Communication Is The Response That You Get

Retail establishments are usually open for 60 hours or more over 7 days a week. This generally means that no one person is there all the time. It would seem to me that a communication system to share information between shifts is absolutely essential.

A young staff member was recently in trouble for getting annoyed with his boss.

He had arrived back in on a Monday morning to find that the stock in the department for which he was responsible, had all been moved. Assuming that this was done by the part-timers who had worked on the weekend, he moved everything back to where it was supposed to be. He was then told, that the store manager had moved the stock to make it easier for stocktake. So, all the stock had to be moved again. What a waste of time and effort for everyone.

Two things to note here. The Store Manager failed to adequately inform his team member what he did and why he did it. And the team member didn’t check in with anyone prior to putting things back to the way they were.

A simple conversation between these two could have saved a lot of time. Or a communication board identifying what had been done and why between the shifts to keep everyone up to date.

The workplace is fraught with well intentioned mishaps. Always consider who will be affected by your actions and changes and work to minimise any impacts and ensure full understanding.

My motto – you cannot communicate enough. Keep going and try several different methods to ensure you are understood. AND remember – communication is a two way activity.