From the third-string little league football benchwarmer to the world-class concert violinist, nobody ever improves their performance without feedback. Constructive, specific feedback is what allows all of us to get better at what we do.
Yet for many leaders, giving feedback can sometimes be uncomfortable, especially when dealing with disappointing performance, continuous mistakes, or “attitude problems” from team members. The good news is that you can relieve some of the discomfort through good preparation, choosing your timing, and focusing on the specific behavior you’d like to correct.
Use these tips to plan your next feedback session.
1. First, gather the facts and collect your thoughts by answering the following questions:
- What happened? Who was involved? When, where, and how did the problem occur? How did you become aware of the problem?
- Does your team member understand the job? How do you know? Does the employee have a specific, written job description and written procedures to follow? Does the team member fully understand the level of performance you expect them to achieve?
- Is your team member aware of the consequences of not meeting your performance standards?
2. Pick the right time and place to discuss the issue with your team member.
- Always respect your team member’s privacy, and the comfort of the other team members. Never criticize someone in front of patients or peers.
- If there are emotions running hot, allow some time for things to cool down. People can’t think and feel at the same time.
- Consider the effects of the discussion on the rest of the team when choosing the best time. Some leaders opt for the end of the day, the end of a workweek, or during a lull in the schedule.
- Depending on the situation, you can choose to call the team member into your office, go to their workstation, or take the conversation “off campus” to put the team member at ease.
3. Don’t lecture or berate the team member – coach and counsel them, focusing the discussion on the performance issue or specific behavior that needs to be corrected.
- Use objective facts and descriptions: time, place, and details about what happened. Don’t assume motives. If you have documentation or records that back you up, share it with the team member.
- Describe the specific behavior that happened, and describe the specific behavior you expect in the future.
- Ask open-ended questions to determine the team member’s awareness of what went wrong. Ask them to identify any underlying causes for the problem that you might not be aware of. Ask if they are aware of the consequences of their behavior or “downstream” problems it might have caused. Ask them how they could have handled the situation differently, more effectively.
- Listen actively, allowing the team member to vent if necessary. Affirm your understanding, and agree where you can reasonably agree. If appropriate, share the responsibility for what happened.
- Ask your team member how they propose to correct their performance, and what they need in order to accomplish it. Affirm their ideas and add your suggestions when possible.
- Give the team member a reasonable deadline for improvement, and let them know the standards by which you will measure it.
- Summarize your mutual understanding about what needs to improve, by when, and get your team member’s verbal agreement.
- If the situation is serious, or you’ve had to address it more than once, put your agreement in writing, outlining the improvements required, resources provided, deadline for improvement, and next steps if the team member does not improve.
- Express your confidence that their improvement is achievable. Let them know how and when you can be available for support if they need it.
- Follow up. Celebrate improvement, and document lack of improvement.
4. If things go wrong…
If your team member responds with resistance, denial, or lack of cooperation, stay cool, calm, and collected. Repeat the objective facts in a reasonable, assertive way without getting emotional, becoming argumentative or displaying frustration. If the team member criticizes you or other team members, simply acknowledge the criticism (“that may be true, but let’s return to the facts…”) and restate your case and your need for the team member’s performance to improve.
If, on the other hand, you are dealing with a disruptive team member or one of those “attitude problems” we sometimes encounter, make sure you can identify and speak about concrete, specific, measurable behavior or performance issues. It’s best to identify these types of team members and address any issues like this early, so you don’t give the problem a chance to grow and affect other team members. Follow these guidelines:
- Ask questions to see if you can find the underlying cause of what might be causing the disruptive behavior or attitude problem, and to make sure the team member understands the impact of their performance on your patients and other team members.
- Give the team member a chance to own up to their behavior, admit their mistake, and apologize if necessary. Make sure you are compliant with State and Federal employment laws, and your own established HR policies, and document everything to the team member’s file.
- Ask for a commitment, and write up an agreement outlining the team member’s need to improve performance and correct their behavior within a specified time (30 days, for example).
- When you’ve exhausted your efforts to work with a non-performing team member, and their performance has not improved, cut them loose. You don’t have to tolerate non-performance.
- Part of leading a dental practice to success is doing whatever you need to do to make sure you’ve got the right people in the right positions on your team. If you have clear systems in place, documented job descriptions, scripts, and checklists, and a training program that emphasizes your standards of performance, you should be able to spot performance issues and deal with them as they arise.
At P&S Coaching, we work with dental practices just like yours to standardize operational systems – including those required for a fully functioning team. We have over 25 years of experience helping dentists to create the kinds of teams that can propel their practices to success.
We welcome a chance to show you how we can help you. Call us today to schedule a complimentary consultation.
