Issue link: http://psai.uberflip.com/i/1120405
W EEKLY EDITION MAY 22, 2019 Feedback: Friend or Foe? By Karleen Kos, PSAI Executive Director 3. Build in your own "instant replay." Unlike an NFL coach, you are not going to be able to tape every move your team makes and show them a daily highlight reel. Instead, train yourself — and your team — to recognize what they experience when they personally perform in an excellent way or whe n they see it in others. This technique turns the conversation from "Jack did a great job with Mr. Grumpypants today," to "Wow, Jack's manner with Mr. Grumpypants worked so well! He just kept asking Mr. Grumpypants questions, having him walk through the th ings he was unhappy about, and quietly explaining our procedures. No matter what Mr. Grumpypants said, Jack just stayed pleasant and said, "I'm sorry to hear that; tell me more." And if you asked Jack how he did it, Jack himself might say, "Yeah, I just de cided that no matter what Mr. Grumpypants said, I was going to be the nicest guy he talked to all day. When he complained about our service, I was going to help him understand what he could do to ensure a better experience for his guys. It was like a game. I wasn't going to let him win by getting me angry." 4. Never lose sight of the highest priority coaching opportunities . It is human nature to step in immediately when someone makes a mistake or really botches a phone call with a customer. Of course you have to deal with that — and the suggestions above might make that corrective conversation better than it would otherwise have been. But remember, when you are correcting a mistake, the best outcome is remediation, that is, fixing what is broken. It doesn't mo ve you closer to excellence. Instead, make it an even higher priority to step in when you see someone do something wonderful. If you dissect what works and reinforce it by replaying each small bit of what they did well, you'll ease your team member into what HBR calls the "rest and digest" state of mind. Their understanding of what excellence feels like will grow, their brain will become more receptive to new information, and they'll make connections that will help them in other parts of the job as well. Meanwhile, in going through the process, both you and your employee may learn things that can be shared with the whole team. 5. Explore the past, present, and future . Again, sometimes there is just one way to do something. The most common and b est reasons for the "my way or the highway" approach are (a) the manufacturer won't warranty the equipment if someone does it their own way or (b) because of safety concerns. But when it comes to parts of the job that involve interacting w ith other people, you can use all three tenses to help your employee grow. P AGE 11 CONTINUED ON PAGE 12