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8 Ways You Can Improve Your Communication Skills

Your guide to establishing better communication habits for success in the workplace.

Mary Sharp Emerson

A leader’s ability to communicate clearly and effectively with employees, within teams, and across the organization is one of the foundations of a successful business.

And in today’s complex and quickly evolving business environment, with hundreds of different communication tools, fully or partially remote teams, and even multicultural teams spanning multiple time zones, effective communication has never been more important — or more challenging.

Thus, the ability to communicate might be a manager’s most critical skill. 

The good news is that these skills can be learned and even mastered. 

These eight tips can help you maximize your communication skills for the success of your organization and your career.

1. Be clear and concise

Communication is primarily about word choice. And when it comes to word choice, less is more.

The key to powerful and persuasive communication — whether written or spoken — is clarity and, when possible, brevity. 

Before engaging in any form of communication, define your goals and your audience. 

Outlining carefully and explicitly what you want to convey and why will help ensure that you include all necessary information. It will also help you eliminate irrelevant details. 

Avoid unnecessary words and overly flowery language, which can distract from your message.

And while repetition may be necessary in some cases, be sure to use it carefully and sparingly. Repeating your message can ensure that your audience receives it, but too much repetition can cause them to tune you out entirely. 

2. Prepare ahead of time

Know what you are going to say and how you are going to say before you begin any type of communication.

However, being prepared means more than just practicing a presentation. 

Preparation also involves thinking about the entirety of the communication, from start to finish. Research the information you may need to support your message. Consider how you will respond to questions and criticisms. Try to anticipate the unexpected.

Before a performance review, for instance, prepare a list of concrete examples of your employee’s behavior to support your evaluation.

Before engaging in a salary or promotion negotiation, know exactly what you want. Be ready to discuss ranges and potential compromises; know what you are willing to accept and what you aren’t. And have on hand specific details to support your case, such as relevant salaries for your position and your location (but be sure that your research is based on publicly available information, not company gossip or anecdotal evidence). 

Before entering into any conversation, brainstorm potential questions, requests for additional information or clarification, and disagreements so you are ready to address them calmly and clearly.

3. Be mindful of nonverbal communication

Our facial expressions, gestures, and body language can, and often do, say more than our words. 

Nonverbal cues can have between 65 and 93 percent more impact than the spoken word. And we are more likely to believe the nonverbal signals over spoken words if the two are in disagreement. 

Leaders must be especially adept at reading nonverbal cues. 

Employees who may be unwilling to voice disagreements or concerns, for instance, may show their discomfort through crossed arms or an unwillingness to make eye contact. If you are aware of others’ body language, you may be able to adjust your communication tactics appropriately.

At the same time, leaders must also be able to control their own nonverbal communications. 

Your nonverbal cues must, at all times, support your message. At best, conflicting verbal and nonverbal communication can cause confusion. At worst, it can undermine your message and your team’s confidence in you, your organization, and even in themselves. 

4. Watch your tone

How you say something can be just as important as what you say. As with other nonverbal cues, your tone can add power and emphasis to your message, or it can undermine it entirely.

Tone can be an especially important factor in workplace disagreements and conflict. A well-chosen word with a positive connotation creates good will and trust. A poorly chosen word with unclear or negative connotations can quickly lead to misunderstanding. 

When speaking, tone includes volume, projection, and intonation as well as word choice. In real time, it can be challenging to control tone to ensure that it matches your intent. But being mindful of your tone will enable you to alter it appropriately if a communication seems to be going in the wrong direction.

Tone can be easier to control when writing. Be sure to read your communication once, even twice, while thinking about tone as well as message. You may even want to read it out loud or ask a trusted colleague to read it over, if doing so does not breach confidentiality. 

And when engaging in a heated dialogue over email or other written medium, don’t be too hasty in your replies. 

If at all possible, write out your response but then wait for a day or two to send it. In many cases, re-reading your message after your emotions have cooled allows you to moderate your tone in a way that is less likely to escalate the conflict.

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5. Practice active listening

Communication nearly always involves two or more individuals.

Therefore, listening is just as important as speaking when it comes to communicating successfully. But listening can be more challenging than we realize. 

In her blog post Mastering the Basics of Communication , communication expert Marjorie North notes that we only hear about half of what the other person says during any given conversation. 

The goal of active listening is to ensure that you hear not just the words the person is saying, but the entire message. Some tips for active listening include:

• Giving the speaker your full and undivided attention
• Clearing your mind of distractions, judgements, and counter-arguments. 
• Avoiding the temptation to interrupt with your own thoughts.
• Showing open, positive body language to keep your mind focused and to show the speaker that you are really listening
• Rephrase or paraphrase what you’ve heard when making your reply
• Ask open ended questions designed to elicit additional information

6. Build your emotional intelligence

Communication is built upon a foundation of emotional intelligence. Simply put, you cannot communicate effectively with others until you can assess and understand your own feelings. 

“If you’re aware of your own emotions and the behaviors they trigger, you can begin to manage these emotions and behaviors,” says Margaret Andrews in her post, How to Improve Your Emotional Intelligence .

Leaders with a high level of emotional intelligence will naturally find it easier to engage in active listening, maintain appropriate tone, and use positive body language, for example.  

Understanding and managing your own emotions is only part of emotional intelligence. The other part — equally important for effective communication — is empathy for others.

Empathizing with an employee can, for example, make a difficult conversation easier. 

You may still have to deliver bad news, but (actively) listening to their perspective and showing that you understand their feelings can go a long way toward smoothing hurt feelings or avoiding misunderstandings.

7. Develop a workplace communication strategy

Today’s workplace is a constant flow of information across a wide variety of formats. Every single communication must be understood in the context of that larger flow of information.

Even the most effective communicator may find it difficult to get their message across without a workplace communication strategy.

A communication strategy is the framework within which your business conveys and receives information. It can — and should — outline how and what you communicate to customers and clients, stakeholders, and managers and employees. 

Starting most broadly, your strategy should incorporate who gets what message and when. This ensures that everyone receives the correct information at the right time. 

It can be as detailed as how you communicate, including defining the type of tools you use for which information. For example, you may define when it’s appropriate to use a group chat for the entire team or organization or when a meeting should have been summarized in an email instead. 

Creating basic guidelines like this can streamline the flow of information. It will help ensure that everyone gets the details they need and that important knowledge isn’t overwhelmed by extraneous minutia. 

8. Create a positive organizational culture

The corporate culture in which you are communicating also plays a vital role in effective communication. 

In a positive work environment — one founded on transparency, trust, empathy, and open dialogue — communication in general will be easier and more effective. 

Employees will be more receptive to hearing their manager’s message if they trust that manager. And managers will find it easier to create buy-in and even offer constructive criticism if they encourage their employees to speak up, offer suggestions, and even offer constructive criticisms of their own. 

“The most dangerous organization is a silent one,” says Lorne Rubis in a blog post, Six Tips for Building a Better Workplace Culture . Communication, in both directions, can only be effective in a culture that is built on trust and a foundation of psychological safety.

