don’t have to be related in any way at all, in
fact the conglomerate may want unrelated companies in its portfolio because it allows spreading of
risks. Two other types are vertical and concentric mergers.

Vertical mergers – are practically the same as forward or backward integration, which allows a
company to control a bigger part of the whole product chain.
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Concentric mergers – are mergers between two companies in different but somehow related industries,
which allows the companies to share marketing or technical resources, related mergers occur when
companies in the same industry merge their activities. These mergers allow a high level of synergy but
they may also require a higher degree of integration than the other types of mergers

In case of acquisition, one organization is acquired by the other organization. The acquiring
organization dominates the terms and conditions. The acquired organization has to follow the decisions
usually. The employees of the erstwhile organization tend to be unsure about how things will eventually
turn out. The days before and after the merger are of minimal clarity. Employees tend to wonder who
will be retained, who will be asked to go, in terms of leaders, colleagues and team members. Also the
culture of the new organization suddenly needs to be accepted by the employees who were prior to the
merger operating a certain manner or a different culture. These tend to create too many questions, and
the ability of the staff to focus on the job and remain productive tends to deteriorate.

A merger or acquisition can sufficiently transform the structures, cultures and employment prospects of
one or both the organizations that they cause organizational members to feel stressed, angry,
disoriented, frustrated, confused, and even frightened. These reactions fester under the surface of the
combination and reflect high levels of anxiety and stressful reactions, heightened self-interest and
preoccupation with the combination, cultural clashes, restricted communication and crisis management
orientations, creating problems at both the individual and organizational levels.

The clash between the two cultures in a merger or acquisition can be focused into three major areas:

1. Structure. These factors from the two cultures include the size, age, and history of two firms; the
industry in which the partners come from and now reside; the geographic location; and whether
products and/or services are involved.

2. Politics. Where does the power and managerial decision making really reside? Corporate cultures
range from autocratic extremes to total employee empowerment, and how this plays out among the
partners will be important to cultural compatibility.

3. Emotions. The personal feelings, the “culture contract” that individuals have bought into to guide
their day-to-day thoughts, habits, attitudes, commitment, and patterns of daily behavior. These
emotions will be a major input into the clash or compatibility of the two cultures.

An OD consultant can ensure all the right steps are taken to address concerns and also find ways for
the most valuable assets and human resources to be retained by the organization and to find ways to
leverage the rest based on their strengths and the opportunities in the organization. This is to ensure
assets or human resources are not lost to competition due to the uncertainties’.

E.g. The merger between Fluor Corporation and St Joe Minerals Corporation.

St Joe was decentralized, lean staff, frugal, informal, and run with a light hand. Fluor was highly
centralized, with large corporate staff, many reporting levels, and many controls on decision making. In
contrast to St Joe’s frugality Fluor had planes and helicopters for use by its large central staff. This
cultural conflict was so great that none of senior St Joe managers who went to Fluor stayed on, and of
the 22 senior officers in St Joe at the time of merger, only a few remained two years later. (Nguyen H.,
Brian H., 2003)
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The Merger OD team consists of people who assemble, review, and analyze sensitive, competitive, and
other confidential data for the company’s top executives, who must examine the information to make a
final decision on the deal. An OD team may consist of active employees, former employees, third
parties, or a combination of these. They operate under certain protocols and rules that deal with the
highly sensitive issue that they are looking at information that could affect competition between the
two companies should the deal fall through.

What is noted first are differences in the ways the companies do business, e.g., a relative emphasis on
manufacturing versus marketing or a predominantly financial orientation versus a technical approach.
Next, differences in how the companies are organized, e.g., centralization versus decentralization or
variations in styles of management and control, are discerned.

Q6) Write a note on training for consultation skills.

Ans:-
The importance of communication skills teaching in the context of undergraduate medical education has
increasingly been recognized over the past decade. Within postgraduate medical education, its role in
the curriculum is stressed in the training of general practitioners (GPs). It can also be argued that
teaching in this area should continue in the postgraduate setting in secondary care, particularly as the
content of many secondary care consultations requires a high level of specialist knowledge.
Successful consultations are the foundation of good medical practice and demand competent
communication skills from all doctors. In a publication entitled ‘Tomorrow's doctors' the General Medical
Council has listed, among essential attributes of every independent practitioner regardless of speciality,
possession of consultation skills, which include ‘skills in sensitive and effective communication with
patients and their families…’
Patients rightly expect their doctors to be effective communicators, and communication failure has been
cited as the commonest cause of complaint by patients . Specific areas of complaint centre on: failure
to gather adequate and accurate information; failure to provide sufficient, comprehensible information;
failure to listen to patients' concerns; neglect of patients' psychosocial needs; and failure to develop a
mutually acceptable relationship with patients.
There is evidence that patients benefit from consultations with doctors possessing good interpersonal
skills, not only in terms of satisfaction but also through improved compliance with treatment and better
health outcomes . Even when the physician has no effective therapy to offer, demonstrating
understanding and empathy and providing adequate information reduces patient anxiety and distress.

Consultation skills can be taught and assessed , and there is a significant evidence base to inform the
context, content and methods of such teaching . Even taking a biomedical view of the consultation, in
which eliciting all relevant information and reaching a clear diagnosis is the paramount goal, there is
evidence that specific teaching of communication skills improves the performance of medical students
and that this improvement is sustained .
Prior to 1991, there seems to have been very little undergraduate teaching of communication skills in
UK medical schools , and there is evidence that implementation is still patchy and poorly integrated,
with departments of psychiatry and general practice being the prime movers . Therefore, it is to be
expected that many UK doctors currently undergoing specialist training will not have experienced any
communication skills training and would benefit from this, both for their own clinical practice and as
teachers and supervisors of their juniors.
In the UK, the specialist registrar has been established as a higher‐grade training post that leads to
accreditation for eligibility to become a consultant . Within the medical specialities, the post is started
after completion of the Royal College of Physicians membership examination. Specialist registrars in
rheumatology in West Midlands have monthly joint educational workshops, lasting a full day. Until the
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advent of the workshop reported here, the emphasis had tended to be on specialist skills and
knowledge.

Objectives
As an introductory workshop, we set limited and rather general objectives:
1. to define the purpose of effective communication;
2. to examine the style, content and outcomes of real consultations;
3. to increase the understanding of the consultation process, using different schemes and models;
and
4. to use the techniques and material to improve our own consultations.
Structure and process
A key element in planning the workshop was to demonstrate cooperation between a consultant, with
subjectspecific knowledge and skills, and a general practitioner educationist, with generic skills in
consultation teaching and practice. The latter was responsible for the overall format of the workshop,
whilst the former constructed the case scenarios and led discussion on these.
The workshop took place in a postgraduate medical centre, away from everyone's usual place of work.
It was planned as a half day session for 14 registrars. Following a brief introduction, it consisted of the
following three main components.
(i) Small group discussion to address the following questions:
1. Is effective communication with patients important and why?
2. What do I try to achieve in a consultation?
3. What do patients want to get out of it?
4. What went wrong with a recent ‘bad’ consultation? Why did it go wrong and what could have
changed it?
(ii) Videotape of consultations. Consultations were selected from videotape recorded by the facilitators
and shown to the groups after a short introduction, emphasizing important ‘rules' for handling this
material.
1. Respect for the patient: consent and confidentiality issues.
2. Respect for the doctor: Pendleton's Rules
3. Clarity about the purpose for looking at the tape: avoiding clinical discussion; discovering what
the doctor bringing the video would like to achieve; deciding on any observational tools or
framework to use.