I remember once I went out as a temporary hire on a new powerhouse project. My assigned foreman not only did not talk loud, he wore a beard, and had a way of turning his head away when speaking. I never did know what he said... smiles... I was there for two weeks and put in a bunch of lights, wired all the garage door systems, and did all the associated piping and wiring and was deep into all the column receptacles when I was done with my time limited job assignment. We shook hands and I left with a nice paycheck I never did know what he said. I knew his name was Chuck because I went to apprenticeship school with him. I would say hi Chuck and then feed him a noun now and then and watch his body language and then go to the blueprints.
If that had not worked I would have made sure somehow. If communication is not happening it is important to find a way to make it happen. The old I told you and you did not hear quickly gets to be bs if it is the same person all the time. Find a way, confront the situation, not in anger but in determination. Show that you are fully willing to problem solve the situation every time. Either the two of you will find a way or the person will find a way to move you to another person. Usually people figure a way if there is enough money or caring in it.
These new phones have some great function. You can hand the phone off and they can talk into it and what they said is on the screen for your reading pleasure.
