This is guest post by Amy Beth Miller, freelance writer and editor.
A young salesman hung a movie poster in his work area. It wasn’t obscene or offensive, but it was more appropriate for a college dorm room than an office selling expensive products.
The manager could have used the incident to talk with the salesman about the importance of projecting a professional image. Instead, she talked to another team member about how disturbed she was about the poster.
While the salesman was out of the office, his co-worker moved the poster to a less visible spot in the work area. The salesman was shocked and angry when he returned and discovered that a co-worker has moved his personal property.
That’s when the brouhaha started. The manager eventually joined the conversation and raised her concern about the poster, but because she failed to deal with the situation directly, she damaged team dynamics instead of coaching a new employee.
If you can’t deal with employee problems directly, find another job. As a manager, you must be able to handle a wide range of potentially difficult conversations, from discussing a hygiene problem with an employee to dismissing someone.
What is the most difficult conversation you have had as a manager?
[Photo credit:www.flickr.com/photos/cayusa.]
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