Q-TIP Management
March 26, 2009 by Phil Gerbyshak
Filed under Business
Sometimes you overhear something your team says that’s less than flattering. It could be about you, or about a customer, or even about someone else on the team. As a manager, it’s easy to want to react to this, and say “HEY! Stop talking crap!” But really, this message wasn’t meant for your ears.
How do you stop yourself from reacting? Easy, reach for your Q-Tips!
Quit
Taking
It
Personally
Q-TIP Management
Take 5 minutes and think about what is really happening. You have a frustrated associate on your hands, and they’re just blowing off steam, trying to make it through to the next part of the mission.
Does it hurt anything (other than your feelings and maybe your pride) to hear something like this?
Instead of cleaning out your ears, plug them up and move on to the next opportunity for coaching.
Quit Taking It Personally!
Don’t deny the truth, but don’t have such rabbit ears you take everything your team says about you to heart!
Quit Taking It Personally!
q-tips photo credit to L. Marie
Phil–
My instinctive response is to interpret a scenario such as you describe as a potential coaching moment for *me*. In fact, I would turn around the acronym and make it, “Quick! Take it professionally!”
In many cases, you will be right that there is simply some necessary releasing of frustration going on, and yet there is also the possibility that what you are hearing is symptomatic of a problem which you, as the manager, need to both become aware of and begin the process of addressing.
Not immediately, but at some point soon thereafter, I would want to raise the possibility with my team of there being a problem I could help with. Of course, this would only be a course of action if I had decided that there might be more to the episode than just blowing off steam.
Interestingly, if one is willing to offer a team this opportunity, after a few tries at it, people get over the initial discomfort and uncertainty many feel in griping to their manager. Soon enough, the gripe sessions become constructive discussions about barriers and how to eliminate them.
Net result: less steam to be released inappropriately, and happier cohorts get more done and enjoy doing it.
Phil: You don’t have to publish this as its about a client of mine, but I think you’d really enjoy the book Who: The A Method for Hiring. http://www.whothebook.com Let me know if I can send you a copy…
Rita Tennyson
310/779-9747