Authoritative managers who refuse to share information, aren’t open to suggestions, and refuse to admit mistakes and accept criticism are likely to find their suggestions and criticisms met with defensiveness or even ignored altogether. 

Without that foundation of trust and transparency, even the smallest communication can be misconstrued and lead to misunderstandings and unnecessary conflict.

Communicating with co-workers and employees is always going to present challenges. There will always be misunderstandings and miscommunications that must be resolved and unfortunately, corporate messages aren’t always what we want to hear, especially during difficult times.

But building and mastering effective communication skills will make your job easier as a leader, even during difficult conversations. Taking the time to build these skills will certainly be time well-spent. 

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About the Author

Digital Content Producer

Emerson is a Digital Content Producer at Harvard DCE. She is a graduate of Brandeis University and Yale University and started her career as an international affairs analyst. She is an avid triathlete and has completed three Ironman triathlons, as well as the Boston Marathon.

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Students' approaches to developing scientific communication skills

Affiliation.

• 1 Faculty of Medicine, School of Biomedical SciencesThe University of Queensland St. Lucia Queensland Australia.
• PMID: 38932698
• DOI: 10.1152/advan.00009.2024

Science communication is a core skill for undergraduate science students to acquire in preparation for their future careers, but studies show that this skill is underdeveloped in science graduates. The aim of this study was to discover the resources and approaches undergraduate students use to effectively develop their science communication skills and how the use of these methods relates to academic performance on a communication task. Undergraduate students undertaking a second-year biomedical science course ( n = 490) were asked which approaches and resources they used to aid the development of their science communication skills, and the frequency of their responses was correlated against their laboratory report mark, using multiple regression and relative weights analysis. Students' ( n = 453) use of Communication Learning in Practice for Scientists (CLIPS; an open-access interactive website on science communication), resources provided by the university, interactions with university teaching staff, and engagement with the scientific literature significantly predicted the laboratory report mark. Students enrolled in a blended format or in remote online learning only, and in different programs, performed comparably in the written report and used similar approaches and resources, other than remote students reporting more use of other online resources and students in blended learning engaging more with university resources. Together, these findings provide insight into which strategies are most helpful for undergraduate students to engage with to improve their scientific communication skills. The findings highlight that the provision of well-designed interactive communication resources, guided assessment resources, and opportunities to engage with teaching staff can assist in the development of science communication skills. NEW & NOTEWORTHY This study identifies the approaches and resources that undergraduate science students use to develop their science communication skills. It reveals which of these approaches and resources predict improved academic performance in a written science communication assessment task. The findings point to the importance of explicit guidance, and engagement with teaching staff, in advancing the development of science communication skills.

Keywords: academic performance; approaches; laboratory report; resources; science communication.

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How to communicate your research more effectively

Author: guest contributor.

by Angie Voyles Askham, Content Marketing Intern

"Scientists need to excite the public about their work in part because the public is paying for it, and in part because science has very important things to say about some of the biggest problems society faces."

Stephen S. Hall has been reporting and writing about science for decades. For the past ten years, he's also been helping researchers at New York University improve their writing skills through the school's unique  Science Communication Workshops . In our interview below, he explains why the public deserves good science communication and offers some tips for how researchers can make their writing clear and engaging.

How would you descr ibe your role as a science journalist?

I’ve always made a distinction between "science writer" and a writer who happens to be interested in science. That may sound like wordplay, but I think it captures what we aspire to do. Even as specialists, science journalists wear several hats: we explain, we report, we investigate, we step back and provide historical context to scientific developments to help people understand what’s new, why something is controversial, who drove a major innovation. And like any writer, we look for interesting, provocative, and deeply reported ways to tell these stories.

I know you from the science communication workshop that’s offered to NYU graduate students. One of the most important things that I got out of the workshop, at least initially, was training myself out of the stuffy academic voice that I think a lot researchers fall into when writing academic papers. Why do you think scientists fall into this particular trap, and how do you help them get out of it?

Scientists are trained—and rightly so—to describe their work in neutral, objective terms, qualifying all observations and openly acknowledging experimental limitations. Those qualities play very well in scientific papers and talks, but are terrible for effective communication to the general public. In our Science Communication workshops at NYU, we typically see that scientists tend to communicate in dense, formal and cautious language; they tell their audiences too much; they mimic the scientific literature’s affinity for passive voice; and they slip into jargon and what I call “jargonish,” defensive language. Over ten years of conducting workshops, we’ve learned to attack these problems on two fronts: pattern recognition (training people to recognize bad writing/speaking habits and fixing them) and psychological "deprogramming" (it’s okay to leave some details and qualifications out!). And a key ingredient to successful communication is understanding your audience; there is no such thing as the "general public," but rather a bunch of different potential audiences, with different needs and different levels of expertise. We try to educate scientists to recognize the exact audience they're trying to reach—what they need to know and, just as important, what they don't need to know.

What are some other common mistakes that you see researchers making when they’re trying to communicate about their work, either with each other or with the public?

We see the same tendencies over and over again: vocabulary (not simply jargon, but common expressions—such as gene “expression”—that are second-hand within a field, but not clear to non-experts); abstract, complicated explanations rather than using everyday language; sentences that are too long; and “optics” (paragraphs that are too long and appear monolithic to readers). We’ve found that workshops are the perfect setting to play out the process of using everyday language to explain something without sacrificing scientific accuracy.

Why is it important for researchers to be better communicators?

Scientists need to learn to tell their own stories, first and foremost, because society needs their expertise, their perspective, their evidence-based problem solving skills for the future. But the lay public, especially in an era where every fact seems up for grabs, needs to be reminded of what the scientific method is: using critical thinking and rigorous analysis of facts to reach evidence-based conclusions. Scientists need to excite the public about their work in part because the public is paying for it, and in part because science has very important things to say about some of the biggest problems society faces—climate change, medical care, advanced technologies like artificial intelligence, among many other issues. As climate scientist Michael Mann said in a celebrated 2014 New York Times OpEd, scientists can no longer stay on the sidelines in these important public debates.

As a science journalist, part of your job is to hunt for interesting stories to tell. How can scientists make their work more accessible to people like you—or to other people outside of their specific area of research—so that their stories are told more widely?

The key word in your question is “stories.” Think like a writer. What’s the story behind your discovery? What were the ups and downs on the way to the finding? Where does this fit into a larger history of science narrative? Was there a funny incident or episode in the work (humor is a great way to draw and sustain public interest)? Was there a conflict or competition that makes the work even more interesting? Is there a compelling historical or contemporary figure involved that will help you humanize the science? It's been our-longstanding belief that scientists have a great intuitive feel for good storytelling (we incorporate narrative training in our workshops), but just don’t think about it when it comes to describing their own work. The other key thing is to explain why your research matters.

One of the ways that many researchers try to share their work is through Twitter, but I noticed that on the NYU website it says you’re a Twitter conscientious objector. Why is that? What effect do you think Twitter has had on science communication and journalism in general?

