Situational Awareness 3 Read The Room

Hey, what's up everybody? It's Mike again with the HVAC Mentors Podcast. I am so happy that you could be with us for part 3 of the situational awareness series. Uh, today we are going to be talking about presence or being present. So in part 1, we were focused a lot on that internal awareness, being aware of what's happening in your own mind. In part 2, we were talking about preparation or being aware of what's coming before it arrives. Now for part 3, that's where everything kind of converges because all the thinking and all the preparation in the world doesn't really matter if we can't apply it in real time. Situational awareness isn't just about what's in your head. It isn't about how you prepare only because a trade doesn't just happen in theory. It happens in commercial kitchens, on rooftops, basements, mechanical rooms, people's homes. their businesses, job sites, and workshops everywhere. Every situation you walk into is a little bit different. Even when the equipment is the same, even when the problem is the same, even at the same customer location, the moment is never exactly the same. That's what this episode's about. Presence, being aware in the moment. So that kind of brings us back to the overall gist of what this podcast is really about. Because at its core, the reason this podcast exists is the soft skills, the way we are as a technician. It's not technical skills, although occasionally we might delve into that, but primarily we're not about technical skills. And there are many other great podcasters and creators out there who do teach technical skills. But primarily the focus of this podcast is how you exist within your trade, your awareness, your mindset, your professionalism, your presence. My biggest hurdle at first was never really the skills. Now, that doesn't mean that I'm some super tech and a natural and, and it just all came to me all at once because that's not true. No. Instead, it was always that question of how you should be as a technician. And that's a hard one to wrestle with. And it's one that we never really resolve because we're always growing. And that's why we're here. If this episode asks one overarching question, it's this: why can 2 technicians have the same exact technical knowledge and get completely different results? And truthfully, the answer is that it isn't usually because one is smarter than the other. It can be that one is present while the other is operating on autopilot. So you've probably heard it said that you need to learn to read the room, you know, and a big thing about self-awareness is that you're constantly reading the room. You're reading people, you're reading situations, you're reading the vibe. You really can't be present unless you're reading the room. And I do mean that literally. When you walk into a job site, you really should think about where, what's going on. So take a minute, pause, don't jump right in. Before you say a word to anyone, before you grab a tool, before you touch any equipment and start diagnosing, you really look around. What's the mood? What's the energy? What is happening around you? Because your trade isn't just about machines. Structures, tools. It's about people. It's about showing respect, respect for others, respect for yourself, and respect for your trade. So here's one example. Just this past week, I was called to a small local bar for an urgent service call. Their gas range was out. And I walked in, it was right about noon, so they were absolutely swamped. Um, food orders out the door. Uh, the place was packed. It was amazing how many people were fit in this little tiny building. And when I walked in, the cook looked at me like I had just made his day worse. Not because he didn't want help, but because he didn't have time to deal with me right then. And in that moment, after reading the room, I knew I had a choice. I could force my agenda. Or I could respect the staff and offer to let them decide what I should do next. So I smiled and said, it looks like this is a terrible time for me to be here. Would you like me to come back later today or another day perhaps before you're open? And he accepted that offer and asked if we could reschedule. And he laughed because he knew I understood. You know, I stepped out, I called my office. And when I came back the next morning, everything was different. He was relaxed, helpful, appreciative, because I didn't just diagnose his equipment. I respected him. I respected his kitchen and his situation. That is presence. Ironically, when I contacted the office to my office to let them know that we needed to reschedule, I don't think that I read the room quite as effectively. So that's Kind of an important point that we need to make in this episode. We've got 2 different conversations going on, and we gotta understand that we're kind of acting as an interpreter. But after agreeing to come back, I texted dispatch to let them know, hey, they're too busy right now and they want to reschedule. But what dispatch heard was, I don't feel like going. I'm moving on to the next one. And truly other people have acted this way toward our office staff. Other people have been disrespectful. Other people have said, no, I, I'm not going. I don't go to this customer. I don't go to that particular location. And our dispatcher texted me back saying, hey, you know, we really need you to go back and finish this. So of course my thinking was, okay. Well, I can come back, you know, go run another service call and then come back in a couple hours when they can deal with me being there. Or I could sit here on the side of the road and wait until they're not busy. I was really confused for a minute. I wasn't sure what to do. After a few seconds, the office manager called me back. She wanted to know what was happening. Why