Communication ‘Magic Words,’ Teamwork Tips Shared at Transportation Director Summit

July 13, 2024

RENO, Nev. – Student transportation professionals and their vendor partners learned from each other as well as speaker and trainer Christine Cashen the most effective ways to communicate with their teams.

Cashen acknowledged that every person has different upbringings, experiences and styles of handling conflict. Using her formula of “Situation + Response = Outcome,” she advised focusing on the response because that’s where the power is.

“Say what you mean, mean what you say, and don’t be mean when you say it,” she quipped.

She revealed there are four major types of people: Laid-back, people pleasing “Who people;” flexible, creative “Why people;” focused, no-nonsense “What people;” and detail-oriented, conscientious “How people.”

You need all types of people for a team, she said.

The Right Words

A positive workplace culture is crucial for a good trickle-down effect, so transportation staff and school bus drivers are ready to be the first school representative many students see each day. “You want to avoid mood poisoning,” Cashen said, referring to employees with negative attitudes. “Some hard conversations need to be had.”

For effective, non-emotional communication with a team member about a recurring problem or attitude, she advised laying out the situation, stating how you feel and why, using “I” language, closing with an appreciation and request for the other party, and including a consequence, if necessary.

If the conversation becomes argumentative, she said, telling someone “You might be right” gets them to view your side favorably or at least placates them enough to avoid a confrontation. Likewise, saying “I see things differently” is a more collaborative phrase than “I disagree.”

Listen to episode 208 of the School Transportation Nation podcast with Christine Cashen: Bright Side: Clean Fuel Comparisons & “How To Stay Inspired When You’re So Darn Tired!”

The room of transportation directors practiced writing scripts to deal with a problematic staff member, chuckling when Cashen recommended opening with “I need your help” or “help me understand” versus “we need to talk.” The directors shared takeaways from the conversations at their roundtables on how to diffuse confrontation and come to better understanding of both themself and their team members.

Other helpful suggestions Cashen gave included utilizing friendly body language, as well as verbally giving someone the benefit of the doubt and/or a chance to restate a negative jab, all of which promote better communication.

When brainstorming ideas for a particularly stubborn work-related problem or person, Cashen suggested involving the whole team and “Brain-Hurricaning” 25 ideas at least. Each table came up with ideas ranging from the good to the bad to the petty, with the room erupting in laughter several times over shared frustrations.

“You can come up with a better solution if you’re having a good time doing it,” Cashen declared.

Build Your Team

Fostering positive communication is a key part of leadership, Cashen stressed, but it all starts with oneself.

Before saying a harsh word, she advised considering if you are hungry, angry about something unrelated, lonely, or tired. “Hurt people tend to hurt people,” she said. “Loved people love people.

“I’m trying to bring compassion back in fashion,” she declared.

She also advised making up private backstories for people who irritate you in daily life, like pretending someone who cut you off in traffic really needed to use the restroom. This, she said, improves your own outlook on life and positively affects how you treat the people around you.

“Most people aren’t out to get you,” she noted.

Cashen led attendees through practical exercises demonstrating the importance of cooperation. She paired them off and told one person to make a fist while the other had to open it. The easiest way was to simply ask, although the fingernail marks in many palms showed almost no one took this approach.

Later, she assigned each table to find something starting with each letter of the alphabet on their person or in their belongings. This was not a competition, she reiterated, questioning why tables worked on their own rather than seeking input from other tables or even herself.

This echoes how transportation staff may often be siloed alone in a school district and even at odds with each other, when there is great potential for collaboration and problem-solving if they would just reach out.

“You’re different departments on the same team,” she pointed out, adding that one’s first thought should be to collaborate rather than compete.

Additionally, Cashen emphasized inspiring school bus drivers, who have the potential to color a student’s whole day and more. She contrasted fond memories of her school bus driver, who greeted her as a child with a smile every day, with the bus driver who shut the loading door on her son’s arm one day with no apology. This resulted in her son no longer riding the school bus.

“There must be something that lights that fire [inside drivers], so we need to find that spark,” she said.

She provided the acronym BOOGIE: Be Outstanding Or Get Involved Elsewhere.

Attendees shared ideas for inspiration, including gathering donated prizes from vendors for school bus drivers at end-of-school-year celebrations, getting the community out with family-friendly activities for bus driver recruitment efforts, and hosting events like potlucks, barbeques and movie nights to appreciate drivers.

“Conflict doesn’t always have to be negative,” Cashen summed up. “It can also be a positive – bring everyone together and make them feel heard.”

Christine Cashen will present the keynote “How To Stay Inspired When You’re So Darn Tired” at 8:30 a.m. PST on Monday, July 15.