I actually think Twitter can be a great tool for science communication, and many of my colleagues use it deftly. I tend to gravitate toward stories that everyone is not talking about, so Twitter doesn’t help much in that regard. The larger reason I’m a Twitter “refusenik,” as my colleague Dan Fagin sometimes calls me, is that I think the technology has been widely abused to disseminate misinformation, intimidate enemies, and subvert democratic norms; I don’t use it primarily for those reasons.

Are there any other tips that you can offer researchers who want to be better communicators and just aren’t sure where to start?

One first step might be to see if your institution offers any communication training and to take advantage of those programs; if not, think about how you might establish a program. We’ve posted a few of the things we’ve learned at NYU on our website ; we’ve also established a publishing platform for science communicators at NYU called the Cooper Square Review , which is a good way for scientists to get experience publishing their own work and reaching a larger public.

Stephen S. Hall  has been reporting and writing about science for nearly 30 years. In addition to numerous cover stories in the New York Times Magazine, where he also served as a Story Editor and Contributing Writer, his work has appeared in The New Yorker, The Atlantic Monthly, and a number of other outlets. He is also the author of six non-fiction books about contemporary science. In addition to teaching the Science Communication Workshops at NYU, he also teaches for NYU's Science, Health and Environmental Reporting Program (SHERP) and has taught graduate seminars in science writing and explanatory journalism at Columbia University.

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Present or publish your research or creative activity, what is research communication.

"The ability to interpret or translate complex research findings into language, format, and context that non experts understand" (IDS 2011).

Research Communication

Research: Discovering new knowledge

Communication: The exchange of information

Research Dissemination vs. Research Communication: What is the difference?

Research communication incorporates the dissemination process but doesn't stop there! The process of tailoring your message for your audience is the hallmark of effective research communication .

Why should Research Communication matter..

Professional development

Improved communication skills

experiencing the real world of researching as well as presenting 

To the general public:

Improve the quality of life

Help with miscommunication and misconceptions

Increase interest and participation in the research field especially in the underrepresented social groups

To the research community:

Increase knowledge and further implement research in the future

Strong impacts in the research and science fields

Lead to new collaborations

The 7 C's of Communication

A checklist for communication:

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Research-Backed Ways to Save Your Marriage and Avoid Divorce

Emma atkinson, in their newest book, three du psychology professors break down how to avoid divorce using the basics of happy, communicative relationships..

Need a wedding gift for a happy couple in your life? 

Well, look no further—psychology professor Galena Rhoades has the perfect idea: her latest book, “Fighting for Your Marriage: Positive Steps for Preventing Divorce and Building a Lasting Love.”

The idea of “preventing divorce” and “fighting for your marriage” before it has even begun may seem like putting the cart before the horse, but Rhoades likens the book to a “how-to” handbook for relationships.

“We use manuals for just about everything we do, right?” she says. “We start doing a job, we get an employee handbook. We get pregnant, we read some books about what it means to be pregnant and what delivery is going to be like and what having a newborn is going to be like. We have kids, we read books on parenting, right? This is another manual that people can use.”

Co-written with fellow DU psychology faculty Howard Markman and Scott Stanley, the fourth edition of “Fighting for Your Marriage” is geared toward couples at any stage of a relationship, Rhoades says. 

“Whether they've just started a committed relationship; they're about to get married; they've been married for some time; they have young kids, they have older kids; they're empty nesters—these are skills and tools that people can use, regardless,” she says.

The book covers topics ranging from “talking without fighting” and “staying friends and having fun” to “the magical art of touch” and “commitment in an ever-changing world.” 

“All of us are couples therapists, and we have seen so many couples who feel like they're at the end, that they don't have any hope left,” Rhoades says. “And these are exactly the kind of skills that can really turn things around for a couple if they are really struggling.”

One of the chapters, “Ground Rules for a Great Relationship,” contains advice about making decisions on how to operate together, as a couple.

“Those ground rules would be things like using good communication skills—deciding to take a timeout when things get kind of heated and come back to that discussion,” Rhoades says. “Some couples might decide on some positive ground rules too, like, ‘We will devote time to being friends and going on dates together.’”

In part, the advice in the book is based on the PREP— Prevention and Relationship Education Program —approach, developed by Markman and Stanley and maintained by Rhoades over the last several decades. PREP is an evidence-backed collection of resources for educators, programs and therapists to help people have happy and healthy relationships.

The “P” in PREP—“prevention”—is a key aspect of the program, Rhoades says, and something that the book touches on as well.

“We come from a prevention perspective; these kinds of skills are really helpful when you're doing well, because they then give you the foundation for times that you disagree, when you go through rough periods,” she says. “With these tools, people are able to fall back on a foundation of really strong relationship skills, to be able to navigate those kinds of difficult periods and really weather the storms that come in any marriage.”

Rhoades says it’s never too late to learn the skills that help prevent conflict in relationships.

“These are things that we would like everybody to know as they're starting a relationship, starting a marriage,” she says. “They are also things that people can learn later on when they're in a marriage that's going well or when they're in a marriage where they're feeling kind of disconnected. Maybe you've been married 10 years. Maybe you've been married 40 years. These are still skills that are applicable to any stage.”

The most important tool in maintaining a healthy coupling, Rhoades says, is being intentional with the decisions you make together—and separately—about your relationship.

“This [book] is the best wedding present,” she says. “Because everybody should learn these skills and develop those ground rules for how they want things to go in their marriage, and it will, as we know from research, lead to better experiences together.”

Related Articles

Living Together Before Marriage: A Risky Move?

New DU Study Highlights Risks of Living Together Before Engagement

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The teaching and learning of communication skills for social work students: a realist synthesis protocol

Emma reith-hall.

Department of Social Work and Social Care, School of Social Policy, Muirhead Tower, Edgbaston, Birmingham, England

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Not applicable.

Good interpersonal communication is the cornerstone of social work practice, enhancing the outcomes of people in receipt of its services. Social workers’ communication skills are often identified as an area of concern. Communication skills can be developed and refined through training or education. The teaching and learning of communication skills is firmly embedded in many social work qualifying courses; however, considerable heterogeneity exists regarding such complex interventions and the theoretical underpinnings of which have not been made explicit. Realist synthesis can help explain how, why, for whom and in what circumstances an intervention might work, which is an important first step for helping educators to tailor courses to meet the needs of different learner groups and, where applicable, the employing agencies and government departments who fund them.

Realist synthesis is an interpretive, theory-driven and explanatory approach that aims to explain the interplay between the context, mechanisms and outcomes of interventions. This realist synthesis seeks to understand and explain to what extent, how, why, for whom and in what circumstances complex educational interventions aimed at teaching communication skills to social work students produces its effects. A five-step process will be followed iteratively. In step 1, the initial programme theory will be developed. Step 2 will involve searching for evidence. In step 3, selection and appraisal will take place. Step 4 requires data to be extracted and organised, and in step 5, data will be analysed and synthesised.

