Round the Clock Teams Require Special Communication

If your company runs around the clock on a twenty four by seven, three sixty five schedule, it could be at risk for communication issues among the teams who cover different shifts. Twenty-four hour operations add an additional dimension of complication to working in teams.

Before you run into problems and start hearing things like “Well, we couldn’t because third shift didn’t…” or “Yea, those day shift guys think they’re better than…” take some proactive steps to ensure good communication between your shifts.

The key to your success is having each shift communicate critical issues to the next shift so they can be successful. Too many times companies end up with shift teams working against – rather than with – each other. It’s critical that you consistently communicate how each shift team contributes to the success of the whole. That will help you keep their communication lines open.

Here are four simple tactics you can implement to overcome that challenge.

  1. Overlap shifts by thirty minutes. Use that time to have a shift transition meeting to identify key issues and successes that were encountered by the outgoing shift.
  2. Place easels around the team work space. Designate what items will be updated on the easel by each shift.
  3. Distribute a shift transition email. This email should be in a standard format that’s been communicated to all shift workers so they can quickly read it and get on with their work.
  4. Create a ‘communicator’ role on each shift. This role would be responsible for meeting with the previous and following shifts at shift transition time to communicate key issues.

These are four pretty low tech solutions. With today’s technology, there’s no reason to have communication disconnects between shifts. What other suggestions do you have?

Open Communication With a Talking Stick

Have you ever attended a meeting where everyone talked and nobody listened? What a waste of time. Way too often team meetings turn into a “me-fest” where each person is so busy trying to make their own points, they don’t hear a word that other people have to say.

If this sounds like your meetings, there is hope. Here’s what you need to do.

  • Make sure you use an agenda for your team meetings. The agenda should identify the meeting purpose and have topics and time indicated. A meeting leader should also be designated to help keep the meeting on track.
  • Define working agreements or ground rules for your meetings. If your meetings are a free for all, you probably either don’t have ground rules or your team has them and ignores them. If you don’t have ground rules, define them as a team. These are rules that guide the behavior of team members during meetings and can be items like:
  • If your team has trouble abiding by the “one person talks at a time rule,” try using a team Talking Stick. This is a physical stick the team will use that indicates who has permission to talk by possession. When a team member has the Talking Stick, they can talk. The stick gets passed around the room as the meeting progresses and helps you allow one person to talk at a time. It’s a good tool for teams that need more discipline in this area. I’ve seen it work for the most unruly teams. It may just be the option for you.

Have you used specific tools to help your team get through team meetings effectively? Please share your thoughts.

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