Foundations

Imagine that you are disoriented in thick and impenetrable woods. You have no idea how to find your way out. You are without a GPS, cell phone, flare, and the most basic tool to help with one’s bearings: the compass. Without those tools, can you imagine the helplessness of not knowing where to go?

In departmental communications, like in finding our way out of the forest, a compass will not work unless all points are present.

If we do not know where we are and where we are going, we are effectively lost. Do we always have our bearings in the realm of information exchange? Our jobs would be much easier if we had a communications compass.
It has been said that communications is a two-way street. Certainly, we benefit from data sharing between two parties rather than a one-way lecture. Listening and talking are complementary actions with equal weight. It is not so simple, though. In fact, the two-way street of information exchange can be expanded into four points on a compass.

Read more…

joebouchard Assessing the organization, Staff relations

From Bill H – Corrections Training Administrator –

You did it again, hit a nerve with me and reminded me of the message I always gave my classes of recruits when it came to swearing.  

Like you, I told the new staff that swearing was part of the culture inside, but that they did have some personal power in this area.

I would tell them that I was always amazed the words new recruits used when they came to the department and the words they were using  just one year later .  In addition to the slang, they loved the f-bomb and a few off color words way too much.  

Then, I would say this.  It sounds like you are trying to identify and belong to a group you are not part of. You see, there are prisoners and there are law abiding professional staff members.   Do you want to be more like a felon, or more like a law abiding, family orientated, individual?    I would always think that the words they used told me what side they wanted to be on, and that it sometimes troubled me.

I would say, “if you think about it, our words is one way we can model the behavior we want from offenders.  Our words can separate us from the prisoners and we can show them, through our words, a better way.”   I also told them “these guys know where you are from and think it is funny that you are trying to talk like them.  They see it as a potential weakness and may try to exploit you because of it.”

I challenged every one of them to “keep their words” and not cave in to the language trap.”  

Like you, I told them I share this advice because I made this mistake and ended up working very hard to choose my words better, after I saw the error of my ways.  You see, one holiday dinner I asked for someone to “pass the F-ing potatoes”.  After I saw the look on my mother’s face, it was like I was hearing someone else saying these vile words not fit for the family dinner table.  I apologized and I started to changed that day.

Later on, I found that as a trainer that some other correctional trainers had not changed their words and they were not as effective of a trainer because their words detracted from the message they were trying to convey.

I swear, I will stop now.

joebouchard Self Scrutiny, Staff relations, Training

Early and accurate forecasting of tumultuous weather gives us the opportunity to mitigate damage.  We can, in other words, execute our version of battening down the hatches.

Even if we secure lawn furniture, tools, and the like, we may still face a different landscape in the wake of severe weather events.  Fallen debris over which we have no control could litter the landscape. 

This is also true in corrections.  Read more…

joebouchard Inside Out, Staff relations

Most of us find it easier to complain than to solve.  In other words, identifying problems are often easier than finding solutions.  This is not some scathing admonishment of humanity.  Rather, it is an observation of how we tend to think. 

On Sunday, August 9, 2009, while at ACA in Nashville, I presented a module on division between staff in our vocation.  “You Animal! An anthropomorphic look at staff relations in corrections” is the full title.  Read more…

joebouchard Staff relations, Training, Uncategorized

Chances are you will hear swearing every single day while you work in corrections.  To most, it is not unusual.  In fact, it is as normal part of the job as a burn is to a fry cook. But profanity can polarize staff and cause bigger problems than initially suspected.

“&%$#@*&/>*!!!“

Before I go on, I must issue a few disclaimers.

None of this is a personal crusade on my part that seeks to control language.  This is not an attempt at suppression.  Rather, I believe that this is a topic that should be considered for our overall collective benefit. Read more…

joebouchard Self Scrutiny, Staff relations

One does not have to be a farmer to grasp this fact:  It is not easy to grow crops.  Often the cultivator is at the mercy of the environment.  But even in good years, the wise farmer will apply the proper measure of sun, water, weeding and fertilizer. Those who let nature take its course will usually gather a lesser harvest.

“Nip it in the bud” is a phrase that comes to us from our agricultural history. It is used in modern terminology to describe how one should tend to a potentially bad situation before it grows unmanageably large and wild. 

Avoidance management happens frequently and in many forms.  It comes from any combination of interactions. Avoidance management happens between staff, involving prisoner interactions, and from staff to prisoner.  Read more…

joebouchard Assessing the organization, Staff relations

For corrections professionals, firm but fair is the universal expectation.  However, ‘firm’ is not so easy to attain.  Despite all of our training, confrontation is often difficult to deal with.  Some of us simply steer clear of disagreements due to our inherent make up.  Enter the specter of avoidance management.

Avoidance management is the practice of dodging problems within your area of control with the hopes that they will just go away.  Unfortunately problems left untended can blossom into something that is difficult to settle. In other words, from the tiny acorn, the mighty oak will grow. Read more…

joebouchard Assessing the organization, Self Scrutiny, Staff relations

Quivering with disdain, she cleared her throat and articulated her opinion to all within earshot. “Brad may have book smarts, but he has no horse sense!” She fixed me with an unwavering stare as she made her announcement. The statement was laden with contempt, literally dripping like snow melting off a metal roof in March.

My immediate question was, “What is horse sense?”

I had heard this expression before, but it still puzzled me. Read more…

joebouchard Self Scrutiny, Staff relations

One of the most powerful actions to evoke surprise and bitterness is the act of betrayal. Disloyalty in any area is particularly crushing when it is unexpected.  That is the point at which the betrayed party is most vulnerable.  Trust broken, quite simply, is hard to regain.

In corrections, we have many trust relationships.  To fully cultivate trust, we must develop and maintain loyalty towards these parties: Self, Prisoners, Coworkers, and Society. Read more…

joebouchard Self Scrutiny, Staff relations

One little rumor is like an acorn.  Before you know it, the rumor grows into a huge tree with tangled roots.  And like Frankenstein’s Monster, conspiracy theories come to life and rampage.

Can rumors and tabloid talk bring danger to an institution?  Do those who subscribe to less reputable entertainment reports make themselves potential targets for manipulation?  The answers to these questions can be quite easy to discover.  It is a simple matter of observing and listening to others at work in the wake of a celebrity scandal. Read more…

joebouchard Assessing the organization, Inside Out, Self Scrutiny, Staff relations