The teaching and learning of communication skills in social work education is under theorised. The findings from this realist synthesis aim to help policymakers and educators make informed decisions about the design and delivery of complex educational interventions aimed at improving the communication skills of social work students. The realist synthesis will be conducted and reported in accordance with the RAMESES guidelines and standards.

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The review is registered with the Open Science Framework. https://doi.org/10.17605/OSF.IO/BYHC7

Supplementary Information

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s13643-022-02125-w.

There is considerable consensus within the literature that good interpersonal communication is the cornerstone of social work practice [ 1 , 2 ], enhancing the outcomes of people in receipt of its services [ 3 ]. Serious case reviews and commissioned reports commonly identify social workers’ communication as an area of concern. Since interpersonal communication is a goal-driven and goal-directed process ‘undergirded by perceptual, cognitive, affective, and behavioural operations’ [ 4 ], communication skills can be developed and refined through training or education. Communication skills are firmly embedded within the curriculum of social work qualifying courses in a number of different countries including Australia, the UK and the USA [ 5 – 7 ]. In the UK, teaching communication skills became mandatory following the introduction of the degree programme 20 years ago [ 8 ]. The content, sequencing and pedagogy underpinning the educational interventions were not prescribed; hence, considerable variation exists both within the UK and further afield.

Knowledge and practice reviews have identified that the outcomes evidence underpinning these interventions is limited, and that the theoretical underpinnings of the teaching and learning of communication skills have not been made explicit [ 9 – 11 ]. Some time has passed since these reviews were undertaken, during which considerable research activity has taken place and new routes into the profession have proliferated. In the UK, for example, Think Ahead and Frontline seek to recruit high-achieving graduates, whilst Step Up and the new social work apprenticeship degrees recruit experienced support staff into undergraduate programmes. The time is ripe to revisit the literature on the teaching and learning of communication skills in social work education to update our knowledge so that policy and practice decisions can be better informed.

To address the first gap within the literature — the outcomes evidence — a systematic review aimed at investigating whether or not the teaching and learning of communication skills is effective has recently been undertaken [ 12 , 13 ]. Notwithstanding significant methodological challenges, there was overall consistency in the direction of mean change for the development of communication skills of social work students following training [ 13 ]. To address the second gap within the literature — the need to theorise the intervention — a broader range of study designs is required which can explain how and why interventions might work [ 14 , 15 ]. Realist synthesis is particularly suited to this purpose since programme theories help explain how the intervention is supposed to work. Preliminary searching indicates that the body of evidence has grown in the last two decades, suggesting that fresh insights into the mechanisms underpinning communication skills courses in social work education should be reinvestigated. The explanation a realist synthesis can provide about how, why and for whom an intervention might work is an important first step for helping educators tailor courses to meet the needs of different learner groups and, where applicable, the employing agencies and government departments who fund them.

The review protocol is registered on the OSF database ( https://doi.org/10.17605/OSF.IO/BYHC7 ).

Methodology

Realist synthesis.

Realist synthesis is an interpretive, theory-driven approach [ 16 ] which reviews different types of information, evidence and literature about complex social interventions. Methodological inclusivity and pluralism are encouraged. Realist synthesis applies a realist philosophy of science, that is an external (real world) reality exists, but this can only be understood through human interpretation (senses, language and culture) ‘to the synthesis of findings from primary studies’ ([ 15 ], p.93) that aims to explain causation within interventions through context-mechanism-outcome configurations.

The realist approach recognises that no theory can always explain or predict the outcomes of a complex social intervention in every context. Whilst programmes provide opportunities and resources, the outcomes are ultimately determined by the choices and decisions of its participants. Yet, the realist approach assumes that because only a limited number of options are available in any given context, individuals are likely to, though will not always, make similar choices about the resources they use. In realist terms, these semi-predictable reoccurring patterns of behaviour are known as ‘demi-regularities’ [ 16 ]. Realist synthesis seeks to ‘uncover the underlying theories that explain these demi-regularities by critically scrutinising the interaction between context, mechanism and outcome in a sample of primary studies’ [ 17 ], which are commonly expressed as ‘context–mechanism–outcome configurations’ (‘CMOCs’). Mechanisms, defined as ‘underlying entities, processes, or structures which operate in particular contexts to generate outcomes of interest’ [ 18 ], are a defining feature of realist research. They help us understand that it is not the intervention itself which produces outcomes but people’s reactions, reasoning and responses to it that are important.

In realist research, the relationship between context, mechanism and outcome is explored through a variation of the question, ‘What works, for whom, in what circumstances, in what respects and why?’ From this, ‘the reviewer constructs one or more middle-range theories to account for the findings’ ([ 15 ], p. 94). Through an iterative process, realist synthesis seeks ‘to gradually develop and refine the programme theory so that it is more detailed, realist in nature and the inferences within it are supported by data’ [ 19 ]. In later stages of the inquiry, following a series of different iterations, a number of C-M–O configurations are developed and then tested, using the data gathered in the review. The configurations seek to explain in which context(s) and which mechanism(s) are ‘triggered’ to produce which outcomes(s). The refined realist programme theory should be in the ‘middle range’, that is it should be specific enough to permit empirical testing but abstract enough to provide useful explanations transferable to other situations where the same mechanisms may be operating.

The realist approach is particularly suited to education research, where multicomponent interventions are complex and outcomes are highly context dependent and influenced by the reactions, responses and reasoning of both educators and learners. In relation to medical education, Wong et al. (2012, p. 90) [ 15 ] explain that ‘the impact of the “same” intervention will vary considerably depending on who delivers it, to which learners, in which circumstances and with which tools and techniques'. The same point can be made about social work education generally and the teaching and learning of communication skills more specifically. It is for this reason that a realist approach was deemed appropriate for investigating this topic.

The intended objectives of this realist synthesis are as follows:

• To understand and explain to what extent, how, why, for whom and in what circumstances the teaching and learning of communication skills for social work students produces its effects. Theory adjudication (determining which theories best explain the intervention) and cross-case comparison (comparing how the intervention works for different groups or in different settings) will be investigated, provided sufficient detail is included within the primary studies.
• To provide recommendations, based on the above explanation, and to help educators make informed decisions about the design and delivery of pedagogic practices.

Review questions

• To what extent does the teaching and learning of communication skills for social work students produce its intended outcomes?
• What formal substantive theories are used to inform the teaching and learning of communication skills for social work students?
• What are the mechanisms by which the teaching and learning of communication skills for social work students are believed to result in their intended outcomes?
• What are the important contexts which determine whether the different mechanisms produce their intended outcomes?
• In what circumstances are such interventions likely to be effective?

These questions, deemed important by key stakeholders, will be iteratively refined once the exultant literature is better understood. Whilst question 1 has been addressed by the aforementioned systematic review [ 12 , 13 ], the author wonders whether additional outcomes, and a greater understanding of the complexity of the intervention, might be demonstrated through a broader range of study designs. Questions 4 and 5 may not be answerable through existing studies and may need to be addressed subsequently, through realist evaluation.

