behind  any  changes  that  affect  them.  If  security  pre- vents you from giving reasons, let them know that secu- rity is the reason. They will understand. Communications  is  a  two-way  street.  You,  as  the supervisor,  need  feedback  from  your  crew  on  every- thing that is happening so you can make decisions and formulate  plans.  Be  open  and  free  in  communicating with your people and encourage them to discuss their feelings and opinions. Good  internal  communications  also  means  each person is talking to every other person. Work centers and work groups should communicate freely with each other to develop harmonious relations. Investigate any breakdown  in  communications  and  try  to  correct  the problem immediately. External  Communications Without proper external communications, you will not  be  able  to  coordinate  complex  jobs  involving  a number  of  work  centers  and/or  divisions.  You  must develop  good  lines  and  methods  of  communications external  to  your  work  center.  Running  systems  tests may involve several work centers aboard ship and, in some  cases,  other  ships  or  activities.  Unless  you  can effectively  communicate  your  requirements  to  each work  center,  you  will  be  unable  to  successfully  com- plete the systems tests. Much  of  your  external  communications  will  be  in correspondence.  The  correspondence  will  be  of  little value unless you have an effective method of keeping track of the information and ensuring that it gets to the ultimate users. You should develop controls to ensure that information gets to the people who will benefit the most  from  it.  If  you  do  this,  you,  the  supervisor,  will be the winner. ASSETS Effective  supervisors  make  the  best  use  of  their assets,  both  personnel  and  material.  To  do  this,  you must thoroughly understand the limitations and capa- bilities  of  your  personnel  and  know  if  there  are  any major deficiencies in your material assets. Personnel Assets Personnel assets are the most complex to manage, as  well  as  the  most  flexible  to  use.  Combat  systems/ weapons  personnel  are  responsible  for  maintaining  a variety  of  electronic  and  digital  equipments  and  sys- tems.  Because  the  equipments  and  systems  maintained by electronics personnel are very complex, long periods of  training  are  required  to  qualify  personnel  for  the maintenance role. Personnel  graduating  from  formal  schools  are assigned  Navy  enlisted  classification  codes  (NECs). There  are  many  different  NECs  assigned  to  the  FC rating;  your  division  will  normally  have  several  of  these NEC requirements. At the present time, almost all FCs are  assigned  by  the  Bureau  of  Naval  Personnel  (BU- PERS)  according  to  the  requirements  of  the  NECs. Division personnel are the keys to your success as the  division  supervisor.  Without  their  continuing  loyalty to you and their willingness to follow in the direction that you lead, you will be unable to effectively achieve the required results. You may be a good technician, but you  cannot  do  everything  yourself. Material  Assets Material assets are all parts, tools, test equipment, and workspaces that you need to perform the division’s maintenance role. A deficiency in any one area makes it  difficult  to  perform  your  job  in  the  most  efficient manner.   By   carefully   surveying   your   division   and identifing  its  shortcomings,  you  can  take  corrective action  and  improve  the  conditions  under  which  your personnel  will  be  working. MATERIAL  AVAILABILITY.—  Material  avail- ability  determines  how  long  it  takes  to  complete  a maintenance action. A spare part for a particular piece of  equipment  could  require  from  6  months  to  over  a year to acquire from a vendor who has to produce it on a  special  order.  There  is  little  the  supervisor  can  do about this situation. There are many other situations, however, in which the supervisor can play a controlling role. 3-15