When things have gone wrong, people discuss the events. We all take part in discussions – often we just call them conversations, and it is very much a part of everyday life. In the work situation, we may be called upon to add our point of view, our experience or our knowledge. Discussions are often held to make matters clearer, to resolve differences or to improve the situation. In engineering, you may be asked to comment on the operation of a new piece of equipment or a new process. A whole process may be reviewed to make it safer or more efficient, and as part of the team, your views will be required as well, so you need to take part in the discus- sion.
Discussions often have different stages but the outcome is often that after everyone has had an opportunity to have their say, a decision needs to be taken. During the discussion phase, people need to listen to what is being said as well as make contributions. We all know there are people who monopolise the discussion and will not listen to other people’s point of view; this is not necessarily going to produce the best outcome.
To be a useful contributor to a discussion, you need to listen to what other people have to say, note the main points they are making and then be prepared to make relevant points of your own, which take the discussion forward. Sometimes you need to take clues from a person’s behaviour, facial expression and body language. Some people are not as assertive as others, yet they may want to make a point; by being aware of their nonverbal communication, you can show that you are aware of their needs as well as your own.
Discussions at work are not about you getting your own way but about making the right decision, which will not be arrived at as a result of a shouting match. An employer will be far more impressed with someone who listens, adds useful points, summarises, makes points clear and who genuinely contributes.
EXERCISE 2.9 Taking part in a discussion
The following exercise is designed to encourage you to discuss possible problems that may arise in work situations. To obtain key skills in communicationsyou must contribute to a discussion about a straightforward subject.
Topic(s) under discussion Date(s)
What you need to know and do
Assessor’s initials
What the evidence consists of.
(Possible evidence suggestions in italics.) Assessor can highlight or add additional comments
Make clear and relevant contributions in a way that suits your purpose and situation by choosing appropriate and varied vocabulary and expressions to suit your purpose
Sensible comments made.
Relevant comments made.
Explanations are offered if technical terms are used.
You should adapt your contributions to suit different situations
Full explanation given if needed and if candidate is obviously an ‘expert’.
Tone of voice is suitable, not too aggressive or bullying. Swear words should not be used.
Points made without shouting.
Further explanation requested.
Listen and respond appropriately to what others say by showing that you are listening closely and responding appropriately
Taking an obvious interest in what is being said by listening to a point and then making a relevant comment.
Showing an awareness that others are taking part in the discussion as well.
Picking up on points made by someone else.
Allowing someone else time to make a point without butting in.
Not shouting down another person.
Actually asking someone who is not an active participant in the discussion what they think.
Help to move the discussion forward by identifying the speaker’s intention and by
generally moving the discussion forward
Making comments like ‘where do we go from here?’ or ‘what’s the next step or thing to do?’
Helping to make clear what another speaker has said.
Establishing that a point has been made.
Summarising where the discussion has got to and what still needs to be resolved.
Keeping voice pleasant and not shouting ensuring that everyone has a chance to make a point.
56 Developing yourself and working with other people on engineering activities
Witness testimony
This confirms that. . . .took part in discussions and that key skills requirements as listed above have been met.
Signed. . . .Job title. . . .Date. . . .
Look through the following case studies and discuss with other people in your group how you feel they should be sorted out.
Case 1 You work with someone who is regularly late for work. This affects you as it means that you are the one who has to do most of the preparation. The same person is also quite happy to ‘skive’ off early and leave you to do the clearing up. The excuse given is that this is what happened to him when he was in training.
The names of the people in our group were:
We feel the best way to sort this out is to:
Case 2 You work as part of a team and it is near the end of the shift. You have finished your work and were hoping to get 5 minutes off early but your supervisor asks you to help someone else. This person was late for work today. How are you going to cope with this situation?
The people who discussed this were:
What we feel we should do is:
Case 3 You notice one of your more experienced colleagues taking short cuts and using a machine without the proper guards in place. You also know that this machine is left in this condition for the next person to come on shift to use. What should you do?
The people who discussed this were:
What we think you should do is:
58 Developing yourself and working with other people on engineering activities
Case 4 You notice someone of an ethnic origin different from most of the workforce being given quite a lot of ‘grief’ to the extent that s/he is thinking of leaving. What should you do?
The people who discussed this were:
What we think we should do about this is:
Case 5 One of the trainees, who is already quite skilled and doing NVQ Level 3, is deaf. He lip-reads very well but obviously is unaware of remarks made. You notice that some people comment quite openly about him, knowing that he cannot hear them, and some of the things said are not very pleasant.
He applies for further training but is turned down basically because he is deaf. Are there laws to prevent this type of discrimination?
The people who discussed this were:
Our views on this are as follows and we think this situation is covered by the law in this manner:
Being helpful
When we start a new job, we hope that there will be plenty of people around who will tell us what to do, where to get equipment and generally make life easier for us. What we also need to remember is that a time will come when we are in a position to provide the same help to other people.One way in which you can be helpful is by making sure you know how your organisation operates. By doing this, you will make life easier for your supervisor because you will be thought of as someone who can be relied upon. All organisations need to communicate with the people in the organisation and there are various ways in which this can be done; the following may be used in your workplace:
• Verbal instructions and information given out by supervisors or other line managers.
• Written instructions. These may be a variety of forms and could include requests for information from the Human Resource Manager (Personnel), right through to Process Information, which is the written sequence of operations and notes for production.
• Bulletins and newspapers. Some large firms have their own in-house newspaper or bulletins, which may be pinned to notice boards.
• E-mail or electronic mail is becoming increasingly common but suffers from the same problems as other forms of communication in that there needs to be a check to ensure that everyone has read the information.