Ethical considerations

Ethical approval was not required for this synthesis because the literature is in the public domain.

Synthesis structure and features

The synthesis is informed by Pawson’s (2006) five stages (identifying the review question, searching for primary studies, quality appraisal, extracting the data, synthesising the data and disseminating the findings) [ 16 ]. An initial explanatory theory will be developed, after which the ‘programme theory’ will be tested and refined against data from empirical studies. A visual representation, informed by Duddy and Wong’s (2018) depiction [ 20 ], which outlines the approach underpinning this realist synthesis, is provided in Fig.  1 below.

Steps of a realist synthesis

Planning and preparation

Background reading.

As a researcher, who is also an academic in the field, I regularly read and review the literature for teaching, research and other scholarly purposes to ensure that my content knowledge and expertise are current and relevant. Through sustained immersion, familiarisation with the literature was already well established before this particular research project began.

Identifying and involving stakeholders

Citing Ryan and Hood (2004) [ 21 ] and Schwandt (2005) [ 22 ], Suri and Clarke (2009) [ 14 ] suggest that ‘the knowledge construction of educational practices can be considered incomplete and oppressive if it undermines the rich knowledge of different stakeholders, especially teachers and students, whose practices and experiences are the sites for educational research’ (p. 412). In realist research, identifying and involving stakeholders is encouraged from the outset. In addition to policymakers, the key stakeholders involved in social work education are students, academics, practitioners, and people with lived experience (sometimes referred to as service users and carers). My commitment to, and experience of, collaboration and partnership working [ 23 – 25 ] supports my ability to work with different stakeholder groups, using their ‘lived experience’ and/or content expertise to focus the review and inform the development and refinement of the programme theory. Deviating slightly from the more established practice of bringing different stakeholder groups together, I have met different stakeholder groups separately. This was partly to ensure that the voices of more powerful groups do not become privileged above less powerful groups and also for more practical reasons — getting everyone together in one place has not been feasible when there is no funding available to reimburse expenses and was not deemed responsible in light of a global pandemic given the existing health conditions of some collaborators. Using a reflexive approach, I, as the researcher, will consider whether this strategy needs to be adapted as the research project progresses. Stakeholders will be involved throughout the research process, as shown in Fig.  1 .

Step 1 — Develop the initial programme theory

Realist inquiry begins (and ends) with a programme theory [ 20 ]. The initial programme theory tends to operationalise a set of assumptions of the programme designers about how the programme is expected to work. Preliminary literature searches and stakeholder consultations allow the programme theory to be iteratively developed and help determine the priorities of the realist synthesis. Discussions with stakeholders have influenced the nature and form of this realist synthesis. For example, the lack of a coherent theoretical framework to inform the teaching and learning of communication skills [ 9 ] is an issue of particular interest for social work academics, which influenced the decision to place more emphasis on identifying candidate substantive theories within the literature. Formal substantive theories ‘provide a bridge to a wealth of existing research and knowledge about a topic’ and operate at a higher level of abstraction than programme theories [ 26 ].

Preliminary searches

A series of preliminary scoping searches aimed at retrieving substantive theories from the literature have been undertaken. The first of the preliminary searches entailed searching the Social Care Institute of Excellence (SCIE) website for any grey literature sources by selecting ‘communication skills’ from the subject topic menu of the resources and services section. Two more structured searches were also undertaken: a database search of the Web of Science and a discipline-specific journal search of Social Work Education , the British Journal of Social Work and the Journal of Social Work Education . The searches were guided by the BeHEMoTh (behaviour of interest, health context, exclusions, model, theory) approach [ 27 ], using various terms to describe the behaviour of interest (communication/interpersonal), adapting the health context (social work education) alongside the suggested terms for theory or model (theor*/model*/framework*, concept*). No exclusions were applied, and the theory concepts were not restricted to title and abstract as it was anticipated that information about theories might be located in the main text and reference lists.

The combined searches produced a total of 39 records. Ten grey literature resources were retrieved from the SCIE website, including the aforementioned knowledge reviews. Six records were retrieved through the web of science search and twenty-three through the discipline-specific journal search (4 from Social Work Education , 6 from the British Journal of Social Work and 13 from the Journal of Social Work Education ). Each record was added to an EndNote group folder. Fifteen records were excluded for the following reasons: duplication ( N  = 1), the record was a book review ( N  = 4), the topic was not about the teaching and learning of communication skills ( N  = 6) and the population did not comprise social work students ( N  = 4). The remaining 24 records were read in full. A PRISMA flow diagram of the preliminary searches is depicted in Fig.  2 .

PRISMA 2020 flow diagram for preliminary searches to identify substantive theories

Reference and citation tracking

Recognising that theory might be contained within a sibling paper, reference and citation tracking were undertaken manually and using Google Scholar, which led to the identification of two additional records.

Discussions with stakeholders

Following the preliminary searches, discussions with stakeholders took place regarding substantive theories. Contact was made with social work academics involved in the teaching and/or researching of communication skills. Their content expertise confirmed that relevant candidate theories had been identified.

Substantive theories

The key substantive theories underpinning the teaching and learning of communication skills which were explicitly referred to in the literature found through the theory search outlined above are included below:

• Experiential learning theory
• Reflective practice
• Adult learning theory
• Theory of living human systems
• Relational/cultural theory
• The postmodern and post-structural approach
• Task-centred and behavioural approaches
• Humanistic/person-centred counselling approaches, including microskills training
• Psychosocial theory

Experiential learning theory and humanistic person-centred approaches were most frequently mentioned in the studies identified through the theory search, a finding supported by a recent systematic review [ 13 ]. Experiential learning theory synthesises the contribution of scholars, including educational psychologists and philosophers, who positioned experience as playing a fundamental role in learning, training and educational development of adult learners who bring their personal and professional experiences with them. Experiential learning involves learning by experience, in which the learner takes on an active role, followed by reflection and analysis of that experience, which further develops their learning.

Kolb’s (1984) experiential learning cycle [ 28 ] was the most frequently cited reference to theory in the records identified through the preliminary searches, followed by Donald Schön’s (1983) [ 29 ] work on reflective practice and Knowles’ (1978) [ 30 ] adult learning theory. These theories are associated with a constructivist view of education, ideas that can be traced back to John Dewey.

Ivey and Authier’s (1971, 1978) [ 31 , 32 ] microskills approach provides a systematic method for teaching beginning communication skills to counsellors and therapists. It shares similarities with the above theories, although its roots lie in psychotherapy, particularly in humanistic person-centred counselling approaches, developed by Carl Rogers (1951, 1961) [ 33 , 34 ]. The other theories were mentioned in just one study. These included Agazarian’s (1997) system-centred therapy for groups [ 35 ], Miller and Stiver’s (1997) ‘relational/cultural theory’ [ 36 ] and Jessup and Rogerson’s (1999) postmodern and post-structural approach [ 37 ]. A brief overview of the substantive theories identified through the preliminary searches are provided in Table ​ Table1 1 .

