Communication: The bedrock of leadership and safety

A hotel company tasked a traveling group of maintenance employees with running new cable to various rooms. Their main access point was a floor opening in a housekeeping closet. The group failed to notify the general manager or housekeeping that they were working. After they started working, a housekeeper entered the storage closet to retrieve a cart. She fell through the floor opening and was badly injured.

Companies that struggle to develop a strong safety culture, have high injury rates, or fail to retain quality employees often have one thing in common: poor communication. Communication is the key to positive leadership and an overall strong safety culture. Injuries occur because communication didn’t happen, or it was unclear, and the receiver never fully understood the message.

How do we communicate?

Most experts agree there are four main types of communication: verbal, non-verbal, written, and visual. All of them communicate feelings and attitudes about the topic, whether intended or not.

Dr. Albert Mehrabian’s landmark study explains how we convey these feelings and attitudes when communicating:

If you tell someone they need to wear safety glasses, can that be misinterpreted? Think of how you could say it to convey a different meaning and then think of the different ways you could look when you say it. Pointing a finger, frowning, or using a dismissive tone can all impact the way the message is received.

Communication has changed

Communicating with others started as talking face-to-face, but technology advancements have added email, texting, and virtual meetings to the mix. When you’re not communicating face-to-face, the person receiving your communication will naturally add emotion to the information they receive. Here’s an example:

“I need you to come to my office first thing in the morning to discuss your handling of a safety concern.”

How would you react if you received this by email or text? Is it positive or negative? If you are the sender of that email, how could you change or add wording to better convey your message? It pays to take a little extra time when crafting written communications to make sure you’re sending the right message.

Listening

Listening skills are also extremely important to improving communication. There are several barriers to effective communication. Here are some ideas for improving listening skills:

• Avoid distractions (put your phone away)
• Focus on the person (show them they are important to you)
• Take notes if needed

Ways to improve communication

Brainstorming can be made easier with the use of a few tools, including a whiteboard and markers or pen and paper. There are a variety of online tools that could also be used to share your ideas electronically. These will help you record your plans of action so you can come back to them later.

There isn’t one right way to improve communication, and the most important thing to do is practice. Here are some suggestions to help you get it right:

• Use face-to-face communication for important conversations (when possible)
• Employ multiple training methods, especially for critical information
• Allow for questions and two-way interactions
• Ask for feedback to make sure the other person understands
• Listen fully to understand the other person
• Use a translator if there is a language barrier

Communicating well is something leaders work at every day. It is a delicate balance of personality, perceptions, and messages. Learning about communication is an important first step to becoming an effective leader.

• eLearning module (10 minutes)

For more on this topic, visit saif.com/learntolead.