Effective Communications with Military Service Members Series
Narrator: [A
screen titled “Pre-deployment” is displayed.] The pre-deployment phase of the
deployment lifecycle begins [An image of the supervisor talking to the military
service member in the supervisor’s office is displayed.] when a service member
receives his or her orders to deploy. As a supervisor, [An image of the
military service member gesturing while talking to the supervisor.] your role
is to help the service member smoothly transition his or her VA
responsibilities to another [An image of the supervisor listening is
displayed.] individual [An image of the supervisor and service member talking
is displayed.] Let’s take a look at a short video [An image of the supervisor
and service member speaking to each other is displayed.] in which a supervisor
is meeting with a service member who is about to deploy. Pay special attention
to the way in which the supervisor communicates, both verbally and non-verbally.
[The screen fades to black.]
[The supervisor is on the phone talking while taking
notes on a pad of paper.]
Supervisor
[speaking
on the phone]: OK, Marilyn [pause] yes,
sure we can get that report to you by August 15th rather than the 30th. [The
supervisor’s inflection indicates a can do attitude.] Yeah, I’ve got Lee Dolan
working on it; he’s the most productive on my team. I’ll tell you what. I’ll clear his schedule so that he can focus
on this alone and he’ll get this to you by the 15th. [The Service member knocks
on supervisor’s door.]
Supervisor: [The
supervisor looks away from her laptop monitor for just second, motions service
member to come in, but continues typing on the keyboard and makes no eye
contact.] Okay, talk to you later. [She hangs up the phone.]
Supervisor:
Hey, Lee, I’m glad you stopped by. I wanted to discuss something with you.
[Lee, the service member sits down in a chair facing the supervisor.]
Service
member: Actually, me too.
Supervisor:
Okay, what’s up?
Service
member: Sue, I was just notified by my unit that we’ll be
deploying in two weeks.
Supervisor
[looking surprised and disappointed]:
[sigh] Seriously? [The supervisor makes an irritated face and sighs again.] I just talked to Marilyn and told her that you
were going to have that report done by the 15th. Is there any chance you could
deploy after the 15th?
Service
member [looking at the supervisor with irritation]: Sue, it doesn’t work that way.
Deployment orders aren’t something that you can change.
Supervisor: Ugh,
I didn’t realize it. [The supervisor sighs heavily, looks down at her computer
and starts typing notes.] OK, you know what, it’s alright. We can do this. You put in some long days
before you deploy…
Service
member: [He looks
stressed and interjects.] Sue,…
Supervisor
[interrupting]: … and we can get this done.
Service
member: …that’s not going to work for me. I was hoping to take
some leave and take care of some things and spend time with my family before I
deploy.
Supervisor:
[sigh]
[The screen fades to black.]
Narrator: [An
image of the supervisor with her head in her hand staring at the computer is
displayed.] Did you notice the supervisor’s body language? [Another image of
the supervisor staring at the computer is displayed.] Her attention was on the
computer, not on the service member as it should have been. And, it’s clear
that the supervisor was more focused on the work at hand [An image of the
concerned service member with a worried facial expression is displayed.] than
on the service member’s situation. But instead of having a productive two-way
conversation about workload, [A close up of the supervisor making an irritated
face making a dismissive gesture is displayed.] the frustrated supervisor made
two inappropriate suggestions. First, [An image of the supervisor looking at
her laptop monitor is displayed.] the supervisor asked the service member to
try to delay deployment. [An image of the service member looking concerned is
displayed.] Clearly, this supervisor has no idea what military life is like.
Second, [A close up image of the supervisor giving direction to the service
member is displayed.] the supervisor asked the service member to work long
hours to complete a task. By making this suggestion, the supervisor showed a
lack of understanding of the service member’s situation, [An image of a visible
frustrated service member is displayed.] and the service member became stressed.
The supervisor expected the service member [An image of the supervisor looking
stressed over her workload with her head in her hands is displayed.] to work
long days at a time when he may be very busy taking care of things, like
changes to benefits and personal family business. The exchange was ineffective—the
supervisor had no solid plan for meeting a deadline, and the service member’s
need for time off with family was unmet. [A close up image of the service
member’s face as he talks to the supervisor is displayed.] Let’s check back in with the supervisor and
the service member. See how many differences you can find between the first
video and this one.
[The screen fades
to black. An image of the supervisor
sitting at her desk talking on the phone is displayed.]
Supervisor
[speaking
on the phone]: OK, Marilyn [pause]
yes, sure we can get that report to you by August 15th rather than the 30th. [The
supervisor’s inflection indicates a can do attitude.] I’ve got Lee Dolan
working on it; he’s the most productive on my team. I’ll tell you what. I’ll clear his schedule so that he can focus
on this alone and he’ll get this to you by the 15th. [pause]
[The service member knocks on the supervisor’s door.]
Supervisor: [She
looks away from the laptop monitor for just second and motions to the service
member to come in.] Okay, talk to you later. [She hangs up the phone.]
Supervisor:
Hey, Lee, [the supervisor rotates her chair towards the service member, looks
him in the eyes and smiles] I’m glad you stopped by. I wanted to discuss
something with you. [Lee, the service member sits down in a chair.]
Service
member: Actually, me too.
Supervisor:
Okay, what’s up?
Service
member: Sue, I was just notified by my unit that we’ll be
deploying in two weeks.
Supervisor
[looking surprised]: Oh, wow. That’s
a short time frame. So how are you feeling about all this, Lee?
Service
member [looking somewhat stressed]: Well, it is pretty quick, but it’s what I signed up for.
Supervisor: OK,
well you know, we can work together on the work piece of this whole process so
it goes as easily as possible. But before we get started, is there anything you
need from me?
Service
member [looking a little more relaxed]: Sue, I was hoping to take some time off so that I can take care
of some things and spend time with my family before I deploy.
Supervisor:
Sure, absolutely. You know, how about
we meet tomorrow at 10 a.m. for about an hour. We can talk about what the next
two weeks will look like. And, if you get a chance, just review the transition
plan we worked up a few months ago.
Service
member: Yeah, that sounds great. [The service member smiles and
looks relieved.] Thanks!
[The screen fades to black. A close-up image of the
supervisor talking to the service member is displayed.]
[The screen fades to black.]
This time, the
supervisor in this video focused on both what she needed and what the service
member needed. She demonstrated [an image of the service member speaking is
displayed.] an understanding that the service member might be dealing with
stress, caused by short notice of deployment,[an image of the supervisor
looking attentively at the service member is displayed.] issues to take care of
before leaving on deployment, or family matters. This genuine concern opened
the communication lines. [A close up image of the service member is displayed.]
Did you notice that the supervisor was listening carefully when the service
member said he’d be deploying in two weeks? [A close up image of the supervisor
is displayed]. The supervisor’s response was to affirm the service member’s
short time to deployment and offer to help. The supervisor took charge of the
situation by clearly stating [An image of the service member listening to the
supervisor is displayed.] that she needed a current plan, while taking the
service member’s needs into account. [An image of the supervisor is displayed.]
She asked to schedule a meeting; she didn’t demand it. By asking for a meeting
the following day, the supervisor also gave herself some time to think [An
image of the service member talking is displayed.] about the next steps for her
staff. In this video, the service member visibly relaxed in response to the
supervisor’s effective communication techniques.