During the employee meeting

You've done all the preparation, found a good location, and confirmed the date and time with the employee. Now it's time to have the conversation.

Note

Tip

Scheduling the meeting

There's an old saying that "timing is everything." If, on the day of the meeting, something goes terribly wrong at work, and it doesn't even have anything to do with this meeting (for example, a big problem in the operation or a major customer issue), don't hold the meeting. Reschedule it for another time. After all the work you've put into the meeting, don't allow external factors to distract you from the conversation.

How to start the meeting

When we are meeting to convey a good message, the words seem to be a bit easier to find. However, I'm often asked how to start a difficult or challenging conversation. It might be a sensitive topic, performance matter, or personal issue. In my experience, managers often want to either:

• Tap dance around the topic with small talk: This includes conversations...