Employee Performance Reviews - Dealing With Disagreements

Most of the time, you have a reasonably good understanding of the areas where disagreements are likely to pop up in the course of the performance review discussion

Keywords:

performance, employee, management, evaluation, review, assessment, online, software

Article Body:

What do you do when an employee disagrees with something you’ve written on their performance review? How can you prepare for this and deal with it effectively?

Start by listening to figure out the source of the disagreement. Is it an issue of fact (you wrote that the employee received a customer satisfaction score of 79 but the employee says that his score was actually 83), or is a matter of judgment (you wrote that the employee’s customer service skills were unsatisfactory; she feels that her skills are terrific)? If the disagreement involves an issue of fact, get the facts and make any corrections necessary. If it’s a matter of judgment, ask the employee for additional evidence. Then determine whether that evidence is weighty enough to cause you to change your mind, revise your judgment, and amend the rating that you assigned on the employee’s performance review.

Most of the time, you have a reasonably good understanding of the areas where disagreements are likely to pop up in the course of the performance review discussion. Before beginning the discussion, re-read the review you wrote and try to spot the areas where you and the individual may not seem eye-to-eye. Then ask yourself, “What am I going to say when George disagrees with my assessment that his performance on the Thompson project just barely met expectations?” If you’ve taken to time to review the appraisal you’ve written for potential hot spots, and given some thought to how you’ll respond, you’re much less likely to be caught off guard.

During the employee performance review discussion, start with your higher ratings and move toward the lower ones. Be prepared to give additional examples besides the ones you’ve included on the formal written appraisal. Refer back to the informal conversations you have had with the individual over the course of the year.

Of course, if you haven’t had on-going, informal performance review discussions with the individual over the course of the appraisal period, then it’s much more likely that disagreements will surface during the review. That’s one more reason for scheduling periodic, “How’s it going?” discussions with each person on your team.

As soon as a disagreement pops up, switch into active listening mode. “Active listening” involves allowing the other person to clarify both the facts and feelings about an issue so there’s nothing left under the surface. For example, using phrases as simple as, “Tell me more . . .” or, “What else can you share with me about that . . . ?” or, “Really . . . ?” can encourage people to talk more about their perceptions. Simply nodding without saying anything encourages people to expand on what they have said. It’s not at all unlikely that the employee, allowed a sufficient chance to think aloud about what you have written, will end up saying, “Yeah, I guess I see what you mean.”

In dealing effectively with employee performance review disagreements, remember what your objective in the discussion is — and what it isn’t. Your objective in a performance review discussion is not to gain agreement. It is to gain understanding. If the employee agrees with you, that’s great. But particularly if your appraisal is a tough-minded assessment of the fact the Charlie’s contribution toward achieving your department’s objectives was only mediocre, you’ll probably never get him to agree. That’s OK. What you want is for him to understand why you evaluated his performance the way you did, even if his personal opinion is different.

Finally, if you have several employee performance reviews to deliver, don’t start with the individual whose performance was the worst and where disagreements are the most likely to arise. Start with the easiest — your best performer — and move toward the more difficult. In this way, you’ll build your skills and become more comfortable with the performance review process. Remember the advice that John Dillinger, the 1930’s public-enemy #1, once provided: “Before you rob your first bank, knock off a couple of gas stations.”

Dealing with Difficult People: 27 Secrets & Strategies You Can Apply Today

27 easy, proven strategies for dealing with difficult people. Guaranteed to work if you look at the part you can control - you! Discover simple tips for how to deal with gossips, whiners, know-it-alls, exploders and more. Whether it's dealing with a difficult boss, dealing with a difficult co-worker or difficult spouse. And, might you be the difficult person?! Oh my!

Keywords:

Dealing with difficult people, difficult people, communication, conflict resolution, communication skills, managing employees, how to deal with difficult people, dealing with difficult boss, difficult co-worker

Article Body:

Copyright 2006 Colleen Kettenhofen

“No one can get your goat if they don’t know where it’s tied up.” Zig Ziglar

1. Listen more effectively. Listening is the number one tool in communication, especially when dealing with difficult people.

