Let's face the music...

...and face into honest conversations.

I'm a big believer in having honest conversations.  Without them, we run the risk of wandering through life frustrated with others or (possibly even worse) not having a true picture of how we're performing or behaving.

It's not always easy though - they can be uncomfortable, take unpredictable turns and get emotional.  We can't plan for every eventuality, but we can plan to have them and fend off any feelings of shying away from these 'eek' moments.  To help you along your way here are some reasons (disguised as questions of course!) to consider the next time you put off a looming honest conversation...

Are you hand holding?
- how much time are you spending doing something that isn't your responsibility? If you're picking up extra 'stuff' because someone else isn't performing and you don't want to talk to them about it, you're going to reach a breaking point.
- home or work, hand holding is allowed when someone is new to something - but NOT if they're not performing and you're bridging gaps on their behalf.

Is the best person doing the job?
- have you got someone doing something because they were right place right time?  Are they genuinely the best person to be doing that job?  If they're not, then at best there will be missed opportunities but at worst that person will be heading down a route of note performing which is never a nice experience for anybody concerned.
- You can head off the corrective performance management conversations by facing into this issue up front - tackle the problem at the source with this one and don't settle for anything less than the best person.
- Those that are in the wrong jobs will ultimately block the right people getting to them - think long term and the impact that could have.

What will the impact be on the person?
- picture the scene - you've had a planned and considered honest conversation with someone that was balanced and focused on how to get the best out of that person.  How do they feel? What do they do afterwards?
- with great conversations comes engagement and energy to move forward.  If someone isn't happy they're probably going to be feeling down and have a level of awareness about their performance not being where it needs to be.  Talking to them about it in a productive way will help them feel better and wanting to push forward.

So, 3 reasons / questions to consider when you're sitting thinking about your next honest conversation!  There are oodles of reasons that people have come up with over time but these are my 3 favourite and the ones that I always think about carefully before hand.

Enjoy x