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Why does everyone think being direct is the same as being rude in a tough conversation?
I told my coworker last week that their report had three major errors and they got defensive, but if I'd sugarcoated it they'd probably never fix it, so which side is actually right here?
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fiona_johnson8214d ago
My last job I had to tell my lead that his weekly numbers were off by 20% for three weeks in a row. I just said "Hey, I double checked this and it looks like the formula in cell B7 is pulling from the wrong sheet" instead of telling him he was wrong. That little shift made him thank me instead of getting defensive. It's not about sugarcoating the problem, it's about pointing at the thing that went sideways instead of blaming the person.
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baker.riley13d agoTop Commenter
Pointing at the thing that went sideways instead of blaming the person" is the whole trick. A buddy of mine used to manage a kitchen and his dishwasher kept screwing up a prep list. He just showed him how the list was laid out wrong instead of calling him out, @fiona_johnson82, and the guy started catching his own mistakes after that. Saved everyone a headache and nobody had to get mad about it.
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