In today's episode of the Conflict Skills Podcast with host Simon Goode, we dive into the crucial topic of managing emotions during performance management meetings. Simon, a seasoned professional mediator, addresses the challenges often faced in these meetings, especially when conflict escalates. He explores various de-escalation strategies tailored for performance management conversations by focusing on five key aspects: certainty, relatedness, autonomy, status, and fairness. Simon also discusses the importance of balancing assertiveness with empathy, offering step-by-step insights into how to maintain composure through both verbal and nonverbal communication. Whether you're aiming to foster collaboration or need to take a more direct approach, Simon's guidance in this episode provides valuable tools to help navigate performance-related discussions effectively. Tune in to learn how to keep these crucial conversations more productive and less contentious.
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EPISODE SUMMARY:
- Understanding Performance Management Conflicts
- Performance management processes as potentially adversarial.
- Natural combativeness and defensive responses.
- Approach to de-escalation in performance management settings.
- Balancing assertiveness and empathy.
- De-escalation Skills and Their Application
- Overview of five aspects: certainty, relatedness, autonomy, status, and fairness.
- Individual context-based approach to either assertiveness or empathy.
- Five options for responding to conflict: competing, compromising, accommodating, avoiding, collaborating.
- De-escalation Strategy: Certainty
- Providing certainty through information about what to expect.
- Discussing behavior, consequences, and facts.
- Transparency and specificity in addressing issues.
- De-escalation Strategy: Relatedness
- Demonstrating understanding and empathy.
- Allowing questions and pausing to slow the pace.
- Addressing emotions and processing time.
- De-escalation Strategy: Autonomy
- Giving a sense of control over the meeting and issue.
- Offering choices and soliciting input on problem-solving.
- De-escalation Strategy: Status
- Making the person feel important.
- Acknowledging contributions and separating issue from personal attributes.
- De-escalation Strategy: Fairness
- Allowing responses and questions.
- Implementing transparent processes and outlining change expectations.
- Nonverbal Aspects of De-escalation
- Voice tone, volume, and pace adjustments.
- Facial expression and body language considerations.
- Maintaining a composed presence to influence meeting dynamics.
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website: simongoode.com
email: podcast@simongoode.com
