Say the important thing first
Under pressure, lead with the headline, then the detail. "We're out of oat milk — I've ordered more, it lands Thursday" beats a three-minute story that ends with the same fact.
← Work-ready essentials
Working with people
Communication, listening and teamwork
Handovers, asking for help, disagreeing well, and being the person a team is glad to be rostered with.
About 9 minutes · Step 4 of 6 in work-ready essentials
Listening is a visible skill
Face the person, stop what you are doing if you can, let them finish, then say the thing back in your own words before you respond. Repeating it back catches half of all misunderstandings before they cost anything.
- "So you need the delivery checked in before eleven — is that right?"
- Ask one clarifying question rather than guessing and redoing the work.
- Write down anything with a number, a name or a time in it.
Handovers are where teams break
When you leave a shift, the next person should not need to phone you. Cover what's done, what's outstanding, what went wrong and anything a customer is waiting on.
Disagreeing without it becoming a row
Attack the problem, not the person, and do it privately. Name what you observed, the effect it had, and what you want instead. Then genuinely listen to their side — you may be missing context.
Being a teammate people want
Take the task nobody wants occasionally. Cover people when you can and ask when you need it. Give credit out loud. If you make a mistake, say so before someone else finds it, and bring what you'll do differently.
- Never let a colleague be blamed for something you did.
- Help before you're asked when you can see someone drowning.
- New hire? Tell them the unwritten rules — you remember not knowing them.
Solving problems on your feet
Define what's actually wrong, decide whether it's safe and within your authority, act if it is, escalate fast if it isn't, then tell someone what you did. Escalating is not failing — silently guessing on something above your level is.
Knowledge check
Quick quiz — 4 questions
Pick an answer to see instant feedback. Every retake shuffles the order and pulls a fresh set from the module question bank.
1. Two colleagues start arguing loudly in front of customers. What is the best immediate response?
hard2. A supervisor gives you a three-part instruction during a rush. Best response?
medium3. You are handing over to the next shift. What makes a good handover?
medium4. A customer has a strong accent and you didn't catch their order. What should you say?
easy
0 of 4 answered.
Say this, not that
Language you can borrow.
Asking for help mid-rush
Weaker
“Struggling a bit over here…”
Stronger
“Priya, can you take the register for ten minutes? I've got four drinks and a delivery arriving at once.”
Why it works: A named person, a specific task and a time limit. Vague signals get missed.
Handover at end of shift
Weaker
“Yeah, all fine. See you.”
Stronger
“Fridge two is running warm — I've logged it and moved the milk. Table six is waiting on a re-made order, and we're low on lids; the order's in for Thursday.”
Why it works: The next person can start working instead of discovering problems.
Raising something a colleague did
Weaker
“You always leave me with the cleaning.”
Stronger
“The last three closes I've done the clean-down on my own and finished twenty minutes late. Can we split it properly tonight?”
Why it works: Specific, observable, and asks for a change rather than an apology.
Before you move on
- You repeat instructions back before acting on them
- You ask one clear question instead of guessing
- You give a proper handover every time you leave a shift
- You raise issues with the person, privately, using what you observed
- You own mistakes early and bring the fix with you