2. Step back and analyze the situation from an outside perspective. When we are less emotionally involved and “cool our jets,” the answers come for how to effectively deal with them. Whether dealing with a difficult boss, dealing with a difficult co-worker, or spouse.

3. Ignoring often doesn’t work. The tension becomes so thick you can cut it with a knife.

4. Choose your battles. There are times when you have to “let it go.” Know when to speak up and when to pick your battles.

5. Criticize in person, praise in public. Never publicly criticize someone as you will look like the bad guy and the difficult person will only become more upset.

6. Maintain respect for them – even if you disagree or dislike them. At least acknowledge what they say. Think about how you would want to be treated.

7. Seek first to understand then to be understood, especially when dealing with difficult people.

8. People often won’t care what you think unless they think you care. At least attempt to see it from their perspective.

9. Maintain high expectations and standards if you are managing this employee. If you don’t do this you will be seen as enabling their unacceptable behavior.

10. Strive for greater communication. Often, it’s not that there isn’t enough communication, it’s that it’s bad communication. So work on improving your conflict resolution skills. If you are a manager, consider training everyone in conflict resolution. One of the main reasons teams fail is because some of the people on the team don’t like each other, or aren’t skilled in handling conflict.

11. Invest in communication skills courses and conflict resolution skills courses to improve the part you can control – you.

12. Don’t lose emotional control. Antagonists and “passive-aggressives” will often try to push your buttons.

13. Avoid being around difficult people when they’re in a bad mood. If they’re always in a bad mood, try being around them when they are in a “better” mood!

14. Accept, change or reject. Know that ultimately you only have three choices.
1) Accept the situation knowing it won’t change.
2) Attempt to change your relationship with them by changing how you react.
3) If it’s really affecting your well being, it may be time to “reject” the situation and move on.

15. Avoid "but." No “but’s” allowed! For example, don’t follow giving them positive reinforcement with, “But on the other hand…” The word “but” only negates everything positive you just said.

16. Non-verbally position yourself at their eye level. For example, if they are sitting when you talk with them, sit. If they are standing, stand. Converse at their level.

17. Avoid the word “need” when possible and use “want” instead. Saying politely and tactfully, “John, I want to have the project in to me by noon so that we’ll meet our deadline. “Want” is more assertive as long as it’s in the right tone.

18. Watch your tone of voice. Avoid an autocratic or sarcastic tone. The Latin root of the word “sarcasm” is “sarco” meaning tearing of the flesh!

19. In face-to-face communication, words account for 7% of what people notice and believe about you. Tone is 38% and body language 55%. So a full 93% is tone and body language.

20. Give sincere positive reinforcement when they do something well. Show genuine appreciation. Often difficult people are difficult because they feel unappreciated.

21. Avoid absolutes such as, “You always” and “You never.” It puts difficult people further on the defensive.

22. Don’t take it personally. Often they’re difficult because of something going on with them.

23. Watch your mental state. Don’t let them drag you down. A little of that can be normal but don’t allow it to go on.

24. Remember the person who constantly angers you, or constantly intimidates you, controls you.

25. Mutually agree to move on. Agree to disagree. If this isn’t possible, at least “move on” in your own mind.

26. Attempt to understand what’s driving that difficult behavior. Get at the root cause, even if you only try to figure it out in your own mind.

27. E + R = 0. Event + Reaction = Outcome. You can’t control the event, but you can control the outcome based on how you react or respond. Be careful how you respond.

For example, there’s the story of the couple who were divorcing. A neighbor said to the wife, “Do you think you’d ever get back together?” She replied, “No, because we have said things to each other that are so horrible, that even after apologizing they could never be taken back. There's no way we’d get back together.” The moral of the story…be careful what you say. Once those words are out they’re hard to take back.

