If it hasn’t happened yet, sooner or later it will: you’ll be faced with a team member who does something disruptive, violates a rule, is chronically late, or just fails to get the job done. He or she has a performance problem – you have a “people problem.” And, like it or not, you must deal with it.
Fact is, most leaders are not comfortable addressing performance and behavior issues. That’s easily understood. “People problems” are stressful, and many folks in leadership positions don’t have the training and experience needed to deal with them. Let’s face it, nobody wakes up thinking, “Oh good … I get to go in and tell someone they have a problem, today.” Instead, we worry about it. We dread it. And sometimes, we look for every excuse to avoid it altogether. But you and I both know that doing nothing rarely gets us the results we’re looking for. Bottom line: you have to address and resolve issues … you have to talk them through. And it’s those problem-solving discussions for which most people tend to need the most help.
One of the most common concerns expressed by leaders involves the discussion opening. “I’m not sure how to get the conversation going. What should I say to get started?” If you share that same concern, the excerpt below should prove helpful. It’s from my new “Just In Time” handbook, Solving People Problems At Work. Read it … give it a try … share it with your colleagues. This stuff really works!
Lead well … LEAD RIGHT
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Excerpt from Solving People Problems At Work by Steve Ventura
To be sure, the first few seconds of the conversation are critical to your ultimate success – they affect the kind of response you’ll get from the person.
Avoid beginning with you statements like, “You have a problem” or “You’ve been making a lot of people mad lately … including me!” While those words may be true, they also tend to make people anxious and very defensive. Instead, use a non-accusatory, tactful opening that asks the individual for his or her cooperation:
I need your help to solve a problem.
Most people will respond with an “Okay” or “Sure” or “What’s the problem?” Now, it’s imperative to avoid any long-winded speeches intended either to prove you are in the right or to sugarcoat the issue. Get right to the problem at hand.
In a non-judgmental, non-accusatory mode, identify the problem – the specific behavior that was (or still is) at issue. Describe …
1. What the person did or didn’t do;
2. When it happened;
3. What resulted – what the negative impact was or could have been.
Then, seek an explanation with an open ended question like What happened? or What’s going on?
Tags: Eric Harvey, lead right, leadership, leadership tips, Solving People Problems at Work, The Leadership Solution
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on Friday, October 14th, 2011 at 3:16 pm and is filed under Leadership and Personal Development Center, The Leadership Solution.
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