Overview of substantive theories

The theories are not mutually exclusive, and there is significant overlap between them. The role of the substantive theories will be considered in the realist synthesis.

Development of programme theory

From the combined preliminary searches and discussions with stakeholders, an initial programme theory was developed.

A wide range of teaching and learning activities were identified, which involved combining formal input (on theory or background) from an instructor with experiential or practice-based activities such as group exercises, group discussions, role-plays, simulations and skills laboratories, video work, observation, feedback and reflection. Service user and carer involvement and shadowing experienced social workers in practice were also identified within the literature identified through the preliminary searches. The different activities and components that communication skills courses comprise contributed to a ‘theory of action’. Some of the resources also described how the intervention is thought to work. Pedagogic methods that encouraged learning by doing and reflection were common, explaining why assessment, evaluation, feedback and reinforcement were frequently commented on in the literature.

In terms of the intended programme outcomes, the studies referred to confidence [ 43 , 44 ] and interpersonal communication skills [ 45 ]. Knowledge and attitudes were also mentioned within the domains of ‘knowing’ and ‘being’ [ 46 ]. Discussions with different stakeholder groups consulted during the development of the systematic review protocol suggested that self-efficacy, knowledge, attitudes and skills were the outcomes of importance [ 12 , 13 ] and are captured within Carpenter’s (2005) framework for social work educational outcomes [ 47 ].

Pawson (2006, p. 74) [ 16 ] suggests that the initial rough theory should contain some key features of realist explanation, comprising ‘conjectures on the generative mechanisms that change behaviour, ideas on the contexts that influence its operation, and hunches about the different outcome patterns that ensue’. Successful outcomes appeared to be dependent upon students engaging in ‘learning by doing’ and ‘learning through reflection’, tenets which are supported by two of the substantive theories (experiential learning theory and reflective practice). A safe learning environment was deemed to be an important context for the learning by doing component to take place. Figure  3 shows the initial rough programme theory.

Initial rough program theory

From the studies identified through the preliminary search and discussions with stakeholders (students, people with lived experience and social work academics), it was also possible to identify some tentative and provisional context-mechanism-outcome configurations, as stated below, where C = context, M = mechanism and O = outcome.

• In a safe learning environment [C], students will experience a sense of trust [M] and manage performance-related anxiety, fear and embarrassment [M], enabling them to engage [M] in practice opportunities to improve their communication skills [O].
• Students are more likely to demonstrate effective communication skills [O] when practice scenarios are authentic [C] because they perceive it to be believable [M] and/or useful [M], which motivates them [M] to perform well.
• In the context of supportive and constructive working relationships [C], students will take feedback on board [M], evaluate [M] and reflect on their skills [M], developing knowledge [O] and confidence [O] to demonstrate communicative improvements [O] in subsequent practice opportunities.
• In a ‘containing’ and attuned reflective space [C], students will make sense of their own internal worlds and those of others [M], developing self-awareness [O], use of self [O] and emotional capacity [O] to communicate effectively within the helping process [O].

Elements of the first three CMOCs featured repeatedly in the studies. A microskills approach underpinned by humanistic/person-centred counselling, behavioural psychology and experiential learning theory appears to underpin various different participative teaching and learning activities, whereby skills are practised, evaluated and reflected on and then reinforced through further practice. The fourth CMOC, underpinned by a psychosocial approach, appeared to operate at a deeper level and considered how understanding and using ‘the self’ develops in relationships with others. Although this CMOC was most evident in the literature about communicating with children and young people and referred to some very specific activities including tutor modelling, child observation and reflective groupwork, it was possible to glean from the more generic studies that this CMOC would also operate in learning how to communicate with adults. This idea will be tested in the realist synthesis.

Themes relating to power and control also emerged in the studies reviewed for the preliminary search. The role of service user and carer involvement in social work education was highlighted in some of the studies, whereas others considered the importance of students feeling in control of their learning. Although it was not possible to develop a relevant CMOC, this may become possible in the review of the wider body of literature located through the main search.

The purpose of realist research is to ‘gradually develop and refine the programme theory so that it is more detailed, realist in nature and the inferences within it are supported by data’ (Wong, 2015, p. 2) [ 19 ]. To support this endeavour, the initial programme theory will be further developed and refined through the subsequent steps in the approach underpinning this realist synthesis, as shown in Fig.  1 .

Step 2 — Searching for evidence

The main systematic search of the literature aimed at identifying relevant documents and articles from which the programme theory will be developed and tested takes place in step 2. Academics, service users and carers, students and practitioners have been asked for suggestions for key words for the intervention, programme recipients and intended outcomes. An information specialist has helped the researcher formulate the search string for this particular search (based on population and intervention concepts only) using a combination of subject headings and free text, adapted for each database. The basic search string is as follows:

• (“social work student*” OR “student social worker*”)
• (communicat* OR interpersonal OR interview*)
• (train* OR educat* OR teach* OR learn* OR curricul*)

Study design and features will not form part of the search criteria of the realist synthesis since ‘nuggets’ of information [ 48 ] can be gleaned from quantitative, qualitative and mixed methods research as well as policy documents, opinion pieces and other grey literature. Social science and education databases are less well indexed than those used in medicine and health sciences, so a comprehensive and inclusive search has been constructed. The databases and platforms comprising the formal search are as follows:

• Education Abstracts (EBSCO)
• ERIC (EBSCO)
• MEDLINE (OVID)
• PsycINFO (OVID)
• Web of Science Database Social Science Citation Index
• Social Services Abstracts (ProQuest)
• ASSIA Applied Social Sciences Index and Abstracts (ProQuest)
• ClinicalTrials.gov
• Database of abstracts of reviews of effectiveness
• The Campbell Library
• Cochrane Collaboration Library
• Evidence for Policy Practice Information and Coordinating Centre (EPPI‐Centre)
• Google Scholar — using a series of searches and screening the first 5 pages of results for each search
• ProQuest Dissertations and Theses

Study selection will not be restricted by language, publication date or publication status.

To supplement the systematic search, more emergent techniques of reference and citation tracking will be used, alongside contacting content experts (leading authors and researchers in the field) who will be asked to recommend additional empirical studies or other relevant grey literature.

Documents will be screened by title and abstract (and full text if required) by the researcher and co-reviewer. Discrepancies will be discussed, and a consensus reached, involving other stakeholders if required.

