Effective Communication Protocols for Community Services

This assignment delves into the significance of establishing clear communication protocols between community service organizations. It emphasizes the need to address various factors, including inclusivity, duty of care, mandatory reporting, informed consent, and networking. The assignment requires students to demonstrate effective verbal communication skills, such as voice projection, asking questions for clarification, and speaking at a speed the audience can understand. Students are also expected to consider sensitivity, spelling, grammar, and brevity when engaging in written communication with their manager. The assignment encourages students to think critically about the benefits of networking, including benchmarking, business opportunities, and growth expansion.

Assessment Task One: Short Answer Questions
1. The way you communicate with work colleagues could be very
different to the way you communicate with clients.
a) Suggest some reasons for communicating to staff members and
clients associated with your organisation. (List 3 for each)
Reasons for communicating with staff members.
1. Communicating with team members helps in improving their effectiveness
by acting on given instructions.
2. It helps in getting feedback.
3. It is an effective way of ensuring there is a good employer-employee
relationship.
Reasons for communicating with clients.
1. It helps in developing and maintaining client loyalty.
2. Communicating with clients helps the organization to be well informed of
their client needs. This is through feedback.
3. Through communication, the organization informs clients of new products,
and any other developments which may affect their relationship.
b) Describe an instance when using open-ended questions might
be better than using closed-ended questions. Justify your
answer.
When the management of an organization intends to change the existing
organizational structure and they would like to get suggestions from staff
members on how to go about it. The best way would be to issue questionnaires
to the staff requiring them to write down their views, suggestions and
recommendations.
This way, the menbers of staff will not be limited to the number of suggestions,
views and recommendations. In this situation, open-ended questions are best
suited because they will give the respondednts trhe freedom to explore al areas
of the organization.

2. An example of a conflict of interest exists in the workplace when a
worker accepts a monetary bribe from a client for a better service.
a) Define the term ‘conflict of interest’ in your own words.
It is a situation in which a person tries to do things that are meant for their
personal gain while in their official capacity.
b) Describe 2 more occasions when a conflict of interest could
occur in your specific work role
1. A driver uses a company vehicle for public transport, especially
during the time when they have pending official assignments.
2. A manager gets an intern to work on their personal businesses
instead of working for the organization. E.g., when a manager
orders an intern to pick her clothes from the dry cleaner instead
of working in the office.
3. Working inclusively is one way that employees can ensure they are
working with the needs and objectives of an organization in mind.
1. Describe your understanding of ‘inclusive practice.’
Inclusive practice is the process in which the management ensures that their
employees are comfortable at the workplace by identifying and recognizing their
differences and attitudes. It can also be achieved through providing training and
learning opportunities equitably.

2. Provide 3 specific examples of ways that your organization can
work more inclusively in regard to how they communicate with
clients.
1. Mastering the different channels of communication which work well for
different clients. For instance, some clients prefer written
communication to phone conversations.
2. Respecting clients’ religious beliefs in communication practice.
3. For clients with special needs, the organization can introduce braille for
the blind and sign language for the deaf.
The link in Activity 3 of your workbook could be useful in helping you to answer
the next two questions.
4. Explain why community service organizations should strive to
implement effective communication strategies in the
workplace.
(Hint: what are the benefits of effective communication?)
1. Effective communication helps in managing diversity in the workplace.
With people from different cultures, religion and age groups, effective
communication is an effective way of managing the diversity.
2. It is important in problem-solving. Whenever there is disagreement in
the workplace, effective communication can be applied. For instance,
handling rumours.
3. Assume you are working with an Aboriginal client and you are
about to meet in person for the first time. When talking to the
client, describe 5 things you could consider doing to make sure
the client feels comfortable and trusting.
1. Be courteous. Use respectful language when addressing the client,
2. Be a keen listener and ask questions when need be.
3. Avoid too much jargon to ensure they fully understand.
4. Use body language appropriately.e.g, be jovial and smile.
5. Do not ask questions that are too personal to avoid looking intrusive.

4. As a community services worker, you will often face situations where
you’ll need to adapt your communication method to suit the context
within which you work.
a) Suggest a situation where you/your organization might use the
following communication strategies.
i. Putting together a response that is culturally
appropriate
When addressing a community that supports gay culture, one may have to be
careful to respond to their concerns delicately without offending their audience.
ii. Providing a sufficient amount of time to enable stories
to be told
When dealing with children or elderly people, you may need to create enough
time for them to give their stories because they like giving stories with a lot of
details.
When communicating with an audience of a different language, one may need to
give time for them to articulate their words or engage a translator.
iii. Traditional media techniques
When trying to get information from old people, one may be required to use
techniques such as television and newspapers.
iv. Using digital media
When dealing with an audience that comprises of purely young people and are
conversant with such media like social media platforms. These are good for mass
civic education.

v. Emailing colleagues
When holding group discussions about a matter of common interest to the
colleagues.
b) List a possible disadvantage of communicating with a client via
email
People decode emails differently and may misinterpret the tone hence getting
the wrong message.
c) Describe at least 4 things that community service organisations
need to take into account when using social media to
communicate with clients and stakeholders
1. organizations should consider the presence of the stakeholders and
clients in the different platforms. Do they use the platform?
2. Ability to get feedback. The platform used should be capable of
allowing for feedback between sender and recipient.
3. Confidentiality of the message. If the information is not meant for
public consumption, the organization may need to use other
communication channels.
4. Urgency of the message. Urgent messages may need to be
conveyed using phone calls.

