MODERN MANAGEMENT
This can be especially valuable if
you know the other person may
become emotional.
Finally, consider how you
contributed to the issue. You don’t
want the other person to feel they
are being unfairly treated. Did you
adequately train them? Did you set
expectations well? Was the other
person clear on how you were going
to measure their performance?
Tip 3: Ask Questions
One of the key skills that managers
must develop is to be able to ask
questions. Questions help you to
define and isolate an issue and
find a resolution to it. A common
mistake is for a manager to enter
into a conversation assuming they
know why something happened
and have an answer to the problem
already laid out in their mind.
The purpose of asking questions is
to test assumptions and to validate
perceptions before you commence
the main part of your conversation.
You should also ensure that you
use open-style questions to get the
other person talking and supplying
information.
Tip 4: Listen, Look and Learn
As the other person is talking,
listen carefully to what they are
saying but also make note of what
they are not saying. Look for cues
in their body language, their tone
of voice and any other inferences
that may differ from the message
they are delivering. The objective
here is to determine “What is
really going on?” Is it straight
forward or is there something
they are not saying?
Remember also that you need to
be seen to be listening. If people
perceive you to have your mind
or attention elsewhere, then the
connection between you will
break and the relationship will be
under threat. It’s a basic human
need to be heard and listened to.
It links to whether people think
you respect them or not. To help
demonstrate you are listening,
when they have finished speaking,
give them a summary of what they
have just said to you and your
understanding of it.
Tip 5: Share what you know,
NOT what you think
Once you have asked questions,
tested assumptions and
concluded that the situation is
what you thought - only now is
it time to share your knowledge.
To do this successfully, it is
important to share facts, not what
you think is the case as this may
cause the relationship to break
down. Facts are unemotional,
whereas what you think has the
potential to upset someone.
E.g. if someone is repeatedly
late, you should share the facts
on the dates it took place and
the evidence you have of it. You
should not share your views on
why you think they are late, such
as that they don’t care about the
job. Stick to the facts!
Anna-Lucia is an award winning
educator, speaker and writer in
the fields of management and
education and is the author of
The Four Mindsets – How to
Influence, Motivate and Lead a High
Performance Team. (Wiley 2015.)
www.hcmglobal.biz
March 2016
ModernBusiness
39