“I wish my manager would ask me for my feedback sometimes,” Monique, a seminar participant, told me at the conclusion of a two day training program in Baltimore about how to give employees performance feedback. She had several ideas that would improve how they worked together, and how her manager could help her improve her own performance. She just needed an opportunity to express them. Her frustration isn’t unusual. In most organizations, a good amount of feedback flows from supervisors and managers to employees about how t ..read more

The purpose of giving employees performance feedback is a positive and beneficial one, done for all of the right reasons. Yet, giving-and receiving—feedback is one of the most difficult, if not the most difficult, workplace conversation managers and employees will ever have. It’s ironic, because the real objective or purpose of performance feedback conversations is to help employees: develop get the benefit of what their manager knows gain beneficial insights, knowledge, and skills improve their performance become more confident a ..read more

You’re glad when performance reviews are finally done. Your employees are, too. Perhaps you feel that you conducted them as best as possible, given the limitations of the form you may be required to use, and other factors, including a shortage of time.   You may even feel optimistic that some improved results are likely to happen, but now you need to pay attention to ongoing day-to-day tasks and projects.   Three results will occur, but only one is desired. First, some positive improvements and advancements will likely occu ..read more

How do I give my boss feedback?” This is one of the questions I get most often from managers and other training program participants after they’ve learned a skill to give their employees feedback. “And how can I do this safely?” they add, “without getting into trouble with him or her by making them defensive, being criticized or ridiculed, having them retaliate with a bad performance evaluation, downgraded work assignments, not being considered for a promotion, or even losing my job?” What they most often want to give their boss ..read more

Most organizations do. And when managers have conflicts, or ineffective work relationships, these problems not only affect their performance and results, but multiplied in other areas of the organization. If they’re department heads, which they are often are, their arguments often result in lowered cooperation and productivity between their teams.  Even team members who want to provide their counterparts with assistance may refrain from doing so because they take their cues from the boss, and don’t want to offend him or her. The ..read more

Over the past 25 years, I’ve conducted hundreds of consulting and training assignments in many different types of organizations, including manufacturers, service providers, professional practices, the military, and non-profits, including churches. I’ve met and worked with thousands of employees in different occupations, organizations of different sizes, and in several regions of the country. And of course these employees worked for hundreds of different bosses. During this time, I’ve literally heard thousands of gripes, complaints ..read more

How many times have you, and others in your organization, heard proposed ideas recommendations, or strategies that had flaws or other potential problems, but you didn’t know what to say, or how to say it? And you didn’t want to offend the person who presented them, so you said nothing? We’ve all probably done this. As a result, the person with the idea or recommendation, along with other people, didn’t get the benefit of hearing your concern; being able to consider it; and potentially resolving it. Perhaps the item was tabled ..read more

If delegation has so many benefits, why don’t more managers do it? How many times have all of us, including supervisors, managers, and executives, read or heard, “delegate to get more done, complete more strategic tasks, and develop your employees?” A lot. Yet much work that needs to be delegated isn’t.   Some fear they’ll get inferior work, so they just do it themselves, mistakenly thinking they’re saving lots of time. They really aren’t, because this is at the expense of not getting more valuable or revenue-producing tasks do ..read more

If you’ve ever had employees who directly report to you, then you’re likely already more than familiar with this frustrating workplace problem. You give an employee a job assignment; or inform them about an important regulatory change; or delegate a multi-step project requiring a number of days or weeks to complete. The employee seems to understand what you said; you think they understand what you said, and you’re confident that you’ve explained it clearly and thoroughly. You may have even asked them if they understood (the ..read more

After you read the vision statements below, I’ll ask how they impacted you, and share their impact on several hundred participants in leadership development programs:       “If there are poor on the moon, we will go there, too.”        -Mother Teresa      “Ordinary people are capable of extraordinary results; never        stop believing that.”         -Helen Keller      “The earth is the mother of all people, and all people should        have equal rights upon it.”         -Chief Joseph, Nez Perce Leader      “I have a dream ..read more