Rethinking Communication

OPINION

Sher Kirk – Operations Director, Utility Safety Partners

Good communication is critical to safety. It impacts the safety process at all levels, in all organizations. Lately, it feels like there are two factors eroding the effectiveness of communication:

• Transparency and other passive communication
• Distrust and misinformation

Most organizations have a transparency approach to communication, which is a passive method of communication. We post information somewhere public, or we send out communication about what we are doing and what our plans are and rely on the affected stakeholders to review what is posted and educate themselves. While this method is effective at reaching a large audience, it is incomplete from a communications perspective. Providing information is only one step in successful communication. Sending out mass communications does not guarantee that the right people are being reached or that some interested parties may have been inadvertently left off the receiving parties list. If a particularly disruptive change is being communicated, it is imperative avenues are provided for stakeholders to ask questions and clarify details. Examples of this include providing a support link where parties can speak to someone to get answers, or perhaps hosting a town hall where attendees can ask questions. Reminder that effective communication is a two-way exercise. You wouldn’t just point a new employee to the posted backhoe operator’s guide and expect that to be sufficient, right?

Over the last few years, people have lost trust in information sources (like the mainstream news, for example). That mistrust colours any information you post as an organization as well. It also leads to outside parties using pieces of your communication out of context to advance their own agendas. The only way to combat this behaviour is:

• Make sure your communication is clear, concise and includes your rationale.
• Ensure that you are providing an easy way for your audience to reach you for answers.
• Use social media to monitor communications about your information.
• Address misinformation clearly and immediately.

Controlling your message is not as simple as it used to be. It requires constant repetition and clarification. Unless you want your message hijacked or misrepresented, you must be vigilant, keep an ear to the ground and do not hesitate to challenge incorrect assumptions in every public forum when they pop up. It is critical that you do not allow there to be a void in communication avenues where others may take the opportunity to answer for you. In short, there is no longer such a thing as over-communication. In safety, poor communication can lead to disastrous outcomes.