Tell me about a time when your communication skills greatly benefited your team. How can your communication skills benefit you in this role?
As the pioneers in American medicine of integrated care models that include both the insurance coverage and actual care that members receive, Kaiser Permanente relies on a true team effort to support its 12.5 million members. Since they are asking about a specific time when your communication skills benefitted a team effort you were a part of, make sure to put some thought into a specific instance. The example you discuss should highlight your interpersonal skills and communication skills that make you the ideal candidate for the job.
"This is a great question as I can think of so many times when my communication skills helped provide a great outcome for a patient or a project we were working on as a team. Probably the most vital situation was the time my unit had two individuals going into cardiac arrest at the same time in different rooms. I took the lead in being very vocal about which individuals from the response team should go to each patient. This was a frantic and new situation, but I didn't blink in the moment. I used my knowledge of the team and their skills and gave orders to every individual who responded. When teams were in place, I made my way between patient rooms to ensure that everyone was doing their job. I learned a lot about myself and my impromptu leadership skills that day, and these are skills I'd love to bring to the Kaiser Permanente patients."
Community answers are written by other candidates practicing this set. Reading how others frame the same question is one of the fastest ways to sharpen your own.
Anonymous Answer
Before my Attending arrived, there was an emergent TIPS procedure from the ICU who was unstable. I gathered pertinent information from the EMR, and discussed the case with the Intensivist and the patient's nurse. Then I organized and effectively communicated this information with my attending. Once he agreed to proceed, I informed the department staff of the urgency and expedited the transfer of the patient, which saved his life. My organized and efficient communication skills will be an asset to Radiology when communicating with other departments.
Amanda's Feedback
Clear communication is vital to the successful functioning of any team, but it is especially important in a medical environment where the consequences of misunderstandings or misinformation can be life or death. You've chosen a powerful example that can help make you a more memorable candidate. You can strengthen this response further by sharing how you see your communication skills benefit your team or patients in the role you're applying to. Would it ensure efficient workflows or more timely responses to other departments?
Anonymous Answer
In a team being able to effectively communicate with your colleagues will help build trust, strengthen your professional relationships, boosts teamwork, develop a sense of belonging, and help you to become more productive. For instance, there was a time when one of my technicians was always placed at the drop-off station and she was getting overwhelmed by the stress she was dealing with on a daily basis. Instead of communicating with her team that she thought it was only fair for everyone to rotate at each station, she kept it to herself. When I observed that she was getting short with the customers and her work performance was declining, I spoke to her in private and she communicated what was bothering her. After this discussion, we put each technician on the schedule to rotate thru the respective stations so that no one will be assigned to one station every day of the week. This made it fair for everyone on the team and it helped boost morale and increase productivity.
Marcie's Feedback
Nice! This is a great example because it clearly shows how communication helped resolve an issue and also benefited your team. You come across as observant, caring, customer-focused, proactive, and a strong communicator. Excellent! Just be sure to give enough details about the job you're talking about so the interviewer understands the full context (like, for example, was this an RN position?)
Anonymous Answer
For my behavioral health clinical rotation, I went to XYZ medical center. I was assigned a patient, she was an educated woman, but she was having marital issues with her husband. Because of that, she was frustrated and wasn't talking to other people. She didn't want to take her medications. So what I did as a student nurse was, I used my communication skills to make her open up with me and tried to understand the situation.
She did open up and told me what she was going through and I did understand why she was feeling like that. When we talked about it, I felt like she was calm and pleasant after the conversation and as a result, she ended up taking the medication that she was not taking earlier.
Amanda's Feedback
This example highlights your ability to empathize and communicate in ways that help others feel comfortable communicating with you. I also like that you shared the positive outcome, demonstrating how your skills benefited the patient. You can strengthen this answer by reviewing the requirements of the role you're applying to and sharing how your communication skills would benefit you in meeting the demands of the role. This helps show the hiring manager that you'd be a good fit for the position you want.
Anonymous Answer
Communication is important in my previous role as a wraparound therapist to ensure that the treatment goal for the client is met. Being both facilitator and therapist I had to communicate to the team follow-ups on information from social workers, address concerns of the caregivers, and advocate for issues the client was feeling. Communicating all of these to the behavior specialist and parent partner makes it easier for them to formulate a plan on what they need to do in their role to reach the client’s treatment goal as a team.
Jaymie's Feedback
This is a great experience to share that would transfer well into the role at Kaiser Permanente. Can you also give more detail on the frequency of the communication and also specify if that communication took place verbally or electronically?
Anonymous Answer
There was a situation at my current job where we were short-staffed so me and my colleagues had to take on more tasks than we normally have. I listed out all the tasks that needed to be done and delegated people to different roles. I effectively communicated to my colleagues how each task should be done so that we were being efficient on time. I made sure to inform everyone to call out when they finish their tasks that way they can help others or start them on a new task. This really helped us save time throughout the day and we were not behind on our work for the week.
Jaymie's Feedback
Great! You took the initiative to help coordinate and delegate assigned tasks and explained the expectations. Be sure to tie together how those skills will benefit you at Kaiser; then, you will have a well-rounded and complete answer.
Unlock all 37 Kaiser Permanente questions
Prepare for behavioral and clinical questions unique to integrated healthcare interviews.
Get Started