In business we work with people, and as such, interaction with others forms a pivotal part of your daily regime. So, it would be safe to say that at some stage, some of those interactions are going to have to be difficult conversations.
Now there are a multitude of ways to handle these hard conversations, and a lot of methods and approaches on how best to communicate with your employees, clients and peers.
I think Jack Welch said it best, in that you need candor in an organisation, but with candor there is also the responsibility on your shoulders as the manager to ensure that you keep in mind who you are dealing with when you have hard discussions with them.
A lot of times we as managers want to “nip” things in the bud and we end up messing up the message because we do not take the time to step back first and think of how we would like to approach the situation, who we are going to talk to and in what tone?
Some mangers often resort to swearing and harsh comments as a method to communicate dissatisfaction, and in my opinion, this is an epic failure on their part. Managers should not resort to practices like these when having hard conversations, in fact I would go as far as to say that you should not even raise your voice.
People react differently, so to say there is a silver bullet for the way you handle situations with your employees would be foolish, but one thing I can say, is that if you treat your people with respect and candor they will return the favor, and those difficult conversations will be few and far between.
Let me just be clear here. I am not saying don’t tell your employees how you feel, or pointedly explain what your expectations are, I am saying have kind conversations. Be honest about what you want and how you feel, but do so with respect, and you will see the difference.
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