“The disease of me often results in the defeat of us.” Pat Riley of NBA fame

Dealing with Your Difficult People

Conflict is part of every organization. How leaders deal with that conflict can produce enemies or motivated teams who embrace change. Learn 8 practical strategies you can use starting today as a leader to turn your most difficult people into team players you value.

Keywords:

conflict, difficult people, bridge building, enemies, selective screening, caring enough to confront, conflict management, change management, resistence, discipline, problem solving, avoidance

Article Body:

For leaders managing constant change, conflict is built into the very fabric of their organizations. When conflict is not dealt with well, it can create strained relationships and grow to sap the time, energy, and productivity of even the best teams. Dealt with positively, conflict can also be a catalyst that sets the stage for needed changes. You will never deal with conflict perfectly, but here are a few tips worth using in dealing with your most difficult people:

1. Talk to people instead of about them. Dealing with conflict directly may be uncomfortable and lead to some disappointment, but it cuts down the mindreading and the resentment that can occur when problems are not dealt with directly. Timing, tact, and taking distance will always have their place, but make sure you still keep conflict eyeball to eyeball.

2. We are taught from childhood to avoid conflict and often vacillate between the pain of dealing with unresolved problems and the guilt over not dealing with them. Such vacillation saps energy and time; it can affect morale and turnover. Be a problem solver not a problem evader. Problem solvers avoid avoidance; they learn to deal with conflict as soon as it even begins to get in the way.

3. Develop a communication style that focuses on future problem solving rather than getting stuck in proving a conviction for past mistakes. You want change, not just an admission of guilt. Winners of arguments never always win, because consistent losers never forget. You want results, not enemies seeking revenge. By focusing on future problem solving, both can save face.

4. Problem solvers deal with issues, not personalities. It’s all too easy to abuse the other party instead of dealing with issues. Be assertive but affirm the rights of others to have different positions, values and priorities. When you personalize disagreements and attack back, you invite escalation. Keep the focus on mutual problem solving not name-calling.

5. Honor, surface and use resistance. Attempts at threatening, silencing or otherwise avoiding criticism of change will only force resistance underground and increase the sabotaging of even necessary changes. Explored resistance helps build clarity of focus and action. Push for specific suggestions. If criticism is extensive and continues even after facing it, it may not be resistance—know when to admit that you are wrong!

6. Redefine caring to include caring enough to confront on a timely and consistent basis. Avoid labels that give you or others excuses for not confronting a problem—They are too sensitive or too nice, scene makers or people who have contacts, too old or too young, or the wrong race or gender. If you believe people cannot change or benefit from feedback, you will tend not to confront them. Instead, treat all equally by caring enough to be firm, fair, and consistent.

7. Avoid forming “enemy” relationships. The subtle art of influence is often lost in the heat of organizational battle. When interaction becomes strained or bias exists, the negative interaction coupled with the distance that often results invites selective scanning and projection. We see what we want to see to keep our enemies “the enemy.” If a relationship is limited to polite indifference and significant negative interaction, expect polarization and an “enemy” relationship. In such relationships everyone loses. Take seriously the words of Confucius, “Before you embark on a journey of revenge, dig two graves.” Even your most difficult people usually have some people they work well with. Make one of those people you. Don’t look for the worst; learn to look for the best in even difficult people.

8. Invest time building positive bridges to your difficult people. Abraham Lincoln reportedly said, “I don't like that man. I must get to know him better.” Don't be insincere; look for ways to be sincere. It takes a history of positive contact to build trust. Try building a four-to-one positive to negative contact history. Give specific recognition and ask for assistance in the areas you respect their opinions. Work together on a common cause and search for areas of common ground. By being a positive bridge builder, you build a reputation all will see and come to respect even if a few difficult people never respond.