didn't I want to go to the job? So I explained what happened. I explained the message I wanted to send and was trying to send, but which was not received because of my lack of situational awareness. And I asked her, do you want me to move on to the next job? Come back? Do you want me to wait until they're not busy? Once we realized where the breakdown in communication happened, we kind I had a nice little laugh about it, but the truth is, had I been more present and thought about how best to communicate with my dispatcher, I would've called her, not texted her. She's got 5 other technicians, other office staff, parts ordering, God knows what else flying around her head at any particular moment. Really, the solution was that I should have the, or rather the appropriate Response to her would've been to have actually called her, um, to begin with, having texted her when she told me to go back, I should have called her, not replied with another text, which basically just made the situation worse. So really, and it wasn't intentional, but when you break it down, I basically failed to show her the same respect. that I had just shown the cook at that small town bar. And had I, things could have gone a lot smoother. So we got to understand that when we are thinking about how to communicate or thinking about the situation, you know, reading the room, it's not just the immediate situation in front of our eyes, but it's also the layers of communication that are going on. Because you're not just communicating with the customer, you're also communicating with your office. And the truth is that you might have 2 different languages, literally and figuratively, going on. The office is expecting one thing and they're living within one context. The customer is living within their context and you as the service technician, get to live in that tension in between. It's not necessarily a bad thing. It just means that we need to be aware of what's going on around us. We need to be aware of the customer's world and the company's world. And we've got to be aware of how best to serve as a translator between those 2 worlds. Situational awareness means understanding both and being aware of how to be an effective translator. We got to make sure that our message, message is understood. Now, that also means that we're choosing the right means of communicating. Typically, text messages really aren't great. And if somebody replies to your text that in a way that makes you think that maybe they didn't quite get it. Call them because to be perfectly honest, you know, there's already a breakdown in communication. Further text messages are just going to make it worse. But we've got to really make sure that we are understood in our communication, that we are conveying what it is that we've seen while reading the room. Because ultimately awareness isn't just a physical thing. It's relational. It's not just about getting the job done. It's about making sure that you take the time to ensure everyone involved is on the same page. It's demonstrating respect by taking good care of the people on both sides of that relationship. Interpreting the appropriate response for different customers in different situations is just a matter of practice. The key is listening to those around you. And letting them tell you how they want you to respond. One of the keys to accomplishing this is that we need to understand that different people are different in different situations. Now that seems kind of silly, right? Like, like, yeah, different people are different, obviously, but the same people are different too. Not every customer wants the same interaction and not every customer will interact the same way on every visit. Some customers want to talk, to learn, and to understand what you're doing. Others just want their equipment fixed. They don't care how it works. They just want it working. And the truth is that sometimes the 2 different responses are the same customer in different situations. Now, that same cook at that bar could have just said, yeah, come on in here, man. It's busy. You're gonna, you know, you might get kicked, stepped on, have food dropped on you. And I've been in that situation too. And you know what? That's okay too, because in my trade, we work on the equipment and get it running for the customer. And, you know, it's their choice whether they're too busy for us. So neither response then is really wrong on the part of the customer. Situational awareness means recognizing which one you're standing in front of. When the gentleman at the bar was giving me short answers, not really engaging and not really responding when I was asking him some diagnostic questions, it became obvious quickly that yeah, this dude, he's not. No, this is not the place for me. This dude does not want me here. This is not. This is not the time or the place. So. If you try to educate someone who doesn't want education, you just frustrate them. And on the other hand, if you stay silent with someone who wants explanation, you frustrate them also. The same customer who didn't want me there when he was busy didn't mind me explaining to him why the gas regulator was the problem and, um, why That why the oven is now working. So presence allows you to adjust. So again, by being present with that customer, I was able to adjust my approach to that service call. So being present then allows you to kind of tweak your response to the situation and not change who you are. But to adjust how you communicate, because professionalism really isn't rigid. It's not, you know, this is me and this is how I am and this is how I'm going to respond because this is how I'm wired. Instead, it's about responsiveness. It keeps us from remaining in autopilot mode. And autopilot can be quite dangerous. So there's a difference between