Running head: Character of Marilyn Reskovich

Character of Marilyn Reskovich

Group A: Jonathan Bland, Crystal Bromeling, Sofia Hale
& Krystle Lawrence
HSC4060: Working with healthcare professionals
Dr. Nelva Lee
June 11, 2012
South University Online

Character of Marilyn Reskovich

Identifying communication issues in this entire scenario

The communication issues within the scenario include errors from Marilyn and Dr. K.
Marilyn is presenting non-verbal communication through her unhappiness and body language. It
has only been four weeks with Dr. K, and Marilyn is already feeling unhappy with her position.
Dr. K is excluding Marilyn from the line of communication; verbal and written. He has assumed
many of the roles that Marilyn had previous, this sent a non-verbal message of lack of trust. Dr.
K and Marilyn need to have a serious conversation about the role of Marilyn as the assistant. The
problem in this situation is with Dr. K being the only one that is communicating his wants. For
an effective relationship with communication each person needs to communicate efficiently.
(1) How can Marilyn get clarity about her own wants and desires for her roles and
involvement in what goes on in Neurology?
Marilyn needs to communicate her wants and desires about her roles through a private
meeting with Dr. K. She should write down every item that she use to do for the previous Chief.
She should plan what she wants to say. During the meeting she should speak precisely with few
pauses, however allow for Dr. K to interject when needed. She should not bring up fact that she
had been part of the department reviews due to the sensitivity of information that is presented
during annual reviews. Marilyn should request a new, written job description and assigned tasks
for clarification of her role as an office assistant.
(2) How can she work to meet the desires she has, given the new culture in the
department?
First, she needs to change her attitude toward her new boss and the situation in general.
She needs to become part of the solution to the chaotic environment that Dr. K is used to, and

Character of Marilyn Reskovich

come to the office ready to learn and to share the knowledge that she has acquired in the past five
years. Second, to be able to accomplish her goals in mind which are very similar to Dr.
Christophers, it is important that she wins Dr. Ks respect and attention, so she can guide him to
a more effective organized environment instead of the chaotic and restless one he is used to.
Verbal and nonverbal communication plays a big part in accomplishing her goals, she was
showing sadness and was hopeless, and therefore her new boss was reading these signs from her
demeanor, which gives place to Dr. Ks possible resolution to not engage in any conversation
with her. In her conversation with her boss she needs to open herself to listen, to be able to help
his routine to be better organized, this means, respectfully understanding his standards too.
Constant communication will be imminent to accomplish these goals and have a better
relationship with her boss. When a person has won the trust of the other, it is easier to make
suggestions that will be valuable to enrich the work performance.
(3) What can Marilyn do to get across her concerns to Dr. K? How should she go about
doing it? Should she rehearse? Or, should she just shoot from the hip?
Marilyn has become so overwhelmed with not being able to fully participate in her
previous job duties that she wants to finally confront the new chief to discuss her concerns of the
office. Marilyn has to be careful of the way she confronts her new chief because if she comes
across rude she could give the new chief a negative impression of her which could ultimately
jeopardize her position. The best recommendation for Marilyn would be to rehearse the key
points of her discussion and the way she is going to present her concerns rather than go in blindly
and leading her discussion based on her rage and emotion. Marilyn should have a face to face
discussion with the new chief since he appreciates personal meetings and address her concerns.
She should inform the new chief that she appreciates the new changes he has made for the

Character of Marilyn Reskovich

department however she feels as though she has not been able to fully assist the new chief as he
needs. At this time she can asks the new chief what his expectations of her are and how she could
better assist him with his daily work tasks. She could also present her ideas of how she feels she
could help the new chief and see if he objects or accepts her ideas.
(4) What type of conversation has the best chance of giving her the outcome she wants?
For Marilyn to be happy at work she needs to sit down and talk to her new boss. He does
have an open door policy. Marilyn should start with talking to her boss about what she is feeling.
She should address the concerns as soon as possible. Her conversation should also be direct and
be open to change on her part. She must be willing to discuss the changes. She should have some
notes to make sure she covers everything that she needs to discuss. She should be clear on the
way she feels about how the work is being done.

Character of Marilyn Reskovich

5
References:

Borkowski, N. (2011). Organizational Behavior in Health Care (2nd ed.). Sudbury, MA: Jones
and Bartlett Publishers.
South University Online. (2012). HSC4060: Working with Healthcare Professionals: Week 3:
Assignment 4: Final Project. Retrieved from http://myeclassonline.com/