Winning the Corrective Action Conversation

Here's how it goes down.  Leader either is informed or witnesses a perceived work lapse.   Leader (hopefully) gathers facts and girds loins for unpleasant conversation with the offender.   Because it is an unpleasant conversation combined with the fact that the team member transgressed. . .leader can get pretty worked up about it.  As time for corrective action conversation approaches, leader becomes more over-wrought.    Leader begins conversation with 2-3 choice, forceful statements about the team member's indiscretions (in other words, lets them have it). . .then this happens. . .

• Team member outright denies everything. . .or a portion thereof.
• Team member  tells another side of the story that leader, up to that point, did not realize existed.
• Team member gives reasons, legitimate or not, for their action.

Right there, right then, the entire thing is blown out of the water.

Here's how to avoid this dynamic.    Don't start with the forceful statements (otherwise known as "accusations");  instead, start with questions.

"While you were processing the Miller paperwork, was there something about the project that you found unusual?"

"I understand you are having a disagreement with Susie, would you please provide me with your side of the story?"

"I see that you have been late to work five times - could you tell me what's going on?"

Questions invite participation. . .and as a leader, you want the team member's participation in a corrective action conversation.    First of all, if you don't have the whole story, you need to get it.   Questions provide the team member with an opportunity to give their side of the story;   this means that you have complete information and are not blindsided.

I have also found that if you open the conversation with questions, it is less threatening and allows the team member to have ownership of the subject.    The latter is so important in truly allowing individuals to own their actions and through that ownership, better their careers and team contribution.

An accusation becomes a barrier, both to truly correcting actions and to building better professionals.   A question is an invitation to a conversation, which hopefully leads to not only correcting the action, but better teamwork.

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My book, "Courageous Questions, Confident Leaders"  is available for I-Pads, tablets and e-readers on Amazon Kindle.