responding to pattern recognition and just flying along on autopilot. Pattern recognition itself is a good thing, and it's a good thing to be aware of. It helps us be efficient. If we fail to be present though, and if we lean too heavily on pattern recognition, we run the risk of operating on autopilot. And the truth is, both trades can become quite routine. You've seen it before, you've done it before, you know the steps, and your brain starts filling in the blanks automatically. But next thing you know, you're getting a lot of callbacks or, you know, you fixed part of the problem, but not the whole problem. Once your brain starts filling in the blanks automatically, it's kind of a slippery slope because before long, you're kind of just always on autopilot. So really autopilot is its most dangerous because it stops observing. It just does the steps. And moves on. It stops listening because it doesn't need to. It's got all the information it needs. You don't need to listen. What are you listening to? It's, you know, you know what needs to be done. Autopilot stops adapting because there's no adaptation needed when you know what's going on, when you have all the information. And it really sends the message that you just don't care. That you just want to rush through the job, get out of the way, and get on to the next customer. And that's not a message that any of us wants to send. So being present really keeps us engaged. It sends a message that you do care, that you care about the job and about getting the piece of equipment up and running, but you care about the customer. And you care about your team and you care about your office staff. And, you know, you care about all of those who are involved in the job. Presence keeps you aware. You know, it's, it's not just A matter of there are these symptoms, so I'm going to fix this thing. It's, there are these symptoms, so I'm going to watch this machine. I might address that symptom and I might repair that symptom, but I'm going to keep watching it because I want to make sure that I diagnose the whole machine. Okay. I had a customer one time call my office because I fixed multiple problems on, on one piece of machinery. And they said, well, you know, it was, there was only a problem over here on this one part. Just one section. But he was looking over here at the other part of the machine, at the other side of the machine. And my boss had to tell them like, yeah, that's because we look at the whole machine. Don't want to just fix one problem. We want to look at the whole thing as a system and make sure the system is operating as it should. Presence keeps you learning because technology is constantly changing. Equipment's constantly changing. And you know, sometimes you learn new methods that you never thought about doing. You might've done a repair 1,000 times, but that 1,001st time something clicks and you go, oh, I could do this a little quicker if I did it a little differently, if I used a different tool. So intentionally remaining present allows pattern recognition to inform your work, but it won't allow it to take over. It keeps us mindful, but but also conveys respect. It says we care about what we're doing and about those who are involved in the job. So as we wrap up part 3 of this series, I just really want to point out what the bigger truth is here. Ultimately, what presence boils down to is, and really situational awareness, but what presence really boils down to is respect. It's respect for the customer, respect for the equipment, respect for your coworkers. And ultimately the most important thing is respect for yourself. Because when you're present, you are intentional, you are engaged, and you're professional, and you're doing work you can be proud of. And that changes everything. So then situational awareness itself isn't really one skill. What it is, is a way of being that's in your character. It means that you can change it. You can make it stronger. It's not just hardwiring from the factory. It's something that you can adapt to. It informs your reputation and how others see you in life and on the job. Part 1 was awareness of how your mind works. And how you think and why you think that way. How you may not have control over how those patterns got set in place, but you certainly have the power to change those outdated ways of thinking. And how self-empowerment makes you a stronger person and tradesperson. Part 2 was awareness of your preparation. You know, it's remembering that a successful day started the night before. Setting up for a successful day creates a cascade of wins, and identifying your non-negotiables is the way to make sure that the most important things are ready for the next day. Bearing— being prepared ultimately brings out the best in you for your family, your coworkers, and has a direct impact on your professional reputation and your career trajectory. And then of course, part 3 is awareness of the moment itself. Remembering to read the room, respecting all parties involved in the job by making sure that everyone is on the same page, avoiding autopilot, pilot, and being conscious of how best to respond to different people in different situations. If you can draw one underlying theme through this whole series, it's this: when we understand ourselves, When we understand what we need in order to be prepared, when we remember to be present and stop reacting to our career and we start directing it, we stop drifting. We start driving. We give ourselves permission to pause for a moment, check the roadmap, and make sure we're on the right path. That, my friends, is respect. Respect for yourself, respect for your trade, respect for your family. One word to sum up everything we do. Is respect. Thank you so much for being here, and I look forward to seeing you next time. Goodbye for now.