Finally, don’t forget to spend some time looking in a mirror. Ron Zemke put it well when he said, “If you find that everywhere you go you're always surrounded by jerks and you're constantly being forced to strike back at them or correct their behavior, guess what? You're a jerk.” Influencing others starts by making sure that you’re not being difficult yourself.

Copyright © 2006 by Terry Paulson, All Rights Reserved

Dealing with a Home Security System Break-in

Improve your home security and minimize break-ins by securing your home.

Keywords:

home security systems, home alarm systems

Article Body:

Even if you’re not home when it happens, break-ins are a terrifying ordeal. This invasion of your personal space can shatter your sense of safety for a long time.

Aside from the “standard” important tasks such as reporting stolen items to the police and your insurance company, here are some steps you can take towards feeling secure again:

Improve your home security by using the following: Work especially on the visual and physical deterrents. Make it clear (with big security signs, for example) that you are NOT going to be broken into again. And if the break-in illustrated a particular security hole, plug it. Beef up the security and make it clear that you’ve done so.

If you or a family member cannot stop worrying about another break-in, or starts showing other anxiety symptoms, visit a counselor. As anyone who’s gone through one knows, break-ins can be very traumatic (particularly home invasions), and this can lead to a disorder called PTSD, or Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. This is a serious condition that is diagnosed by a counselor, and can be treated effectively with counseling. Don’t be afraid or ashamed to seek help.

As for recovering stolen property, it’s best to leave this process to the police. If you’ve marked your belongings with your driver’s license number and given police your serial numbers, you’ve greatly increased your chances of getting your stuff back. Police have various ways of looking for stolen goods.

Most people don’t know their neighbors very well these days. This is a shame for several good reasons, one of them being home security. Your neighbors can be potent allies in your efforts to keep your home safe and secure.

Get to know your neighbors if you haven’t already. Tell them about your interest in keeping your home secure, and ask them if they could keep an eye out for you. Offer to do the same for them.

You should also call your local police and see if there’s an active neighborhood watch program in your area. If not, start one. This can be an effective way to help the whole neighborhood watch out for each other, and it can also build a sense of community (which has benefits that go far beyond home security).

Dealing With Pressure For The Home-Based Business Entrepreneur

What is the most effective way to deal with the anxiety that a home-based business entrepreneur experiences? The quick answer is to realize that this is part of being a business owner and to learn to live with it. The anxiety will not go away over night and you may be experiencing it for many years as you look at the profit/loss margins that occur with starting a business and moving to a place where it is stable and successful.

Many people are drawn to the idea of being se...

Keywords:

home based,home business,work from home,marketing,opportunity,home workers, making money online

Article Body:

What is the most effective way to deal with the anxiety that a home-based business entrepreneur experiences? The quick answer is to realize that this is part of being a business owner and to learn to live with it. The anxiety will not go away over night and you may be experiencing it for many years as you look at the profit/loss margins that occur with starting a business and moving to a place where it is stable and successful.

Many people are drawn to the idea of being self-employed,and not having to work for a boss and also because they think that there are many freedoms with this type of business. They soon find out; however, that this is not the case and they will actually be working long, hard hours for a few years as they try to get their business on its feet. The difference in being self-employed is that everything rests on your shoulders. When you were working for someone else, you had to deal with things you probably did not want to but the entire weight of the financial success of the company was not your concern – now it is. You are now concerned if there will be enough profit to pay your employees, your vendors, and your bills.

Remember that simply because you are feeling pressure does not mean your business is going to fail. It simply means you are now in business for yourself and are facing the same pressures that all business owners experience at some time or another. Anxiety is a great motivator. You may wake up and not want to do any work, you would prefer to make an early round of golf, instead you realize that if you choose this option you will only be making it more difficult for yourself and you will lose money as opposed to making money. I would actually be concerned if you started a new business and had absolutely no fears at all, that is being arrogant and has a great chance of leading to failure.

