Page 92 - OHS, July/August 2021

SAFETY LEADERSHIP
Communication Insights for Supervision and Safety
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to success in the workplace. BY PETER FURST
The supervisor, effectively, serves as the link between management and the workforce by virtue of the fact that they ensure management’s goals and objective are realized though the workforce’s efforts and accomplishments. To perform successfully, the supervisor must be able to effectively communicate with the workforce. Educating supervisors on effective communication skills will enable workforce performance and enhance organizational goal attainment. This to some extent applies to the safety manager as well.
Speech and language are foundational to people communicating thoughts, needs, wants, etc. For most people, effective communica- tion means a proficient use of language. Both parties must have a common language and similar understanding for communication to be effective. It is generally better to use familiar words in place of the unfamiliar ones, concrete words in place of the abstract ones, short words in place of long ones and single words in place of several.
Interpersonal Communication
Communication starts with one person (transmitter) having a thought or information which they want to transmit it to another (receiver). The thoughts have to be put into words (encoding) prior totransmission.Thereceiverthenhastodecodethemessageand make sense of it. Encoding as well as decoding are influenced by the cognition, emotions, perception, attitude of each party, their relationship as well as the context and/or situation. To overcome some of these barriers, the transmitter must consider the receiver’s outlook and circumstance to have a successful exchange.
The communication process has many facets. There are a number of elements which influence the selection of words with which to convey the message. How that other person receives the message can be affected by the receiver’s perception, emotional state, listening skills, life experience, etc.; therefore, the sender should be attuned to this.
There are also many communication channels which can affect the message. Selecting the appropriate channel for the situation will also impact the quality of the exchange. On a construction site, much of the communication is generally done verbally, and
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so the environment where the exchange occurs may and more than likely will impact the quality of the exchange.
Nonverbal Communication
People have engaged in nonverbal communication long before they used language. Nonverbal communication primarily occurs below our conscious awareness level. Generally, all messages communicated orally and, to some extent, the ones in writing have a nonverbal component, which can reinforce, complement, interfere or contradict the intended message. We may express something verbally while our facial expressions, tone of voice, or gestures may indicate something different or even the opposite.
Nonverbal communication may communicate beliefs, attitude, or other emotions related to the message, or possibly the speakers state of mind, reflect the relationship between the parties. Therefore, any of the nonverbal cues can play an important role in either facilitating or hindering effective communication, or conversely it can provide valuable information about the thinking of the people involved in the exchange.
The supervisor or safety manager may not appreciate the importance of nonverbal communication, its effect on dealing with people, effectively resolving work-related issues, and, more importantly enhancing understanding. This could render these people less than optimally effective, and impacting the effectiveness of the workforce, the efficiency of operations, and profitability of the organization. Research has shown that about seven percent of information is communicated by words, 38 percent by vocal tone, and 55 percent by body language.
The differences in values, beliefs and personalities between supervision and the workforce will affect the way each person hears, interprets and reacts to the same information. Therefore, being aware of this and taking it into consideration will greatly improve the exchange. Another important factor the supervisor should be looking for is nonverbal reaction or feedback from the workforce, which will allow for adjusting so that the message is received as intended and understood by the receiver.
It is important to note that, in positive interactions, less