how to master difficult conversations at work – leader’s guide

HOW TO MASTER DIFFICULTCONVERSATIONS AT WORK

As a leader,think aboutyour overallrole andresponsibilities.

What do youthink is your hardest task?

What are youmost reluctantto do?

What do youthink is the mostchallengingsituation whenit comes to yourteam members?

For us it’shaving di�cultconversationswith employees.

And althoughconfrontingsomeone abouttheir performanceor behavior is nota piece of cake...

Handling theseconversationswell is a crucialpart of helpingyour employees and companygrow.

So, where do you start?We propose this acronym:

G R O W

forgoalsG

Start every di�cult conversation by stating its purpose.

Reassure youremployee thatthey are notlosing their joband that youare genuinelythere to helpthem improve.

“Hi Chris, I’ve called for this meeting to work out some ways that we can improve the way you have been communicating with others. This is important as we are a team that emphasizes collaboration. I am here to help you get there.”

What to say:

“Hi Chris, something has come to my attention lately - your teammates have been complaining that you have been uncooperative.”

What not to say:

forreality

State the facts about person’s behavior or performance.

R

Be truthful withoutdemeaning theperson orpersonalizingthe feedback.

Give a generalarea that can beimproved withspecific examples.

Say something like:

“You can work on the quality of your code - this recent project had 14 peer reviews and comments mentioned that the code lacked documentation and was buggy.”

Be specific abouttheir shortcomingsand set expectationsfor improvement.

O foroptions

Lay out a few options for the person to improve.

Think of afew di�erentways that aperson canimprove theirperformanceor behavior.

Focusing on anddiscussing possiblesolutions ratherthan a problem iskey here!

forwillingnessW

Ask the person what they would do and give them time to respond.

This is the mostimportant part!

Ask the personwhat would heor she would bewilling to do.

Let them think -don’t force adecision.

Then, ask yourself:

Where is their willingness coming from?

Is it sincere or out of fear?

Next, follow upwith the agreement.Don’t leave thingshanging.

Practice thesesteps when havingyour di�cult workconversations.

Also, keepthese things inmind when thetime comes:

Don’t be afraid totell the truth!

courage

Think aboutyour fearsabout thisdi�cultsituation.

Move pastthem and becourageous!

it's possible to speakthe truth while still

considering the otherperson’s feelings.

care

Look at everyindividual’s pastand characteristics,their weaknesses and strengths, whatis happening outsideof work, and acceptthem for who they are.

Learn to forgiveyourself.

forgive

We may notalways makethe right decision,even if it is thebest decision.

Take this pathof loving leadership.

Lead by caring for otherswhile continuing to make

the right decisions forthe company’s success.

It takes more time and effort,but this journey will be worth it.

Let us know what are yourtips for having challenging

conversations at work!

Read the full article here:https://piktochart.com/blog/mas-

ter-difficult-conversations