Best Sales Management Training | Sales Training Strategy | Whatever You Say, Say It Clearly And Sim

Accentuate the positive with your employees—but not because you think it will make them like you.

You’re not there to be a buddy. Be positive because it will make you a more effective manager.

Consider the way you ask your employees questions—this is a key skill in seeking their input on decision making.

Attendance at your weekly staff meetings (supposedly mandatory) has been lousy. You decide to seek advice from one of the loyal employees who has been showing up for every session. Here’s one way to ask:

“What should we do to punish people who don’t come to meetings?”

You’ve narrowed all the possible responses you might have gotten to one—a negative one: punishments. Your employee might have something else to suggest, but she may not do so now.

Another approach:

“How can we get people to stop skipping the meetings?”

That’s better. You’ve opened the question to include any sort of answer the employee might want to give you. But you’re still using negative language (“stop” and “skipping”).

Here are two ways to translate the question into positive terms:

■ “How can we get more people to attend meetings?”

■ “How can we make the meetings better, so everyone will want to show up?”

It’s more than just a matter of phrasing. These are completely different questions, and they’ll get different—better—answers.

Admittedly, discussing the negative question could be more fun, but discussing the positive can be more productive and may lead you to solutions.

Maybe the question you really want to ask is: “Do we really need those stupid meetings?”

If so, put it in the positive. That means more than just cutting out the “stupid.” Ask in a way that can yield helpful information, perhaps starting with:

“What’s the function of the weekly meeting?”

Here are the three keys to keeping things positive:

Avoid inflated adverbs: Words like “always” and “never” increase the emotional content of any statement. “You’re always late” or “you’re never on time” are probably overstatements.

Don’t resort to euphemisms: “Let’s take a look at your punctuality issues” isn’t more positive; it’s just evasive.

Stress desired outcomes: Stay away from historical grievances and the blame game. Look forward.

“Whatever you say, say it clearly and simply— and put it in the positive.”