Verbal Communication

Verbal communication involves mediums such as phone calls, face-to-face meetings, emails, and text messages. In the case of a journeyperson mentoring an apprentice, thoughts are encoded by the journeyperson (communicator) and formulated into messages, which are then sent to the apprentice (receiver) through a medium. If the messages are crafted with care, they will be clear and able to be decoded and understood, however, “noise” such as distractions and influences or other conflicting messages may interfere with the message that the receiver decodes. It is critical to receive feedback from the apprentice so that the journeyperson can be sure the message was understood.

Feedback can be as simple as the journeyperson asking the apprentice to repeat the message, or it can be in the form of the apprentice asking questions. Whatever form it takes, feedback is necessary to confirm that communication has happened and is understood, as represented in the diagram of the communication pathway shown below.

Encoding and decoding are simply reversed processes – thoughts with meaning are encoded by the sender into messages, and they in turn are decoded back into thoughts that have meaning by the receiver. An important factor involved in transference of meaning is context. This is described by Linkedin™ as “a set of observable conditions that both the sender and receiver can use to associate the same things to a given message”. In simple language, context means the setting of an event. You can think of context as all the information you need to know to truly understand something. So, when messages are relayed, the expectation is that the context is already established and, if not, must accompany the message. An example of context that involves everyday life is where you are watching a movie from the beginning, you know the names of the characters, where the movie is set and the underlying plot. If you were to instead start watching the same movie halfway through, you wouldn’t know the characters’ names, the setting, storyline, or plot, and this is because you don’t understand the context of the movie. Once the context has been established, the movie seems much easier to understand. Establishing context enables understanding.

When relaying verbal messages, make sure the context of the message has been established, and that the directions within the message are clear and concise (brief but to the point).

Non-Verbal Communication

Non-verbal communication means getting a message across without putting it into words. Facial expressions, posture, tone and volume of voice, and arm gestures are known as “body language” and form the basis of this style of communication. Non-verbal communication involves all our senses and can therefore be easily misinterpreted. A statement such as “he sure didn’t like that remark” might be in reaction to a person furrowing their brow in response to something heard, where in fact the brow movement might be that person’s normal facial expression when they are concentrating on listening to someone, and it was misread by the onlooker. If verbal communication is difficult to understand and interpret correctly, non-verbal is even more so. And when paired with verbal communication, such as in a video meeting or face-to-face conversation, there can be mixed signals sent or received. So, communication is considered a system, with all parts, both verbal and non-verbal, contributing toward successfully getting messages from the sender to the receiver.

Body Language

Possibly one of the most misinterpreted forms of communication prevalent today is email/texts. Although they are a good way of establishing a record of a message, they must be carefully crafted so as not to deliver the wrong intent. In the business world, it is often said that emails and texts should not be sent until the sender has had time to reread and reflect on their message. This is because body language can’t be present to compliment the verbal content and context. It is advisable to save the draft and give yourself enough time to ascertain that your message won’t be misconstrued before you hit the “send” button. It is too easy to misinterpret a text or email that has been quickly written, and a time lapse between crafting and sending will ensure that your intended meaning is clear and that “autocorrect” hasn’t changed any wording on you.

Likely the most important thing to remember when visually conveying a message is to try not to use signals that would contradict the intent of the message. An example of this might be using a scowling facial expression while complimenting an apprentice on the job you’ve asked them to do, possibly confusing the apprentice and making them miss the fact that they are being commended. Conversely, smiling while giving a subordinate a reprimand may downplay the seriousness of the intended message. Facial expressions should reflect the tone and emotion of the verbal communication being delivered; however, an emotionless face can be as misleading as the examples above. Eye contact is an important signal as well, as it is an indication that the speaker is actively engaging the listener. Looking off in the distance while delivering a message, or doing the same as the listener, may imply a reduced interest in engaging in conversation, while a steady glare might come across as an indication of anger. Arm movements or placement, such as hands in pockets (passive) or fist waving (aggressive) are signals that can add to or detract from the intent of the message. Body language is an important component of both verbal and non-verbal communication.

Active Listening

Hearing and listening are different, in that listening is taking in and synthesizing information, whereas hearing is simply the body’s reception of sound and noise, so, in effect, you can hear without listening. The difference between them is usually caused by distractions, and distractions come in many forms. In today’s world, the most common form of distractions are our mobile devices. Most people can’t receive and understand two streams of input at the same time, so one will inevitably take precedence over the other. Most often, the person speaking will be “tuned out” in favour of the mobile device, usually because people today attach a high level of priority on what gets delivered to them from someone who isn’t presently in front of them. Mobile devices should not be a source of distraction, especially when there is important information being shared through conversation. Silence them fully unless the conversation involves information from the mobile device itself.

