Aircraft Maintenance Technology - 38

PROFESSIONALISM
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.

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Aircraft Maintenance Technology

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Aircraft Maintenance Technology