Think of the last time you were fully engrossed in your work. Your skills and interests were well-matched for the task at hand. You gave it your total concentration, and — because of your work — your company’s top executives and clients were able to safely take to the skies. You (rightly so) felt the pride and sense of satisfaction of a job well done.
Aviation maintenance technicians know that there are many tasks that can have catastrophic consequences when not given the attention to detail required. Yet, distractions abound, especially in today’s COVID-19 environment. Distractions — things that draw us away from the task at hand — diminish productivity, ultimately impacting our team, business and company’s performance. We spend more hours working, yet less is getting done.
Distractions keep us from serving our customers in the timely, effective way we want. Ironically, people — co-workers, pilots, managers and even owners and passengers — are the biggest distraction. Interruptions to ask your assistance or input, to share important information or even for a friendly inquiry about your weekend, can pull your attention away at critical times. Studies show that it takes 25 minutes to regain peak focus and concentration after an interruption. This means that just three people approaching you for “one quick thing” during your work equals an hour and fifteen minutes of lost productivity.
How do you manage your role as subject matter expert for your organization on matters of safety, mechanical reliability and compliance with OEM’s, the FAA, OSHA, EPA, etc.? How do you promote and maintain the invaluable relationships that are the hallmark of successful organizations? The exchange of knowledge, expertise and insights with your team(s) (i.e. the often dreaded meetings) and mentoring newer employees need to be among your priorities, as well. And prioritizing is the key.
For most people, energy and focus are at peak performance earlier in the day or at the start of a shift. Schedule top priorities first and communicate with others in your organization that you intend to concentrate on that task, without interruption, unless an urgent or emergency item comes up. Prioritize new requests and assignments as they come in. Do you have a high-priority task that must occur late in the day? An aircraft coming in with an issue that must be addressed prior to dispatching it on a trip the following day? Manage the team’s expectations of your availability (or lack of) when the aircraft arrives and how they can help — whether actual help like cleaning, disinfecting, restocking, etc. or help by leaving you to work without interruption.
Schedule time for interruptions. Let people know that you need time to work without interruption, but also give them specific times when they can discuss important items or even just chat with you. Leaders, take the time regularly to connect personally with your team. Senior technicians, make time to mentor newer employees. This visibility drives communication, which drives trust and builds efficiency and loyalty.
Also, use scheduled interruption time to check and respond to emails and voicemails, vs. constantly checking your cellphone. This is a great time for necessary items like reports and other paperwork. Because these items are rarely our most enjoyable or the highest level use of our skills, they tend to be put off until their looming or past deadlines become a distraction.
Take Breaks. Move around. Go walking outside if possible and take deep breaths. This will increase your oxygen and blood flow, making it easier to cut through the “noise of distraction” and refocus on your priorities. Try to break every hour, but definitely after you have been working on the same project for two hours.
But what about internal distractions? Prior to COVID-19, 20% of the workforce admitted some degree of distraction from their job due to issues like health, family, addictions or finances. For the month of April 2020 alone, health insurance companies reported a 34% increase in anti-anxiety prescriptions. Moderate to severe anxiety degrades short term memory and makes concentration almost impossible. A few simple ways to effectively deal with stress and mild anxiety in the workplace include friendly interactions with co-workers, exercising regularly, eating healthy foods, sleeping well, and being kind to yourself, not expecting perfection.
As a leader, be there for your employees, inviting them to share even personal experiences and feelings. Many companies offer employee assistance programs for more severe issues.
While prioritizing, planning for known distractions, taking breaks and self-care will help, given the constant change associated with business and general aviation, distractions will always be present. Is your aircraft off site with an AOG? Does someone need to speak with you immediately? Are you worried because your spouse was furloughed due to the pandemic? While we cannot realistically eliminate all distractions, we can take steps to mitigate them, reducing risk.
When working on a project, our brain tends to think a few steps ahead — generally a good thing. However, with each distraction we may return to the task feeling we are farther along than we actually are. Absent visual clues, serious errors can occur. Train your brain to pause, think of just a few next steps, state them aloud (for yourself and any others with whom you may be working) and then execute them. Stating them out loud will help you remember what you’ve actually accomplished. Using detailed checklists can also help keep you on track. Additionally, an independent inspection is an excellent quality check and safeguard against errors stemming from distraction.
Finally, it is imperative that your company culture promote the mitigation of distractions in the name of safety and service. Policies on whether technicians are to continue work or are expected to stop and greet passengers and owners with questions need to be clearly outlined in your operations manual or company SOP, as do policies on the use of music, headphones and cellphones. Expectations around communication types and response times — e.g. does texting indicate urgent with an ASAP response expected? — need to be established and understood by all.
People perform at their best when personal values, strengths and passions are a fit with the task, organization and other team members. By aligning standard practice (i.e. culture) with organizational values of safety and service, you can avoid a performance wreck, manage distractions and feel the pride and sense of satisfaction of a job well done.
Lisa Archambeau, Vice President, Facilitator & Strategist, ServiceElements International, Inc.
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