Having a great conversation doesn’t just mean getting to know someone or enjoying talking to a person, a great conversation has structure, purpose and outcomes. Those outcomes could be helping to support improved performance to providing recognition of success.
There are 5 stages to a great conversation as detailed to the right:
To ensure you have a great conversation, prepare ahead by thinking about the purpose of your conversation and what you need to do and say at each of these stages to ensure the conversation is successful in achieving it.
Stage Summary
Open
Clarify
Choose a suitable location and time then establish a connection and a degree of rapport
Be clear what it is you want to talk about. Use positive, respectful language. If there’s a problem, focus on the problem, not the person.
Examplelanguage
• How are you today?
• Are you having a good week?
• What didyou do at the weekend?
• I arranged this meeting today to discuss …
• I wanted to talk to you about the recent situation with …
• I wanted to take time to explore …
Develop
Get into the heart of the conversation. Make your point, share thoughts, feelings and rationale; explore different perspectives or alternatives; listen and respond with empathy.
• I noticed that recently…
• I have received feedback that..
• Can you tell me more about…
• What is your view on…
• That is an interesting point, can I offer you my perspective…
• You mention X, can you tell me more about that please
Agree
It’s vital that you check for understanding – do both parties properly understand each other? Are you both clear about what the conversation has been about and what’s been discussed? Is there a clear action to be agreed?
• I’m hearing that you feel..
• It sounds like you are saying that…
• So we both want to achieve X, is that right?
• What are the next steps to move this forward?
• How can we approach this situation in future?
Close
If there’s nothing else to be discussed, check for questions, summarise the outcome of the conversation and thank the other person; close the conversation.
• Is there anything you want to discuss with me?
• Is there any support I can offer?
• Thank you for your time, let’s book in another meeting in 2 weeks to see how things have progressed.
Giving feedback is a skill that you can develop over time with practice.
To begin with, giving feedback can feel uncomfortable but remember it fosters open communication and strengthens relations. It is also essential for personal and professional growth.
Basics of giving feedback:
• Be Specific
• Be clear
• Be respectful
• Be empathetic
• Use non-judgmental language
• Give examples
What specifically is being done well or could be improved?
The effects these actionsare having/have had
What can be done more effectively or more of in the future?
The AID model above can provide a simple way to structure your feedback, lets see how it can work for both positive and constructive feedback:
Positivefeedback
Action Impact Do
Last week your report was clear, well structured and contained all the information required for the us to makea decision.
Developmentalfeedback
This meant we have been able to plan our workload for the next 12 months so well done.
Please continue to use that style of report and share your knowledge with the team to help us develop their skills in report writing.
Action Impact Do
Project Y was delivered two weeks late as there was no project plan created.
This means the rest of the team will be delayed with their work as they couldn’t start until the project was complete.
More effective project management and a clearly defined project plan in future would help to prevent this happening again.
As a part of the performance framework we recommend managers have informal “check-ins” with their team members regularly.
Whilst these aren’t enforced, they are great way for managers:
• to build relationships with their team members;
• to help them to achieve their objectives;
• to support them with their development and performance. No documentation needs to be completed following a check-in, they are simply an opportunity for managers to have a really great, open conversation with the people in their team.
There is no fixed structure to these meetings, however on the right is a framework you can follow to help during your check-ins.
Understand their overall situation
•Askbroad open questionslike:
•How are you?
•How are you findingthings at the moment?
•What are you currently workingon?
Focus on the specifics
•Explore2-3 areasinmore detail:
•How are things progressing with a specific projector objective?
•What are the barriers?
•What are the next steps?
Offer support or guidance
•Offersupport toyourteam member:
•How can I best support you?
•Would you like to hear suggestionson how I would approach that situation?
If you have any questions – please get in touch with the
