Communicating complex information: A flexible approach

Life in industry is becoming more complicated by the day. Machinery, products and procedures are becoming more and more sophisticated and complex. At the same time the results of an error — say a machinery breakdown, the incorrect choice of a product, or failure to follow an employee relations procedure correctly — can be very expensive. So there is an increasing need for efficient communication of complex information in industry. How can this need best be satisfied? Training, of course, plays an important part, as do methods of communicating the information to people doing the jobs. But there are many different training methods using various media and numerous different forms of manual and job aid. The choice of communication method is further complicated by the fact that suitably designed job aids can reduce or eliminate training. It is only possible to achieve the most effective communication by being totally flexible in the choice of communication method and the balance between training and ‘on the job’ communication.