Submarines and Lockdown

Could you survive in a confined space for over 200 days without the ability to communicate with the external world? Many of us are still struggling with the restrictions of lockdown and not being able to go where we want, when we want and see who we want. 

I heard a short clip on the radio where a sub-mariner talked about the similarities between life on a submarine and life in lockdown.  He told us how he coped.

First of all he mentioned establishing a routine. On a submarine, quite a lot of how the crew spend their time will be dictated by the job itself but he also talked about making time for fitness - both physical and mental.  When we think about fitness it’s usually the physical side, but it’s equally important to make time to recharge our mental batteries as well.  

The point in the interview that struck home most powerfully to me was when he said, he always makes sure he builds ‘enough communication’ into each day.  Given the fact that there is no access to the internet or the external world from a submarine, the interviewer was curious to know what he meant.  He said that it was about receiving relevant daily updates and also spending time talking to people even though it was the same people that he had spoken to for the past 100 days.  He said it was important and restorative to have those conversations.

In the context of change management I wonder what ‘enough communication’ is.  I’ve worked on projects where the same communication plan seems to work for some people and not others. One set of people think there is too much communication and another set of people claim they don’t know enough.

Maybe some people want regular formal updates and that’s enough. For others additional check-ins will make them feel involved and in-touch with what’s happening on the project.  For the sub-mariners they had a formal daily communication but each individual also had to build in ‘enough’ other types of communication as part of their routine to cope with their environment. 

The only way to make sure you are doing enough of the right type of communication is to ask for feedback from the people you’re communicating with. 

If you’re involved in a change project make sure the people impacted by the change are getting ‘enough communication’.

If you want help with your change agenda please do contact me: [email protected]