June 18, 2008

Communciate for change ~ how to get managers to listen to feedback

Filed under: Set the tone by Meryl Runion |

Meryl.

I work in a Customer Support department of my company. We recently experienced a couple of layoffs, as well as a history of “ill feelings”, feelings of “us vs. them”, “mismanagement”, etc. I’m in the process of surveying the managers to ascertain what they feel the challenges are of their direct reports, and I’m also surveying the direct reports to ask them what they feel are challenges, as well as how they feel about the management. I’m getting some great feedback from the staff that I will share with the managers.

But I’m nervous…

At the risk of sounding like I’m “projecting”, I feel that I know how the manager meeting will go. I’ll start to read some of the anonymous feedback and they will respond in a few ways:

1) Hostility

2) Comments like, “Yeah, wouldn’t that be nice.” “In a perfect world…” “We can’t do that.” “Yeah, right.”

I want to set the tone of the meeting before we begin and say something like:

“When we read some of these comments, you might find yourself saying, (see above) and ultimately dismiss it. But I want you to keep an open mind about everything we read here together, and forget the people, faces, moods, and so on. Here’s a blank piece of paper and we need to look at this as an opportunity to start from scratch.

“Also, during our conversation, if I hear comments such as “Yea, in a perfect world that would be great, but…” or “We can’t do that…” and so on, I’m going to stop you and ask you to either rephrase it, putting a positive spin on your comment, or not say it at all.”

Meryl, any assistance you can provide is most welcomed. The “hostile” feeling on the Customer Service floor is a direct result of the “hostility” that emanates from the managers on a daily basis, and I need to start the “squashing the tone” process before it explodes.

Meryl Responds:

Great question! And you seem quite ready for the challenge. I like your ideas so far. You’re not projecting you’re preparing.

Pre-calling possible responses is a fabulous way to begin. That will keep those responses conscious. I would take it one step further and tell them what to do instead when they are inclined to respond dismissively.

For example:

Instead of saying, “Yea, wouldn’t that be nice”, say. “That would be nice. Is there any part of that we can implement?”

Instead of saying, “In a perfect world, great, but…” say,

I’d like that too. How could we make that suggestion practical?”

Instead of saying: “Yea, we tried that before, but…” say,

That sounds like something we tried. I wonder how this is different or what we could do to make it happen.

Instead of, “Oh, that comment sounds like so-and-so… that’s SO typical of him/her!” (and dismiss it), say.

I might know who suggested that. I’d like to be able to find a way to (help them understand why it’s unrealistic) (figure out how to make it work) (get them to focus on the things we can change) etc.

I’ll practice what I’m preaching here. Instead of “I need to start the ’squashing the tone’ process before it explodes,” think