Communicating at work

It's normal to feel nervous about starting a new job. As a deaf person, you may be worried about whether you’ll be able to communicate easily with the new people you’ll meet. There are lots of things your new colleagues and employers can do to help. You may also be able to get funding from Access to Work to pay for communication support and technology to help.

If you have questions about communicating at work, please contact our Helpline.

Attending meetings

You have the right to be able to follow what’s being said in meetings, contribute your views and ask questions. Your colleagues must make reasonable adjustments so you can take part.

Reasonable adjustments for meetings might include:

• people speaking one at a time – hearing people can often forget this, so don’t be afraid to remind them
• sitting where you can see people’s faces clearly
• having an agenda and sticking to it
• sharing presentations or handouts in advance
• regular breaks
• planning meetings in advance so you have time to book communication support.

Communication support in meetings could include:

• a sign language interpreter
• a communication support worker
• a note taker
• a lip-speaker
• a palantypist or speech-to-text reporter.

If a meeting is taking place over video call, reasonable adjustments might include enabling accessibility features such as live captions or the ability to spotlight/pin a person.

There’s also technology available that can help you in meetings, such as:

• radio aids, like the Phonak Roger On which has a group setting
• notetaking software like Glean (works best for mild to moderate deafness), Caption.Ed (works best for moderate to severe deafness) or Otter.ai
• Bluetooth adapters which connect computer audio directly to hearing technology (for example, the Sennheiser USB Bluetooth Dongle). You’ll need to check the compatibility of these adapters with your hearing technology.

An Access to Work grant can cover the costs of technology and communication support.

Using the phone

Employers must make reasonable adjustments if you can’t hear on the phone. For example:

• Your employer could adapt tasks so you can use email, text or video call instead of phone calls.
• For short, simple phone calls, you could use Relay UK, which provides a text-to-speech service through a relay assistant. However, Relay UK is not ideal for long conversations, especially with lots of jargon.
• If you use sign language, you or your employer could book an interpreter or communication support worker using Access to Work funding to answer the phone and relay what’s being said, or you could use a video relay service such as Sign Video.

If you can hear speech well enough to listen to someone’s voice on the phone without lip-reading, then you might find the technology listed below useful:

• Twm uses a phone amplifier.
• James uses a radio aid.
• Beth uses a binaural Personal Stereo Lead (direct input lead).
• Niamh has a phone that flashes when it rings.

Most mobile phones are now able to connect directly to hearing technology if you have Bluetooth enabled. If you don’t have Bluetooth, there are loopsets (like the Artone 3 Max) which are compatible with hearing aids that have a “T” or “loop” programme. There are also vibrating pads that you can fit in your pocket which will alert you to when your phone is ringing (for example, the Bellmann Vibio Bluetooth Shaker).

An Access to Work grant can cover the costs of technology and communication support.

Reading emails and documents

The level of written English or Welsh you need depends on your job. Employers shouldn’t ask for a high level of literacy unless it’s necessary for the role.

If you’re supported by a sign language interpreter or communication support worker (CSW), they may be willing to support you with reading emails and documents, although this is not technically part of their role. Some interpreters may interpret from British Sign Language (BSL) or Irish Sign Language (ISL) into written English or Welsh and vice versa. You can also ask your interpreter or CSW to look over your emails or written work, like reports.

There are some tools that can help with written English. For example, Grammarly is an online writing assistant that will help with your written grammar and structure (it’s free, but there is a paid option which is recommended).

Face masks

In some workplace settings, face masks continue to be worn voluntarily, which can make communication difficult. Here are five tips to help you communicate with colleagues or customers who wear face masks:

1. Wear a badge to remind people you’re deaf. A simple message like ‘I’m deaf’ or ‘I lip-read' can remind others to get your attention before communicating. Look out for badges at your local audiology clinic, deaf club or online, or print out this badge designed by the Government during the Covid-19 pandemic.
2. Ask your colleagues or customers to lower their masks when speaking to you. The Government has designed graphics which you can download onto your phone or print out to ask people to lower their masks.
3. Ask your employer whether your colleagues can wear clear face masks instead. If you’re in a customer-facing role, building a transparent screen between yourself and the customer might help you both feel safer about asking customers to lower their face masks.
4. Share our poster of communication tips with your employer. You could also hand out printed copies to your colleagues or stick one up on your workstation.
5. If none of these options are possible, ask if you can be re-assigned to an alternative role. For example, if you work in a customer-facing role but cannot ask customers to lower their masks, see if there’s an alternative task you could do which does not require working directly with customers who wear face masks.

Your employer still has a legal responsibility to make reasonable adjustments to help you communicate. If your employer refuses to make the adjustments you need, contact your union or ask our Freephone Helpline for support.

Making friends

One of the best things about getting a new job is meeting lots of new people and making friends. It can be scary to spend time with new people to start with, but some of these ideas might help.

Arrange deaf awareness training

Some of your colleagues won’t have met a deaf person before and may not understand how to communicate with you. Access to Work can fund deaf awareness training for your colleagues. You could also do this yourself and explain the specific things that work best for you and help you most.

Read about Ellie who decided to do deaf awareness training with her team so she could explain specific things that would help her.

Start small

While it can feel overwhelming meeting so many new people, you don’t have to make friends with everyone straight away. Find one or two people in your team who are welcoming or you find it easiest to communicate with. Focus on building good working relationships with these people first. They can help introduce you to others, fill you in on any information you may miss and make sure you know any workplace gossip!

Ask colleagues to move conversations online

Taking conversations online can help make sure everyone’s included. Most workplaces will have an instant chat platform, use texting apps or email. Some teams keep in contact outside of work for social events.

Read about Mollie who used her work’s online messaging tool to introduce herself to colleagues and explain how best to communicate with her.

Socialise in a deaf-friendly environment

You might find that some of your colleagues enjoy going for a drink together after work. However, dark, noisy pubs and bars can be difficult places to communicate! If you want to join them, ask a colleague you find easy to understand to go with you. They can help introduce you to others and fill you in on any misunderstandings.

Alternatively, why not invite one or two people for coffee in a well-lit café during the day? Lots of people prefer a quiet café to a noisy bar!