“Crucial Conversations” gaining AEDC popularity

  • Published
  • By Shawn Jacobs
  • AEDC/PA
ARNOLD AIR FORCE BASE, Tenn --  When Louis Vanacore, director of Projects and Design Engineering for Aerospace Testing Alliance (ATA), read the book "Crucial Conversations," he saw great value in its concepts and wanted to share them across Arnold Engineering Development Center (AEDC).

Vanacore was so impressed with the material, that he directed Sharon Carter, deputy director of Projects and Design Engineering, and Debbie Barnes, section manager of that department's Project Support Section, to seek instruction and become certified trainers.

"We're proud of our certification," Barnes said. "We had to attend a four-day class in Chicago, learn the material, prepare to teach the class, teach three classes and then submit acceptable student evaluations in order to become certified. Most of the preparation was done on our own time."

Barnes and Carter received their certification in April 2011. Their first two-day class was held in January of this year, and about 140 employees have been trained to date. The participants have come from across various ATA and a few Air Force organizations, but predominately in the ATA Projects and Design Engineering Departments. Several Jacobs Technology employees from Tullahoma and other Jacobs segments have also received the training.

"There are two different options we can provide," Carter said. "There's the two full-day, 16-hour course that we prefer to teach because it covers all of the material. Additionally, we are willing to facilitate either one- or two-hour workshops. We've taught six of the two-day classes for AEDC personnel at UTSI (University of Tennessee Space Institute). We've also taught a class in conjunction with the Jacobs Technology (JT) Safety Manager's conference that was attended by safety professionals across JT.

"The cost of the course materials is $225 per person, which includes a workbook, six compact discs and a "Crucial Conversations" book. However, we currently have several sets of materials on hand, so we can fill two or three classes. All folks have to do is provide for their own time."

Carter and Barnes have also held several workshops. They recorded a "Webex" for the Jacobs Women's Collaborative, spoke at the Jacobs Technology Human Resources conference in Manchester, a workshop for Jacobs Southern Region in Houston and at two JT Leadership Development Programs (LDP) in Tullahoma and Huntsville, Ala. In fact, the material is now included as a routine component of the LDP program as a result of excellent evaluations from previous sessions.

"Jacobs pays for all course materials for their employees," Carter said. "Also, when Debbie and I travel and give workshops for Jacobs employees, an IWA (intersegment
work agreement) with Jacobs is created which pays for all of our time, travel and per diem."

The course, owned by the VitalSmarts company, is based on the book, "Crucial Conversations: Tools for Talking when the Stakes are High" by Kerry Patterson, Joseph Grenny, Ron McMillan and Al Switzler.

According to the company's website, a crucial conversation is a discussion between two or more people where stakes are high, opinions vary, and emotions run strong. These conversations - when handled poorly or ignored - cause teams and organizations to get less-than-desirable results. The training is designed to teach how to achieve candid dialogue at all levels of an organization in a respectful manner. The desired result is to bring to surface the best ideas, the highest-quality decisions and then act on decisions with unity and commitment.

"We've had some neat success stories," Barnes said. "Catherine Plunkett [director of the ATA Safety and Health Group] wanted her entire staff trained; we've gotten about half of her staff and we're going to finish them up in January. That's a testimony to the value of this material, as well as Dave Ruckstuhl , who wanted his entire staff trained."

Plunkett said she realized the value of the skills she learned in the class immediately and was able to implement some of them within a day. That's when she decided "Crucial Conservations" training would be greatly beneficial for her staff.

"To have an effective Safety and Health Program, it's a must to be able to communicate the value that safety and health behaviors bring to people's lives and not just make it a compliance issue," Plunkett said. "It's important that the people who are charged with relaying that message have the knowledge, skills and abilities to be able to have conversations that can get that point across.

"Often we (in Safety) find ourselves in a conversation where emotions start to kick in on both sides. When personal emotions take over the conversation, it's easy to lose track of what it is you're trying to accomplish. I want to provide my staff with the tools and skills to further refine their communication skills."

Ruckstuhl said he attended a one-hour session delivered by Carter and Barnes and immediately realized the complete training would be beneficial for him and his entire group.

"We have a tendency to come into conservations with our own agenda," Ruckstuhl said. "It's just kind of the way we are, but when we are in a conversation normally there's a reason which includes some kind of collaboration. There's no way that I can resolve everything I do in my work or home life without some input from others, and this particular training helps us to understand that we're in this discussion not just to compromise - that's not the point of it - but to get all the information available so you can make good decisions in a collaborative way."

Ruckstuhl said most, if not all, of the AEDC workforce could benefit from "Crucial Conservations."

"There's a lot at stake out here," he said. "There are certainly plenty of supervisors, plenty of employees, and every one of us has families, so all of that combined - just doing life - there are a lot of people skills required. I can't tell you how many times I've had where [people] won't even listen or I don't want to listen, whichever it is. This helps to restart conversations and get folks back to a place ... where you can really understand each other.

"It's been beneficial. It isn't just another gimmick. It's helpful in all aspects of what we do because it's relational. This was a big deal for me and my team. I see real value in this training."

The next "Crucial Conversations" class, Jan. 17 and 19, is almost full, but signups are being taken for the Feb. 21 and 23 session. Interested employees should obtain permission from their supervisor and then contact Sharon Carter or Debbie Barnes.