5 Tips for Communicating Effectively as a Health IT Contractor

At Abra, we know that communication skills are foundational to building strong relationships and are pivotal to successful contracting engagements. As a health IT contractor, you naturally focus on developing your technical skills, but it is also important for you to develop the ability to communicate well.

In Health IT contracting, developing effective communication skills is important for building trust, creating accountability, avoiding mistakes, and driving better engagement outcomes.

Effective communication can also unlock opportunities for future engagements and lead to positive feedback and referrals.

In this newsletter, we dive into five strategies for improving your communication skills to help ensure successful engagements.

Ready to improve your client communication skills? Read on:

1. Understand Communication Preferences

Communication is not one size fits all. Each organization is unique, and their communication preferences vary. One organization might prefer to communicate primarily through email, while another may prefer a phone call or an in-person meeting.

Talk to the organization to determine the best way and time to reach them. Make sure you have a good understanding about how they expect to communicate with you throughout the engagement.

By taking the time to determine communication preferences, you will build better relationships and improve communication.

2. Consistently Communicate

To form strong, trusting relationships, it is important to maintain consistent communication throughout engagements. That means regularly checking in to discuss project status, progress and completed milestones.

If problems or concerns surface, be sure to talk to someone right away to work through and resolve issues quickly.

Regular check-ins and updates are touch points that keep the project aligned, ensure everyone is on the same page and increase transparency and accountability.

Consistent communication also means the lines of communication remain open between you and the organization.

Respond to inquiries in a timely manner and be sure to address all their questions and/or concerns.

Being responsive makes the engagement a better experience and can translate to positive reviews and valuable referrals.

3. Actively Listen

Listening is often overlooked as a communication skill, but it is one of the most vital skills for Health IT contractors to master.

Research reveals people generally retain about 20% of what they hear. Hearing only 20% is not the way forward to project success; active listening is.

Practicing active listening can help you absorb and remember more of what the organization communicates. Ask the right questions and ensure that you have an accurate understanding of the organizations needs and concerns.

Tips for active listening include focusing on the speaker, minimizing distractions and paraphrasing what you have heard to ensure understanding.

4. Practice Empathy

Empathy is another critical component of effective communication. Empathy is the ability to understand and share the feelings of another.

The organization want to feel that you understand them and the challenges and pressures they face.

By putting yourself in their shoes and seeing things from their perspective, you will gain a better understanding of their needs, wants and goals and connect with them on a more personal level.

5. Be Mindful of Tone

It’s not what you say, it’s how you say it.

Recognizing the influence of tone on perception and impact is crucial.

In client interactions, maintaining a professional tone is key to ensuring clear communication.

A carefully crafted tone can foster strong relationships, mutual respect, and facilitate constructive dialogue, even in challenging circumstances

Give these five tips a try to help you achieve better results in your engagements, attract more work opportunities and advance your career.

Bonus tip: Join Abra to put your effective communication skills to work in healthcare IT engagements.