Communication

When I was in the military, one of the major areas of focus was on quick, concise and clear communication.  Everyone understood that failure to do so could be a matter of life or death someday, so getting it right was something that was constantly worked on.  There were specific lists of what was necessary for a successful message, and exact methods for ensuring those lists were covered.  This kind of information was deemed "mission critical" and (ideally) great lengths would be taken to disseminate it.  However, no matter the lengths taken, good communication was something that was always difficult.

In my current job, communication is something we struggle with as well.  We all understand that we want to maximize what we can do, without compromising on quality. However, shift changes may or may not include all the information that is most important to the next 12 hours to keep all the machines running as much as we can. Working men and women may not even have even given their supervisors this mission critical feedback, so it can't be passed on.  Shift leads may be overloaded and too busy solving the current crisis, be unwilling to take the time, or just not think it's needed.  Managers are often overloaded as well trying to schedule to meet demand while inspecting for quality and coordinating teams of people.  Quite honestly it's exhausting.   And to top it off I'm the new guy, so I am not even always sure what is critical, and the poor guy that follows me has to sort through a list of potentially useful information while I try to learn what is mission critical.

But, it is getting better.  We aren't there yet.  But it's getting better.  New people are learning what questions to ask.  Adjustments are being made in who is on what shift and what task or tasks they are doing.   My managers are constantly coaching and teaching me, offering me advice when I need it.  For that I'm thankful, because it's going to take time, and without the support and advice of those who do know, the rest of us will never know.  That advice, is simply a beautiful thing.

Dave

Proverbs 25:11 The right word at the right time is like precious gold set in silver
Proverbs 11:14 Without good direction, people lose their way; the more wise counsel you follow, the better your chances.