Telling people they are wrong - in the right way!
Featured in the Partnerships at Work training manual
By Ken Birkett & Val Rowland
Category: Performance Management
Credit price: 3 download credits (Single user)
There are inevitably times when a boss has to criticise a subordinate. The way this criticism is conducted determines to a large extent how the relationship continues. It is all too easy to create an unpleasant atmosphere by handling the situation badly. A person who has to endure constant criticism will lose confidence, and performance standards will deteriorate. Timing is also an important aspect when dealing with criticism. People will perform better if they have a boss who can criticise at an appropriate time and in a way that will help them learn to improve rather than make them feel intimidated. The same applies to mistakes: they should be seen as learning experiences rather than negative events. Once this idea is taken on board, people feel much more able to admit mistakes rather than concealing them and thus creating greater potential problems for the future. Not feeling able to admit mistakes often means that a person panics and puts off dealing with the problem. Managers spend around 25% of their time handling conflict. The boss/subordinate relationship will experience potential areas of conflict on a regular basis. How conflict is managed is the key issue.
You begin this training activity by asking participants to work in pairs discussing some reasons for conflict in relationships. You ask for their views and record them. After this you explain some of the reasons for conflict. You now move on to a typical conflict situation: mistakes. Participants are asked to work in pairs on a case-study about suffering feelings of anxiety when making mistakes. They report back on what the subordinate and boss in the case-study could have done and then you suggest some ideas and offer a positive approach. You next provide input about how to handle criticism effectively. You offer an example script for handling a subordinate’s mistake, and ask participants for responses. They then use this script for the next exercise. Participants are asked to think of a situation when they have criticised someone for making a mistake, after which they work in pairs and discuss their experiences. They then choose one of these experiences and write a script illustrating how it could have been handled using the previously explained step-by-step approach. When they have done this, participants communicate their scripts to the whole group. You finish the training activity with a round-up of the key learning points, and ask participants to consider what they can do in the future when they have to criticise.
Who is it for: This training activity is intended for use by trainers to help participants give criticism in a straightforward, explanatory and constructive way.
| Resource Type: | Activity |
| Min Group Size: | 6 |
| Max Group Size: | 12 |
| Typical Duration: | 01:30:00 |
| No of Pages: | 18 |
Resources: View standard resources for Fenman training activities
Purpose: This training activity can be used for any management programme or interpersonal skills session.
Download the training activity, Telling people they are wrong - in the right way! as featured in the Fenman training manual; Partnerships at Work