by Andrew Pust

Remember that people are not mind readers. If you have information that would be helpful to someone else, you must tell him.

Teaching is different from telling. If we want others to understand and remember important or helpful information, we must teach them. Expect teaching to require repetition.

Develop communication at the prevention level. Visit your colleagues in their work space when you are not responding to a reported problem. Explain
what normal is.

Listen completely before you start to repair anything. Jumping to conclusions without listening to all the facts can compound the problem and cost more in both time and money.

Be honest. Do not use excuses to avoid dealing with imagined or legitimate problems. Give solutions and teach reasons. If a long range plan is needed, develop the plan and let everyone involved know what you will be doing about it and when.

Show compassion. Your colleagues turn to you for help because you are supposed to help them.

See the first tip. Do not assume that the other twenty-five people you work with know that twelve people have already reported the same problem in the last three minutes that you knew about two hours ago. Communication starts with you!