Background searching has revealed that studies tend to focus on one small aspect of the anticipated initial programme theory; therefore, inclusion criteria will be broad, typically containing information about the following:

• Theories (substantive or informal) relevant to learning and teaching communication skills
• Intervention components, e.g. videoing and feedback
• Outcomes (including proximal outcomes) — knowledge, attitudes and values, self-efficacy and skills
• Different student groups, e.g. undergraduate or postgraduate students
• Information about the learning environment and/or relationships including the role of tutors and peers

Exclusion criteria include the following:

• Records that do not relate to an empirical study about a relevant intervention for the teaching and learning of communication skills
• Studies that are not about students on social work qualifying courses
• Studies that focus on learning in placements/practicums only

It is expected that a series of additional searches will take place during the later stages of the review, particularly as gaps in the literature ascertained through the main systematic literature search are identified. Different inclusion/exclusion criteria will apply, and these will be devised iteratively with support from an information specialist. Literature from counselling training and medical education is not currently the focus of this review but may be drawn upon later, to elucidate further information about how particular intervention components work or to explore where similar mechanisms are in operation. Refinements to the programme theory will inform the nature of these additional searches and will be reported in full in the project write-up. The results of each search will be presented using PRISMA style flow diagrams.

Step 3 — Selection and appraisal

The researcher will review all of the documents that meet inclusion criteria during screening, assessing them against the two criteria of the following:

• Relevance (i.e. whether there is any information contained within the documents which can be used to support, refute or refine the programme theory)
• Rigour (i.e. whether the data is trustworthy — or not)

Rigour can be difficult to apply in realist research because it is the ‘nugget’ of information [ 48 ] which needs to be assessed rather than the methodological quality of the whole study. For example, a methodologically weak study is less problematic if the relevant section for the review is simply a description of the programme’s components compared to using the findings of a study where the internal validity is questionable. Recognising that ‘different types of data will be subject to different judgements of methodological coherence and plausibility’, Duddy and Wong (2018) recommend recording the assessment of each piece of information [ 20 ]. This is the approach that will be adopted here to provide a clear and transparent audit trail. Identifying more than one source of data relevant to a programme theory is another strategy suggested by Wong (2018) [ 49 ] which will be adhered to at this stage, to enhance trustworthiness. The focus will be on finding sufficient data that is relevant, coherent and supports the aim of developing programme theory. It is intended that student social workers undertaking an evidence-based practice module will be involved in the selection and quality appraisal process, which will also be overseen and supported by the PhD supervisory team.

Step 4 — Extracting and organising data

All of the documents from every search will be uploaded into the EndNote reference manager software. Documents which meet the inclusion criteria will be copied into a separate group folder, into which the full-text PDF files will be uploaded. The researcher will extract the main characteristics from each document in the included study group, using a data extraction template. Data from each document will be coded according to the contribution it makes to the developing programme theory. Initially, data will be organised into broad ‘bucket codes’, based on the initial programme theory. The realist logic of analysis developed by Pawson and Tilley (1997) [ 50 ] will then be applied. As the data extraction process continues, and the programme theory is gradually and iteratively refined, the data will be recoded and organised into potential C-M–O configurations. The use of data to refine programme theory will be recorded and reported in the project write up. A 10% random subsample of documents will be checked by a second reviewer. Again, discrepancies will be discussed and brought to the attention of an academic acting as an independent adjudicator.

Step 5 — Analyse and synthesise data

Realist analysis and synthesis entail ‘juxtaposing, adjudicating, reconciling, consolidating and situating the evidence’ [ 16 ], with a view to refining the programme theory. In realist synthesis, the analysis and synthesis of the selected data in step 5 occur concurrently with data selection and appraisal in step 3 and data extraction and organisation in step 4. Through inductive and deductive reasoning, the researcher will move back and forth between the steps, using the data to build and test the CMOCs, iteratively refining the programme theory, as shown in Fig.  1 . Additional searches will be conducted as gaps in the literature materialise or where other disciplines can inform our understanding of how particular mechanisms might operate. Stakeholders will be consulted about the development and refinement of programme theory, hopefully adding their own insights and amendments as they see fit. Retroductive reasoning will be used in the later stages, allowing the refinements to programme theory to be ‘made on the basis of what can plausibly be inferred by all the data available’ [ 20 ]. The final synthesis will provide an overview of some of the underlying causal mechanisms which are fired in specific contexts to produce particular patterns of outcomes.

Dissemination

The dissemination strategy will be developed with stakeholder involvement. Findings will be translated into evidence-based recommendations that can be shared with and applied by policymakers and educators. Findings will also be made available to students and experts by experience.

The teaching and learning of communication skills in social work education is under theorised. This realist synthesis will provide theory-based explanations to determine to what extent the teaching and learning of communication skills in social work education work and for whom, how, why and in what circumstances. The findings from this realist synthesis will help policymakers and educators make informed decisions about the design and delivery of complex educational interventions aimed at improving the communication skills of social work students.

One limitation of this realist synthesis is that it is being undertaken by a PhD student with no recourse to funding stakeholder involvement activities. Although undergradute students may readily take up the screening opportunities, resource constraints will inevitably have an impact on the extent to which stakeholder collaboration evolves. The PhD student’s supervisory team has content and methodological expertise, including conducting systematic reviews and realist syntheses. Their involvement will add further rigour to the conduct of this research.

Another limitation concerns the state of the extant literature. Although there is a reasonable body of literature about the teaching and learning of communication skills in social work education, it is possible that there are gaps, particularly in terms of outcomes and contextual factors, which means some of the research questions might be unanswerable. A comprehensive search will be undertaken with citation and reference harvesting seeking to locate sibling and kinship papers. Authors will be contacted for further information, although now several appear to have research interests in other areas. Stakeholders will be asked to consider any identifiable gaps, which will add to the development and refinement of the programme theory, with the caveat that programme theory can only ever be partial and is of course open to further testing. Despite these limitations, stakeholder interest indicates that a realist synthesis still has much to offer.

Immersion, meticulous data collection, systematic analysis and reflexive thinking are fundamental to the realist approach [ 15 ]. Transparency of methods and decision-making is an essential part of realist synthesis to ensure rigour and credibility [ 20 , 51 ]. To assist this endeavour, the relevant quality and reporting standards and publication standards for realist synthesis will be followed [ 51 – 53 ]. The PRISMA-P statement (included as Additional file 1 ) has been used to develop this protocol.

Acknowledgements

I wish to acknowledge Dr. Denise Tanner, Dr. Mark Monaghan and Professor Paul Montgomery for their ongoing support and encouragement and also the students, practitioners, academics and experts by experience who provided advice and guidance regarding search terms, objectives, initial programme theory and potential context-mechanism-outcome configurations.

Abbreviations

Author’s contributions

ERH is solely responsible for the realist synthesis protocol. The author read and approved the final manuscript.

This work was supported by ESRC DTP funding (Grant number: ES/P000711/1) . The funder has had no role in the development of the protocol or the writing of this manuscript.

Availability of data and materials

Declarations.

The author declares no competing interests.

Publisher’s Note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Postdoctoral Researcher positions (m/f/d) | Active Matter and Statistical Physics

Job Code: MPIDS-W081

The Max Planck Institute for Dynamics and Self-Organization (MPI-DS) at Göttingen, Germany, is an international, interdisciplinary and collaborative environment offering an exceptional research setting. It hosts a range of theoretical and experimental fundamental scientific research and a diverse group of researchers. Altogether, it employs about 300 people.