There is a difference in being confident about your business venture and arrogant. Arrogant is thinking nothing will go wrong and you do not have to make an effort or sweat over the financial affairs of your new business. So how do you deal with the pressure? Make sure you have a financial plan. Talk to those who are involved in your business and make sure everyone knows their goals. Talk about the risks and whether-or-not, they are worth taking. Do not stick your head in the sand and pretend they do not exist – they do and you need to face them head on and when you do,you will be successful and your anxiety will lessen and will eventually go away.

Employee Performance Reviews — Dealing With Disagreements

What do you do when an employee disagrees with something you’ve written on their performance review? How can you prepare for this and deal with it effectively?

Start by listening to figure out the source of the disagreement. Is it an issue of fact (you wrote that the employee received a customer satisfaction score of 79 but the employee says that his score was actually 83), or is a matter of judgment (you wrote that the employee’s customer service skills were unsatisfactor...

Keywords:

performance, employee, management, evaluation, review, assessment, online, software

Article Body:

What do you do when an employee disagrees with something you’ve written on their performance review? How can you prepare for this and deal with it effectively?

Start by listening to figure out the source of the disagreement. Is it an issue of fact (you wrote that the employee received a customer satisfaction score of 79 but the employee says that his score was actually 83), or is a matter of judgment (you wrote that the employee’s customer service skills were unsatisfactory; she feels that her skills are terrific)? If the disagreement involves an issue of fact, get the facts and make any corrections necessary. If it’s a matter of judgment, ask the employee for additional evidence. Then determine whether that evidence is weighty enough to cause you to change your mind, revise your judgment, and amend the rating that you assigned on the employee’s performance review.

Most of the time, you have a reasonably good understanding of the areas where disagreements are likely to pop up in the course of the performance review discussion. Before beginning the discussion, re-read the review you wrote and try to spot the areas where you and the individual may not seem eye-to-eye. Then ask yourself, “What am I going to say when George disagrees with my assessment that his performance on the Thompson project just barely met expectations?” If you’ve taken to time to review the appraisal you’ve written for potential hot spots, and given some thought to how you’ll respond, you’re much less likely to be caught off guard.

During the employee performance review discussion, start with your higher ratings and move toward the lower ones. Be prepared to give additional examples besides the ones you’ve included on the formal written appraisal. Refer back to the informal conversations you have had with the individual over the course of the year.

Of course, if you haven’t had on-going, informal performance review discussions with the individual over the course of the appraisal period, then it’s much more likely that disagreements will surface during the review. That’s one more reason for scheduling periodic, “How’s it going?” discussions with each person on your team.

As soon as a disagreement pops up, switch into active listening mode. “Active listening” involves allowing the other person to clarify both the facts and feelings about an issue so there’s nothing left under the surface. For example, using phrases as simple as, “Tell me more . . .” or, “What else can you share with me about that . . . ?” or, “Really . . . ?” can encourage people to talk more about their perceptions. Simply nodding without saying anything encourages people to expand on what they have said. It’s not at all unlikely that the employee, allowed a sufficient chance to think aloud about what you have written, will end up saying, “Yeah, I guess I see what you mean.”

In dealing effectively with employee performance review disagreements, remember what your objective in the discussion is — and what it isn’t. Your objective in a performance review discussion is not to gain agreement. It is to gain understanding. If the employee agrees with you, that’s great. But particularly if your appraisal is a tough-minded assessment of the fact the Charlie’s contribution toward achieving your department’s objectives was only mediocre, you’ll probably never get him to agree. That’s OK. What you want is for him to understand why you evaluated his performance the way you did, even if his personal opinion is different.

Finally, if you have several employee performance reviews to deliver, don’t start with the individual whose performance was the worst and where disagreements are the most likely to arise. Start with the easiest — your best performer — and move toward the more difficult. In this way, you’ll build your skills and become more comfortable with the performance review process. Remember the advice that John Dillinger, the 1930’s public-enemy #1, once provided: “Before you rob your first bank, knock off a couple of gas stations.”