I had the privilege of speaking at the Inaugural Conference of Region Six OSHA Voluntary Protection Program Participants Association. What a great group of people who get together to learn how to take facilities with a great safety record and make them even better. I want to welcome those attendees who were in my session and are receiving this report for the first time.

Have you ever thought about what actions mean? What does it mean when someone lifts something in an unsafe way? Well, it is difficult to answer this question and that is important to realize when you are trying to communicate effectively and motivate others. Let’s look at this example for some of the possible meanings.

1. It means the person doesn’t know the proper lifting method.
2. It means the person doesn’t think the item being lifted is big enough to matter.
3. They were distracted and therefore didn’t do it right.
4. They think it is too difficult to do it the right way.
5. They think they are too young to have a problem.
6. They think they are too strong for it to hurt them.
7. Sometimes it even seems as if they want to be injured.
8. They ….

Have you figured it out by now? That’s right, it is possible they were thinking of something from this huge list of possibilities. Why is this important to effective communication? Because if we assume that we know what they are thinking we will act upon that premise and if we are wrong we aren’t likely to get the result we are looking for. If someone is fully trained but I think they don’t know the proper way to lift my solution might be more training. Would this help? Probably not as they have already been trained. They might think, “Great! Another period of time wasted learning the same thing I already know.” Education isn’t always the answer. In fact, no one thing is “always” the answer when it comes to motivation. If you want to motivate effectively you need to get a better grasp on what that behavior means to the other person. It doesn’t matter what it means to you, it matters what it means to them.

So, what’s the solution? Well, you need to get to know people. You must take the time to ask questions and be sure to listen to their answers. NEVER, NEVER, NEVER assume anything when it comes to motivation.

Now, what do you do when you have the opportunity to motivate a large group of people and you don’t have the luxury of interviewing them before you present to them? Well, that is the case in many of my presentations. I have the privilege of speaking to thousands of people each year and I know they are not all the same. In order to motivate them I use stories that appeal to different groups, different interests, different genders, etc.. I do not just go in with one approach. I use more of a shotgun approach knowing I will hit them with something meaningful.

Another thing I do which is helpful is to use Visual, Auditory and Kinesthetic language in my conversations and presentations. If you would like to learn more about this please call our office at (800) 588-9419 and order a copy of my book, Mastering Safety Communication. Or just go online to order it at:
http://www.drebinger.com/page/page12.html Read the chapter on Representational Systems.

I hope this will get you thinking about how you motivate others and reminds you not to get trapped by the illusion that you know what someone is thinking.

Have a Dynamic Day!
John Drebinger

For more information call our Institute Director, Sandie Gilbert at 209-747-2770 or call our office at 800-745-9419.

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