In the Department of Living Matter Physics (LMP) we seek to fill a number of  Postdoctoral Researcher positions (m/f/d).

The LMP department engages in a wide range of theoretical research aimed at understanding the dynamics of living systems from a physical perspective. The department currently hosts Ramin Golestanian (director), Philip Bittihn (group leader), Benoît Mahault (group leader), Suropriya Saha (group leader), and a number of postdoctoral researchers, students, and visitors.

The research

The postdoctoral researchers will engage in theoretical and computational research in Nonequilibrium Statistical Physics and Active Matter. For more information, visit our website .

Your profile

We are looking for excellent, enthusiastic and self-motivated researchers with relevant background and good communication skills to join our research team.

The ideal candidate should have:

• A PhD / DPhil degree (or comparable) with a background in theoretical physics, applied mathematics or related disciplines from a recognized university;
• Prior experience with nonequilibrium statistical physics and a strong interest in active matter physics;
• Ability and desire to work in an international team on inter-disciplinary research topics;
• Good command of English, which is the working language of the department. German is an asset but not required.

We are offering excellent working conditions in a highly interdisciplinary and stimulating research environment. Salary is in accordance with the German state public service salary scale (E13 TVöD-Bund) and the corresponding social benefits. Working hours are full time. We offer opportunities regarding work life balance as well as health promotion services. The postdoctoral appointment is for two years. The starting date is flexible.

The Max-Planck Society is committed to achieving the highest level of excellence and diversity. We encourage applications from women, especially in areas where they are underrepresented, which includes theoretical physics. Moreover, we are committed to providing suitable working environment for everyone including individuals with disabilities.

Your application

To apply, please follow this link with the reference no MPIDS-W081 and submit your CV, publication list, a statement of research interest, and contacts of two referees. In addition to the description of your proposed research, it should also briefly describe your past and current research interests and why you are interested in joining our department. Processing of applications will start after the deadline of 10th January 2025, and will stop when the positions are filled.  

For questions, please contact:

Prof. Dr. Ramin Golestanian Tel. +49 551 5176-100 [email protected]

Max Planck Institute for Dynamics and Self-Organization Prof. Dr. Ramin Golestanian Am Faßberg 17 37077 Göttingen Germany

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Administrative Assistant - Department of Surgery

• Madison, Wisconsin
• SCHOOL OF MEDICINE AND PUBLIC HEALTH/DEPARTMENT OF SURGERY
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• Opening at: Sep 17 2024 at 10:40 CDT
• Closing at: Oct 1 2024 at 23:55 CDT

Job Summary:

This Medical Program Assistant in the Department of Surgery assists faculty and other staff by coordinating their complex daily activities allowing them to complete the successful performance of their teaching, research, service, clinical, outreach, and administrative duties. This role requires excellent administrative, organizational, oral and written communication skills and an innovative, collaborative, service-oriented, and strategic individual would be a great addition on our productive administrative team!

Responsibilities:

• 35% Performs administrative tasks including telephone customer service, word processing, transcribing, filing, and calendaring
• 10% Acts as the primary liaison for providers or programs and refers stakeholders to providers, agencies, patients, and staff
• 20% Assists in coordinating the complex daily activities of providers or program(s) by entering information into databases, maintaining files and materials, and preparing reports
• 10% Serves as the primary contact and subject matter expert for specified program policies and procedures
• 5% Coordinates with senior management to define program goals and fiscal objectives
• 5% Identifies opportunities for program improvements and makes recommendations to the appropriate entities
• 15% Schedules logistics and secures or distributes resources for program meetings, department events, conferences, and travel

Institutional Statement on Diversity:

Diversity is a source of strength, creativity, and innovation for UW-Madison. We value the contributions of each person and respect the profound ways their identity, culture, background, experience, status, abilities, and opinion enrich the university community. We commit ourselves to the pursuit of excellence in teaching, research, outreach, and diversity as inextricably linked goals. The University of Wisconsin-Madison fulfills its public mission by creating a welcoming and inclusive community for people from every background - people who as students, faculty, and staff serve Wisconsin and the world. For more information on diversity and inclusion on campus, please visit: Diversity and Inclusion

Preferred H.S. Diploma

Qualifications:

Required: - Experience providing administrative support in a professional setting - Strong verbal, written, and organizational skills - Exceptional administrative and interpersonal skills Preferred: - Experience with Microsoft Suite or equivalent. - At least one year of relevant experience in a healthcare setting. - Experience with travel arrangements and travel reimbursements. - Understanding of medical terminology.

Work Schedule:

Monday - Friday 7:45am - 4:30pm

Full Time: 100% This position requires a minimum of 3 days per week work to be performed in-person, onsite, at a designated campus work location. Some work may be performed remotely, at an offsite, non-campus work location.

Appointment Type, Duration:

Ongoing/Renewable

Minimum $20.00 HOURLY Depending on Qualifications The starting salary for the position is $20/hr but is negotiable based on experience and qualifications. Employees in this position can expect to receive benefits such as generous vacation, holidays, and paid time off; competitive insurances and savings accounts; retirement benefits. Benefits information can be found at ( https://hr.wisc.edu/benefits/ ) - SMPH University Staff Benefits flyer: ( https://uwmadison.box.com/s/656no0fcpy2tjg86s4v0chtxx25s3vsm )

Additional Information:

An ideal candidate will have the ability to analyze, interpret and synthesize information from a variety of sources and clearly present findings verbally and in writing. A successful candidate will have the ability to work professionally and collaborate in team settings. This position requires the ability to understand in-depth the department and division policies and procedures related to travel and reimbursement division serve. University sponsorship is not available for this position, including transfers of sponsorship. The selected applicant will be responsible for ensuring their continuous eligibility to work in the United States (i.e. a citizen or national of the United States, a lawful permanent resident, a foreign national authorized to work in the United States without the need of an employer sponsorship) on or before the effective date of appointment. This position is an ongoing position that will require continuous work eligibility. UW-Madison is not an E-Verify employer, and therefore, is not eligible to employ F1-OPT STEM Extension participants. If you are selected for this position you must provide proof of work authorization and eligibility to work. This position has been identified as a position of trust with access to vulnerable populations. The selected candidate will be required to pass an initial caregiver check to be eligible for employment under the Wisconsin Caregiver Law and every four years.

How to Apply:

To apply for this position, please click on the "Apply Now" button. You will be asked to upload a current resume/CV and a cover letter briefly describing your qualifications and experience. You will also be asked to provide contact information for three (3) references, including your current/most recent supervisor during the application process. References will not be contacted without prior notice.

Robyn Dunkerley [email protected] 608-262-7227 Relay Access (WTRS): 7-1-1. See RELAY_SERVICE for further information.

Official Title:

Medical Program Assistant(HS009)

Department(s):

A53-MEDICAL SCHOOL/SURGERY/SURGERY ADMIN

Employment Class:

University Staff-Ongoing

Job Number:

The university of wisconsin-madison is an equal opportunity and affirmative action employer..

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