SERGEY NIVENS/STOCK.ADOBE.COM
Slow Down, Listen and Chill FDOT’s Dan Hurdato, P.E. provides best practices for communicating effectively and resolving conflict BY NICK FORTUNA
D
an Hurtado, P.E., understands that there are more effective ways to resolve issues than via a backand-forth email exchange, and he’s quite sure that busy FTBA members feel the same way. That’s why Hurtado, Director of the FDOT’s Office of Construction, is a firm believer in the “two-email rule,” a guideline aimed at quickly eliminating confusion and resolving disputes. “If I’m discussing an issue with someone and it’s not settled after two emails, then I pick up the phone,” Hurtado said. “You learn a lot just by listening to the other person’s voice. Verbal communication is much more effective than email. Email is really good for sharing documents and conveying information, but it stinks at conveying any kind of subtlety.” Back in February, before anyone knew just how challenging 2020 would be,
Hurtado delivered a presentation on effective communication at the annual FTBA Construction Conference in Orlando. Almost a year into the pandemic, his message is all the more relevant, as contractors continue to deal with frayed nerves from COVID-19 and a teetering economy. Hurtado, a licensed professional engineer, said construction professionals typically get rigorous training in subjects such as mathematics and physics but get very little training in effective communication and dealing with emotions in the highstakes construction environment. Those neglected areas then become weaknesses for many construction professionals, preventing them from resolving disputes quickly, he said. “The dollar amounts associated with construction contracts are very large, and even a small issue can have very large financial
ramifications,” Hurtado said. “Money is something that’s very personal to people. When someone has to pay for something that they didn’t anticipate, or there is a cost that they weren’t aware of, it can produce a strong, visceral, emotional response in people, and those emotions sometimes make it difficult to resolve the issue.” To learn the true definition of the consummate professional, look to the classical musicians aboard the Titanic who bravely kept playing as the ship went down, Hurtado said. Their actions were credited with keeping passengers calm and preventing a panic, which saved lives during one of the worst maritime disasters in world history, he said. “They led by example,” Hurtado said. “They calmed themselves, they tuned their instruments, they sat in their deck chairs, and they played Mozart. Their calming WWW.FTBA.COM
39