I was reminded the other night just how important good, clear communication is to many organizations out there. Sure, your corporation needs what I call the 7Cs to Communication.
1 be correct, 2 be consistent, 3 be clear, 4 be concise, 5 be coherent, 6 be complete, 7 be creative.
Now put yourself in the shoes (or boots) of firefighters. The 7Cs have to be present at all times as it’s a matter of life or death during a fire when all of your surroundings are in chaos. The fire company I belong to has just begun formal training in RIT (Rapid Intervention Team) or sometimes called FAST (Firefighter Assistance and Safety Team) where we are learning how to focus on just the safety and rescue of downed firefighters, that’s it, a single focus amongst a chaotic scene.
One point the instructor made perfectly clear was communication breakdowns can get you in trouble or may be dead. He cited many incidents, Worcester Cold Storage a few years ago, Charleston, SC, (2007), Hackensack, NJ (1988), or Houston, TX (2007), where poor communication got firefighters into trouble and caused many deaths. Over and over again, unclear, incoherent and incomplete communication took place, either because the radio frequencies were jammed, fireground officers were busy, or incorrect information was presented. In one instance, Hackensack, the mayday call was heard by someone listening in on a scanner at home and they had to drive to the scene to let the officer’s know firefighters were in trouble. More information on firefighter close calls can be found at  http://www.firefighterclosecalls.com/
Like I said at the beginning of this piece, your organization usually doesn’t deal with such consequences, but wouldn’t clear, communication help? We’ve all been there when a miscommunication causes worry, angst, or even someone to get reprimanded because they weren’t sure what to do. Technology is a wonderful thing, such as new radio frequencies in the fire servce which are great, but if everyone tries to talk at once on a single frequency it defeats the purpose. The same with corporate communication technologies, if all the effort is put in a podcast, then those who don’t have access to the mp3 files miss out. But targeted communication on multiple levels (frequencies) with cross-referencing (multiple radios) can help. It’s taken years for the fire service to realize this, and just as many for the corporate world. But help is available to cut through the clutter and help with the 7Cs. Just ask …
‘Til next time, Tim