5. Legal and ethical responsibilities should form an integral part of any
proposed communication strategy. Explain the importance of the
following factors within the context of your work role.
(Tip: You may provide examples if you wish, however, where
appropriate examples should relate to the State or Territory within
which you work/study)
a) Privacy, confidentiality and disclosure of information
The importance of observing privacy, confidentiality and disclosure of
information regulation is to protect clients and respondents from slander, libel
and any other form of defamation. It also helps them in building trust with the
personnel they are dealing with
b) Discrimination
Laws against discrimination ensure help in protecting employees against any
unfair treatment based on gender, age, religion or culture.
It ensures that inclusive practice and diversity are embraced in the workplace.
c) Duty of care
Duty of care regulations ensure that professionals are held accountable of their
actions on clients and juniors.
They help in ensuring that client needs are well taken care of.
d) Mandatory reporting
These legislation is important in ensuring that all vices are reported to the
relevant authorities. Such reporting is important to ensure that the health and

safety of victims is taken care of. It also a good way of ensuring that the
vulnerable in the society receive justice.
e) Informed consent
Informed consent is important in ensuring that patients understand the type of
treatment that is being administered to them and the possible outcomes and
risks associated with it.
It protects health practitioners against unnecessary lawsuits that patients may
file against them.
6. Communication protocols allow organisations to streamline their
strategies and provide guidance to those using them.
1. Give an example of a communication protocol that relates to
clients and could exist between two community services
agencies
A child rescue centre establishing a communication with paediatric hospitals for
treatment of sick children.
2. Outline some of the key questions that such protocols should
address. List at least 7.
1. Are there any protocols in existence that could strengthen the
relationship between two organizations?
2. What barriers are likely to arise?
3. Are there any benefits that the protocol will bring?
4. Does it allow people to access information and communicate messages
appropriately?
5. What communication techniques does it encompass?
6. Can it be used to put together culturally acceptable responses?
7. Is it convenient?

8. Use your questions from above to help you determine any forms
of support and/or resources that you might need before
implementing communication protocols. Suggest at least 4
things.
1. Legal support lawyers
2. Publications to invite willing hospitals into partnership.
3. Writers.
4. Donors and sponsors to finance expected expenses.
5. Imagine that you are working for a drug and alcohol
rehabilitation service and you need to develop a communication
protocol with a community service that provides emergency
accommodation. What do you think would be the purpose of
this communication protocol?
The purpose of the communication protocol would be to call for any community
service organization that can accommodate drug addicts and alcoholics.
7. When promoting communication strategies it is important to take a
lot of different factors into account.

Refer to the scenario and brief in Assessment Task Three. Assume
you are presenting this information in person to a group of staff
members.
a) Describe 4 visual aids or resources you could use to help
present your information to the group.
1. Power point slides.
2. Drawings.
3. Handouts
4. Whiteboard
b) List 3 key interpersonal skills required to demonstrate effective
verbal communication in this instance.
1. Voice projection.
2. Asking questions for clarification.
3. Speaking at a speed the audience can understand.
c) Describe how you would demonstrate each of the skills above
with an example.
(Hint: This could include any considerations. For example, if
you had a strong accent, you may need to take steps towards
slowing your speech and making your communication clearer)
1. Voice projection. If you speak in a low tone, you may need to increase the
volume of your voice to be audible.
2. Speed. You may need to slow down your speech for people to properly
hear what you say.
3. You may need to ask some questions from tour audience to ensure that
they actually understand what you say.
d) List and explain at least 3 considerations you should take into
account with any written communication between you and your
manager.
1. Sensitivity.
When you are addressing your manager, the language should be official
and respectful.
2. Spelling, grammar and syntax.
Your messages should be well revised to avoid spelling, punctuation and
grammar mistakes.
3. Brevity.
Your message should be brief and precise.

8. Networking can help organisations to achieve their goals and core
objectives whilst providing a lot of other benefits. Suggest 3 reasons
why community service organisations might want to network with
others in the sector.
1.For benchmarking purposes. An organization may need to learn some few
things from their peers.
2.It can be a source of business. Networking opens opportunities for business.
3.When organisations network, they open their doors to opportunities for growth
and expansion.