Active listening can be considered to have four components, which are:

• interpreting
• reflecting
• responding, and
• paraphrasing

Interpreting

As shown in an earlier graphic, when we are interpreting what we’ve heard in a verbal communication, we are decoding what was said. In decoding a message, we are searching for context, meaning, and bias (pre-formed opinions or feelings). Someone who interrupts usually does so because they feel they have already decoded the content of the message, so whatever the speaker is saying from that point on is immaterial or repetitive to the message. Reflection by the listener helps to avoid interruption.

Reflecting

Reflecting means carefully considering something, and in conversation means considering something that has been said. A critical component of reflecting is suppressing the urge to interrupt and to think through what the other person is saying. Allowing time for reflection on what the other person is saying will help minimize misunderstandings and lessen frustration on the speaker’s part due to being interrupted. Many listeners interrupt because they think the speaker is going on too long and is unlikely to “come up for air”, so, as a speaker, we must try to keep statements to a reasonable length, to avoid the perceived necessity to be interrupted. As a listener, allowing a speaker to finish what they consider important gives us a chance to reflect and possibly formulate questions that help clarify the speaker’s meaning.

Responding

Examples of response mechanisms to communication can be both verbal and non-verbal. Questions for clarification, facial expressions, head nods, arm gestures, and sighs or long-drawn breaths are all examples of response mechanisms. How many times have we all said something that was off-the-mark, inappropriate, or couldn’t be taken back, and wished we had given it more careful thought? Appropriate responding involves reflection and a careful choice of phrasing, especially when a certain level of diplomacy is required. Good mentors and managers carefully craft their messages and responses.

Paraphrasing

Paraphrasing is a form of feedback and is the act of, in your own words, repeating something you’ve heard. When a foreperson or journeyperson delivers a message to an apprentice, the best possible thing they can do to ensure the apprentice has been listening is to ask them to repeat what they’ve heard. Paraphrasing may be the most important aspect of learning and establishing great listening skills. The listener interprets and reflects on the other person’s message, and then repeats it back to the speaker, ensuring the message has been understood and not simply heard. If the speaker doesn’t ask for the message to be repeated, a good idea is for the listener to initiate that paraphrasing. Good communication between a journeyperson and an apprentice should involve routinely checking for understanding through the paraphrasing process.

Roles and Responsibilities of a Mentor

A mentor wears many hats – role model, teacher, confidante, leader, learner, professional, advocate, counsellor, motivator, critic, cheerleader, ally, listener, guide, communicator, and more. A good mentor is all these things and has the best interests of the mentee or protege at heart.  Good mentorship demands a positive attitude, which is reflected in behavior. Generally, attitude refers to an expression of the way one feels, whereas behavior is the way that someone acts. The two are related, with a person’s behavior being the observable aspect of their personality that, in general, belies their attitude. A mentor with positive attitudes toward the various aspects of their trade will tend to pass the same attitudes and behavioral outcomes on to their apprentices, so it is of utmost importance, as a journeyperson, to realize that the way that you approach day-to-day challenges of the workplace will rub off on and become ingrained in your apprentice. It will help you as a new journeyperson to look back on the mentors from your past, recognize their positive attributes, and emulate them as you yourself become the mentor.

The attitudes in trades have changed greatly through the past few decades. Old practices, such as “breaking in new apprentices” by sending them on confusing and demeaning tasks that don’t have any tangible outcome, are now considered by many to be a form of “hazing” and as such are no longer condoned. “Old” journeypersons may have experienced this behavior themselves as apprentices and may therefore feel some need or responsibility to perpetuate these practices, but in truth, they should not be a part of our trades culture. They are now considered harassment and send a message that the journeyperson doesn’t value the mental well-being of their apprentice. They can also be actionable by supervisors, with termination of employment being one of the consequences.

Many decades ago, some trades had a practice of assigning a profession based on physical size and stature. For instance, in the piping trades, a person of large stature was steered toward being a Sprinklerfitter because the daily routine of having to thread together pipe and fittings, often of large diameter, demanded much physical strength. Conversely, smaller people were urged to become Plumbers due to the probability of having to work in tight spaces such as kitchen cabinets and small bathrooms. Women in the trades were few and far between, due to the culture that existed in most male-dominated industries. Today’s trades demographic reflects modern inclusiveness. There are no longer sanctioned barriers to pursuing careers in the trades. WorksafeBC™ regulations have helped to take the necessity for brute strength out of the equation, thereby leveling the physical aspect of the playing field. Any forms of harassment or discrimination should no longer be perpetuated or tolerated by anyone in the trades, and any contraventions are required to be reported to a supervisor for their appropriate action.