“Huh? What’d they say?” Core Communication Principles
By Ace Speidel
Let’s cut the fat and get straight to it. Society today is seeing a dramatic shift in it’s infrastructure towards how we work, where we work, and even WHAT we do for work. Multitudes of people are leaving their careers, making changes in how they earn income to provide for themselves and their family. My goal isn’t to talk to you about why people are making these shifts. My goal is to touch base on what I feel is the single largest key component to the success of any business no matter how small or large it may be, overcoming the challenge of being an effective communicator.
Communication is vital to success - Voicing expectations, information, concerns, and praise. “Heard Chef!” The transfer of responsibilities and the understanding of what expectations need to be met. Doesn’t matter if you’re on the line during a rush, a pre-shift meeting, in the office or working construction. Certainly doesn’t matter if you’re having the meeting in person or remotely via our many apps that are available to us.
The key to successful communication is ensuring that everyone is heard and understood. The challenge is making yourself heard and understood. It’s challenging in person and even more challenging remotely. As a deaf individual who has worked kitchens for twenty-six years in a variety of environments, I’ve learned a few things along the way that help me ensure that I’m getting the information I need and just as importantly - I’m relaying the information others need. Because while communication is inherently vital to your success, Deaf or not - people generally suck at it. When communication starts to break down or simply isn’t happening, attitudes shift, quality of work diminishes, bitterness takes seed, and teams begin to break down. Relationships crumble. As we shift to more and more meetings online, this poses a unique problem for all of us as we continue to try and communicate with our teams.
I want to introduce you to some concepts that I believe will enable you to convey your communication in a successful way. While I’m focusing on the environment of remote online meetings, videos and even podcasts, most if not almost all of the ideas I will present to you transfer into an in person setting. Many of these ideas focus on what enables a Deaf individual to absorb the information that’s being shared. But I do know those of other ethnicities and language backgrounds benefit from these concepts as well. And in today's society of constant online bombardment of the senses, our attention spans as a species are getting shorter.
Trim the fat.
Chef's & Cooks know what I’m talking about here. Get rid of all the fluff and excess and focus on your point. Get straight to it. Don’t clutter the meeting with unnecessary shit and distractions. Time is money. We got things to do and being direct is key to transferring information as quickly and effectively as possible.
2. Limit distractions
Host your meeting in a well lit room free of outside distractions. Keep the ambiance to a minimum. Tying into this, men - keep your beard and mustache well trimmed. Deaf individuals rely on lip reading to make up for the loss of hearing. We can’t read your dang lips if your ‘satche is covering the whole thing! Keep your hair (men and women) out of your face. Body language is also vital to successful communication. You’d be surprised at how much information you convey with your facial expressions and body language. Keep your body, eyes, and face trained on your camera. The Aaron Sorkin style of Walk & Talk doesn’t work in effective communication. We can’t understand you if your back is turned to us or if you’re looking away while talking. For god's sake put down your damn phone! If you’re distracted while you’re talking and focusing on something else, or “multi-tasking” in a meeting/conversation, I guarantee you that you’re gonna have people lose interest in what you’re saying. Your body language is conveying the message that you have other things you need or want to be doing rather than this meeting.
3. Provide transcripts of your meeting, video or
podcast.
This is two fold. Deaf people are unable to hear (surprise!!) so many Deaf individuals rely on the written word to absorb information. Furthermore, everyone has their own learning/retaining style when it comes to absorbing information. Some are able to be lectured for hours on end and retain information. Others are visual and need graphs, reading material and then others simply learn by doing. We’re focused on remote online here - rendering hands-on do it yourself moot for the moment but adding transcripts to the meeting, video or podcast is a monumental help. Furthermore, as the one in charge and delegating information, you’re covering your butt by providing another venue of access to the information your employees need. I.E. “Well, I told you in the meeting what I needed you to do, and then the transcripts I sent you also covered the same thing. So you were told twice….”
Side Note here - there are apps and options that provide real time closed captioning/subtitles of what is being said at that moment. While these are wonderful applications intended to bridge the gap for Deaf individuals, I’m-a be honest and blunt with you here. Real time live captioning usually sucks (turn on the news, a talk show, SNL, a game - put your closed captions on and you’ll see what I mean.). Television struggles with it and online is even worse. It’s a great tool but we’re often left guessing what is being said.
4. Follow up
Follow up via email or a phone call with each and every person who attended the meeting. Ask them if they understood everything that was covered in said meeting and if there was anything they needed you to clear up for them. It’s a bit extra work - but you need things to be successful don’t you? You expect a high level of work from all of your staff and if you’re not present in person to ensure quality control in real time you really need to follow up with everyone. Remember, we all learn and retain information differently and it’s your role to ensure that everyone understands what’s going on and that you provide the tools for them to be successful.
Start here - think about the four ideas I’ve presented and try to implement them into your next remote online meeting and even in your next in person meeting. Your information will be conveyed more clearly and you’ll start seeing immediate results in your communication skills.
I am a deaf culinary industry careerist. The last twenty six years have seen me behind the lines, bent over prep tables, managing kitchens and fabricating animals. I currently live in the Colorado Rockies, just above Denver. The on-going battle of balancing kitchen life, family time as a dad of two girls & husband and personal time has me grinding before the sun is up and long into the night. Hunting, fishing, drawing, wood working and writing are core factors that keep me mentally, spiritually and emotionally sane so that I am able to provide for my family at home as well as my family in the kitchen.
Opinions expressed in this article do not necessarily represent the views of Best Served. To achieve our mission of bringing more voices to the table, we are committed to sharing a variety of viewpoints across the industry.
