Here's how you can navigate challenging conversations with your team as a mid-career professional.

Difficult conversations can be challenging and require specific skill sets. Now, before the meeting, brace yourself and be ready to encounter confrontations from the team members. Use the ideas below: - Get any minutes from a previous meeting - Understand what motivates them - Be ready to compromise - Have the company policies and guidelines ready to support your responses. - Be empathetic to show that you care not only about their job but about their person.

A difficult conversation with a team member, especially during the performance review, when you know their bonuses are tied to whatever you put down as their rating, could be a long and sweaty conversation. It helps to approach the meeting with an open mind. Remember that they’ve also got their expectations and points of view of what they’ve done for the year. Actively listen to their points, understand their strengths and weaknesses, and gauge the direction of their thoughts. This opens up conversation and provides a relaxed atmosphere for a meaningful discussion.

Conduzir conversas desafiadoras com a equipe é uma habilidade crucial para qualquer supervisor, especialmente para profissionais no meio da carreira que buscam consolidar sua liderança. Ao enfrentar questões delicadas, como desempenho insatisfatório, conflitos internos ou mudanças organizacionais, é essencial não apenas reconhecer os problemas, mas também oferecer soluções concretas. Envolva a outra pessoa no processo de encontrar soluções. Pergunte como ela acha que o problema pode ser resolvido e ofereça suas próprias sugestões. Isso promove um senso de propriedade e compromisso com a solução. Estabeleça ações específicas e mensuráveis que ambos concordem em seguir.

Establishing action plans without following through to ensure they are being implemented as discussed is not enough. Otherwise, it will just be another year of wasted efforts without accountability. As a professional growth strategy and relationship with your team, create an actionable plan of action for the next steps in how they want to get better at XYZ skill. Engage them by allowing them to create the goals, align them with the team's objectives, and how it encourages their growth and development. Let them see themselves in the plan. Create a follow-through sequence, perhaps every month, to check in how the plan is going so far and what could be done to make it better along the way. In the end, they’ll appreciate your efforts.