CUNNING PHRASES TO TELL A COLLEAGUE THAT HE IS A SPAGIL
A colleague sends information about a project that the whole team will work on. You have to discuss it at a meeting and decide how to act. You notice a mistake in it. Not a minor detail, but a big mistake that threatens to fail the whole project.
Should you silence her without being your job to repair it? To be responsible for a colleague. Notice her boss, who should be competent enough. These are all the right justifications to get out.
Yes, but the mistake can cost the whole team, including you personally, efforts in the wrong direction and ultimately failure of the project. Therefore, you have to say the bad news of your colleague - that he is a splash.
This must happen before the meeting and four eyes. Still, it's not easy, because your colleague may appreciate your help, but it will be uncomfortable.
Janel Anderson, a communication expert, advises how to have this conversation more painlessly. There are several phrases that you can use to direct your colleague in the right direction without drawing his anger or insult.
"Maybe you take another look at this" is a good start. In this way, you show him that you are both collaborating to achieve the best possible result. At the same time, you turn his attention to a specific thing that needs to be smooth. This is how you allow him to find and correct his mistake without having to criticize him.
If he asks you why to look another look, you can tell him straight that your information seems inaccurate. If he is a good professional, he will check it before the meeting or he will tell about the correction.
If you do not, and you are sure that there is really a mistake, you are completely free to correct it publicly. You did as a good colleague and warned him. You should not wash the bluff under the carpet as soon as it can lead to failure for the whole team.
Your colleague may immediately see the mistake and thank you. But no matter how respectful you are, you are actually criticizing it. One often accepts negative feedback as a personal attack against himself and his work. Therefore, you should quickly soften the criticism and place yourself in a group with your colleague. You can say "and it happened to me." This is how you sound supportive.
"This helps to put your interlocutor in a less vulnerable position because you yourself look not so authoritative. One kind of saying," Allow me to help you learn from my mistakes, "Anderson explains." If you want to raise this phrase By the next level, offer tips and techniques you used to correct your mistake."
You can also choose a more direct approach to tell someone that they have been wrong. If you are talking to a more inexperienced or a close enough colleague, it is a good phrase "This should be corrected. How can I help you?" This is how you point out what to do, you offer him support and you do not condemn him.
"When the situation reaches the point where one realizes one's mistake and starts to behave defensively, I advise you to forget about all personal pronouns," Anderson points out. "When you remove the indictment from your utterance, you redirect the work that you need to be done instead of on the personal mistakes and shortcomings of the particular person."
This in the first sentence. In the second, you ask your colleague how you can help him and even emphasize the personal pronoun "I help you". Whether it will accept your proposal or solve the problem alone, it will not forget about the outstretched arm.
"The common thing between the three phrases is that you will be both kind and friendly and purposeful with them at the same time - emphasizes Andersen. - They allow you to tell your colleague "You messed up" without sounding brutal and condescending, but even without To run away from the difficult truths that one never wants to hear."