In life we frequently encounter #adverse situations, either expected or unexpected. It is the latter in which case #communication often plays an important role to getting out of a pickle.
In my profession we have to deal with adverse situations. These can often be solved relatively easy by checking correct information on installation drawings, schematics or asking for someone’s insight. These are all routes of problem solving which take mere minutes for works to be able to continue. This is the case when problems are simple, both in technical terms and in number of disciplines or stakeholders involved. Problem solving becomes more demanding when a situation becomes more complex. Risks of cost increases, planning delays and quality decrease result in extra pressure on people to perform. It is here when people become frustrated or lose motivation when solutions can’t be found or take a long time to develop.
In my experience in many of these more complex cases clear and persistent communication between all involved helps a lot in getting things done eventually. Don’t get me wrong. I’m not talking about setting up complicated spreadsheets or incredibly shiny presentations. I’m talking about having a two minute long talk with your colleague who’s stuck and asking a few basic questions:
- What are the risks if we don’t find a fast way forward? Note: You don’t want to butt into someone’s work if there’s no real necessity.
- What did you try to solve our problem? Note: You already get a feeling for routes to a solution, often people get stuck because they’ve lost overview during their struggle. As a bonus you usually get to know who your colleague talked to in their problem solving attempts.
- Did you talk to … ? Note: You specifically ask this question when you know there was or should have been interaction with others. This often leads to some insight in deterioration of communication lines and info on why interaction with others broke down.
This week I encountered just such a case. Current project planning led to the need for resolving a production issue which was too complex for our foreman to solve on his own. Our production engineer had been preparing a plan of attack, based on his insights, which included using a custom made manipulation tool. It appeared works on this issue aboard had stopped however. Within a few minutes of talking to the production engineering using a route as I talked about above I was able to understand he had tried discussing the solution with our foreman, however they were unable to get on the same wave length. After this communications between the two on the issue stopped and works aboard were unable to continue.
I decided to call in a head foreman to give some fresh insights based on his experience. At the same time we got all involved parties together to discuss each other’s insights. In the end we combined elements of solutions three people came up with and a path to a final solution started to become clearer. By doing this we also had enough information to start 3d designing the intended manipulation tool, this then enabled easier communication on method of assembly and other details for works to continue. I noticed our production engineer regained motivation to continue solving this particular issue, which was an added bonus.
When being involved in complex projects I personally get extra motivated by being able to help others find solutions to complex problems. The above anecdote is a recent example. I’m curious to hear from others about their insights and experiences in solving problems. Let’s hear it.
Also check out some of the conversations I had with colleagues from different disciplines and the things I learned from them, for example in preparation of vessel launching and helping our commissioning foreman. Or being interrogated by some of the guys from the cleaning and grinding crew!
