What can you do when there was a miscommunication? You said “blue” and they heard “red”.
I
recently was asked to be a mentor to an ex-colleague. When he asked, I
felt privileged and honored. During my career I have assisted and
provided advice to many employees on a daily basis, yet this was the
first time I had officially been asked to be a mentor.
We decided
that we should set up a standard call each week, whereby we would have a
semi-structured conversation. I would send him an article which I
thought would be beneficial. We would then discuss (formal part). The
second part would be a chance for him to discuss what is currently
happening at work, and how I could hopefully be a good sounding board
and guide.
He recently moved onto a new company, and has come up
against some barriers which have been affecting his morale and stress
levels at work.
When joining a new team/institution you may come
up against many barriers to change, which may frustrate you as it has my
friend. When staff and management have worked at the same institution
for 20 + years a specific philosophy may set in, which may be difficult
to deviate from.
What was conveyed to him, which I am sure many of
you have heard before is, “It’s our ethos/ culture. This is the way we
been doing it for 20+ years. If you do not like it, why did you leave
xyz?” When you hear this statement, there has generally been a
miscommunication. You may even be labelled a complainer or non-team
player which may be difficult to come back from
The above was the
topic of our most recent call. When my friend provided feedback he was
not looking to be disparaging to his current employee, on the contrary
he was trying to improve upon it as this is where he worked and saw his
future. I have yet to meet someone who enjoys changing institutions on a
continuous basis, thus why would you withhold feedback on where you
believe improvements could be made to make your new institution is
better?
The knowledge of a new employee is often a missed
opportunity for management, as new employees are a wealth of
information. New employees are able to provide a glimpse into what
worked or did not work at their former employer. By hiring a new
qualified employee often the knowledge they have about their previous
employee strengths and weaknesses are overlooked.
The obstacle
which presented itself to my friend recently was a miscommunication with
one member of his staff and management (which created a lot of
additional stress for him). My friend has a lot of experience in
management and has worked for different institutions in the same field
for many years, thus bringing a wealth of knowledge and expertise. He
has seen what works and does not work at his previous employer and is
always willing to share this expertise and implement his ideas in the
branches he runs.
This is what unfortunately got him ‘burnt’ by
his staff and management recently. The question I asked him was, “how
did you convey your message, and why when you said “blue” all they heard
was “red”.
He was unsure on why his comments had caused him these
additional heachaches. He had initially sat down with the staff member
to go over what required improvement, what they were doing well etc.”,
your typical manager employee meeting. He had done hundreds of these in
his former job.
My follow-up question to his answer was, “how can
you provide feedback to your staff and management, which worked well at
your previous employee, without them hearing “red” when you are saying
“blue?”
As a manager he is required to continuously provide
feedback, guidance, and direction to his staff. How was he going to do
it without ruffling feathers at his new company? There are many articles
written on this subject, however I reminded him of an acronym that one
of my sporting heroes had engraved and wore around his neck, KISS – KEEP
IT SIMPLE STUPID.
When providing feedback to staff,
always make sure you have their ‘buy in’. Ask them for their feedback on
what was discussed. As in a business meeting at the end always
summarize to make sure everyone is on the same page. The goal is for
everyone at the meeting to hear “blue”. Also, when joining a new team
speak to your manager about their protocols.
“
Understanding your employee's perspective can go a long way towards increasing productivity and happiness.”
Kathryn Minshew
In
regards to providing information to management and upper management
about what worked extremely well and did not work well at your previous
employee was a bit more difficult. As mentioned above speaking about
previous companies you worked for can be misinterpreted that they are
better, and you do not want to be working at your new employer. This is
generally untrue, as per my friend he was looking to share his
knowledge. He would not have left his previous employer if he was happy.
Currently
he had been trying to implement some of the changes in his branch
without much backing from his staff and management. He had provided
feedback to his management and upper management without success and in
the process sullied his name.
During our discussion we decided
that he would use the Helicopter route (hovering from above to see full
picture). By still paying attention on what he believed could be
improved upon, and where there were opportunities to compete against his
former employers however he would present it in a different manner.
He was going to try and make everyone hear the message of “BLUE” and not “RED”. We decided on two options.
Option 1:
For
right or wrong he was going to take a step back, and wait for
management to ask the questions on what can be improved, how can we get
better market share etc. When asked he will provide his knowledge, KISS,
and make sure at the end of the meeting everyone heard “BLUE”.
Option 2:
During
his weekly meetings with his branch employees, he is going to get their
feedback on what they feel is working and not working, what is holding
them back in achieving their goals and gaining more market share. During
his monthly 1 on 1 meeting with his manager, he will have an agenda for
the meeting with one of the topics being improving branch output, and
customer satisfaction. During the discussion he can put forward the
branches ideas which they have been discussing. We decided by presenting
it this way it will come from a united front and may not seem to be
‘pushing’ his previous employers ideas onto his new employers.
There
are too many conversations happening where people are hearing “red”
instead of your message of “blue”. It could be cultural differences, not
articulating your message well, emotions, language barriers etc. but
make sure at the end of the discussion everyone understood the message
you were looking to deliver and what are next steps.
LET EVERYONE HEAR YOUR MESSAGE OF “BLUE”.
“
When
you really listen to another person from their point of view, and
reflect back to them that understanding, it's like giving them emotional
oxygen”.
Stephen Covey
