As a manager, along with managing the details and removing roadblocks, another important aspect of driving your project or tasks to a successful outcome is keeping the lines of communication open between you and your team. Your team’s performance is enhanced by your ability to keep them informed about their tasks, performance related to hours, part availability, problem resolution and company business. Keeping your team well informed promotes better morale, which is a great outcome!
During the last several years, we have been implementing the Business Operating System (BOS). I’ve written several blogs about the BOS (use the keyword search function to find them under the From The Helm dropdown menu) and why they are an important part of our strategy to improve our performance as a company. Improving communication is a key part of the strategy, and employees participating in the Listening Cafés have told us is an area that needs attention as well. So we should all look for opportunities to be better communicators, managers especially.
There are two key components of the BOS that will supplement the way you communicate with your team and increase the effectiveness of your communication: the cascading musters and the viz boards. You may remember, the cascading musters are the four musters that escalate problems so they can get resolved quickly. They start with Muster 1 at the crew level on each shift and culminate in Muster 4 for the most-urgent and highest-priority problems that require more than one department to solve.
The most important communication time for all employees happens at the start of shift no matter where you work – in the shops, on the ships or in an office. Muster 1, that first muster of the day regardless of shift, is the best opportunity for you as a manager to have your team in one location where you can share your messages with them. It’s almost like breakfast, starting with a good breakfast makes a stronger foundation for the day.
Muster 1 gives you the best chance to reach your team with information that they need to understand the goals for the day, work assignments, equipment status, problem resolution, different trade engagement in the work area and safety awareness – just to name a few topics. Don’t let this key time pass without getting the most out of it. Like the underlying theme in the Drive series of blogs, you get out of your muster what you put in. You must do the work to prepare!
The other key communication tool I want to talk about today is the viz board. The viz board gives you as a manager an organized, physical place to help you run Muster 1 – whether the board itself is on paper or a whiteboard on the wall. BIW’s viz board is set up to walk you through the major topics that help you most effectively manage Muster 1 – Safety, Quality, Schedule, Cost and People. These are the core elements you need to manage in your area, and you should use the board as a tool for preparing and organizing Muster 1 and communicate with your team about these issues.
Effective communication is about being consistent and on message. For example, we need to be consistently messaging the importance of working safely. Certain messages require additional reinforcement to be understood or to make an impact. Sometimes it takes saying it, saying it again and then – finally – saying it once more. Some messages take repetition to get them across to the receiver. Clear communication helps avoid confusion that can come from misunderstandings. Repeating the message helps clarify it, reduces message confusion and lets your team know that you are talking about things that matter to them and are important to you as their leader.
But communication is a two-way process. It is essential that, as a manager, you listen to the feedback you are getting! If you aren’t getting feedback at Muster 1, then there is a problem in the muster. It should be a bidirectional discussion between you and your team – not just a one-way message to them. This is where we want to listen to employees to make sure they have what they need to do their work and where they can identify problems (roadblocks). The viz board is a tool you should use to track this kind of feedback from your team.
As you follow up, you should add what you learn to the board so your team can see that their concerns are being addressed. Writing issues on the board makes them visible to everyone. It’s a way of getting back to your team. Keeping your team posted on their feedback encourages them to provide more feedback to you. If you listen, they will help you solve problems, as we discussed in last week’s blog, Remove the Roadblocks. These are just a couple of ways the viz boards can help improve communication. Give them a try and see how using the BOS’s viz boards can help you become a better communicator and have a more effective Muster 1.
A final thought, your Muster 1 meeting may be the one time each day that your entire team gets all of your attention before the day slips away. You want to make sure that you get the most out of it. Put in the effort – it will pay you back…
See you on the deckplates, maybe at your Muster 1!
Safely Execute High-Quality Work