Driving for Better Communication Leads to Better Courier Routes
- Brainstorming ways to encourage use of email system, including instructing and coaching one another on the system
- Diversifying its communication methods, including the creation of a communication board with information about the projects the team is working on, notes from UBT meetings and a copy of the department’s weekly e-newsletter, “Heads Up”
- Changing from a representative UBT to a general membership UBT with regularly scheduled meetings throughout the region, so that all employees are able to participate
What can your team do to give all UBT members a voice? What else could your team do to encourage personal and team growth?
Get to work, pack up deliveries, drive (a lot!), make deliveries, finish the day. Repeat. With a job that keeps you constantly on the go, it is difficult to find time to talk through issues with team members. Courier drivers in the Northwest experienced ineffective communication, low morale, and low UBT effectiveness. The need to revamp routes to increase efficiency brought to the forefront these underlying issues. Through improved communication and collaboration, the team was able to create a healthier work environment and optimize courier routes.
Through improved communication and collaboration, a Northwest team was able to create a healthier work environment and optimize courier routes.
Courier Thomas Schiemer, a member of SEIU Local 49, is part of a team that created better routes for delivering packages.
improvement in morale within three months. Perception of communication improved by 48 percent and UBT effectiveness by 21 percent