One of the most difficult parts of a manager’s role is having those difficult conversations. Be it with customers, informing them of overruns or with team members about less-than-optimal performance.
The natural tendency is to delay action in the hope that somehow the problem would get resolved.
This is an invitation to consider the following Six step structure that can help in having those difficult conversations with team members:
Step 1 – Prepare the ground. Give a heads up. Let the team member know in advance about the context so that they can come prepared for the conversation.
Step 2 – Make it about the impact on work, environment, project etc. and avoid making it personal.
Step 3 – Start with what is working with some examples and move on to what is not working, again with clear examples.
Step 4 – Be consistent. Make sure that the team member does not consider that your set of rules are different for different persons.
Step 5 – Be flexible. Listen to the team member and as part of the conversation, should you find evidence to the contrary, be ready to honestly acknowledge and modify course as required.
Step 6 – Conclude with some mutually agreed actions for moving forward
To conclude, direct adult-to-adult constructive conversations can help develop habits that prepare us for facing most obstacles.
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