Tony Roscoe, Director at Implexis Consulting, discusses how we should not automatically presume that a good leader makes for a good presenter.
I know that this seems like an obvious statement, but the fact that toolbox talks are a form of training seems to so often be lost behind the idea that they are only there to cover the organisation or are a simple and often ineffective response to an incident.
Adults learn in an interactive environment. This is not revolutionary, nor is it shocking, yet when it comes to toolbox talks we too often seem to forget that simple fact and just resort to telling. It is what I often refer to as Charlie Brown Teaching. If you remember the voice of the teacher from Charlie Brown, the “wah wah woh wah wah” and the fact that the class would often either not understand or simply just switch off. How many times have you done that in a toolbox talk?
Stand and deliver
There are very few skills in health and safety that we assume people have. We would never, for example, assume that people can work at height or operate heavy machinery. Yet presenting essential toolbox talks, well we assume that because someone is in a leadership position, this is something that they can naturally do. In some cases, we are right, but in many, we are setting people up to fail.
Great toolbox talks are discussion based and interactive. This gives people the chance to ask questions, clarify their understanding and provide feedback. Through this discussion the presenter can check that they understand the message and that they can apply what they have learnt in their daily operation.
The worst example of a toolbox talk I have seen was an organisation where the supervisors would tell the staff to read and sign the toolbox talk. Many of the staff did not have the ability to do this as English was their second language or simply their literacy was not to the level required to read what was a technical document. So, people would sign it without reading or understanding it.
The client thought that in issuing the toolbox talk, they had discharged their duty of care (ticked the box). It would not take anyone investigating an incident long to realise that that was definitely not the case.
Like any part of health and safety, people need two things to deliver effective toolbox talks, the technical skill and the right tools.
The technical skill
The skills involved in many ways come back to good old presentation skills. However, these are not the same presentation skills that people need to be able to present at a conference. These skills are about how to lead and keep control over a conversation. Knowing how (when the conversation goes off track) to bring the conversation back to the topic in hand, yet at the same time not to dominate the discussion and in doing so, shut the conversation down.
As part of this, people also need to understand how to deal with difficult questions. Not everyone is going to “play nice” and knowing how to manage this is an essential skill. There is nothing worse than struggling with a tough question and freezing. With a tough audience this can lead to more tough questions and metaphorically the sharks start to circle.
Leading a discussion is a skill and as with any skill it needs to be developed in order for people to feel confident and be competent.
The right tools
The right tools required changes from organisation to organisation depending on the culture and the outcome required. This also means that whereas the skills required comes from the individual, the tools required comes from the organisation.
A simple example of this is incident details. Many organisations release details of incidents that have happened on other sites or in similar organisations. They come out to leaders with the details of the incident and the leader is expected to read it out, a pretty straight forward telling exercise.
What if the format still had the details of the incident, but it then led into a discussion around “could that happen on this site?” “Could something similar happen here?” “What can we do here to stop that happening?”. This simple change in structure takes this from a telling to an asking exercise, engaging and empowering staff to not only listen, but to start to think about and apply this to their workplace.
At Implexis we have developed a number of tools to help leaders deliver excellent toolbox talks. It is never a “one size fits all” approach as every culture is different and different tools fit different cultures. One thing??that is universal though, people learn by talking with them, not at them.
Tony Roscoe is a Director at Implexis Consulting. He is a behavioural psychologist, lean practitioner and scrum master and specialises in behavioural and cultural change.
Tony’s focus is on the practical application of behavioural principles, combined with business improvement tools, which empower staff and organisations to make measurable and lasting change to organisational culture.
He has worked globally in a wide range of industries, including; power, shipping, ship building, oil & gas, manufacturing, medical and pharmaceutical.
In this episode of the Safety & Health Podcast, we are joined by Anna Keen, Founding Director at Acre Frameworks, who provides guidance on learning the relevant skills to progress your career and delves into confidence, including how to present yourself and tips for leaders when dealing with Imposter Syndrome.
