From the course: The Manager's Guide to Difficult Conversations
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Discerning the real communication issue
From the course: The Manager's Guide to Difficult Conversations
Discerning the real communication issue
- Have you ever heard the statement "Things are rarely what they seem?" You may think you understand a problem only to realize later, the problem was something entirely different. Follow me on this journey and I'll share a method to discern the presenting problem from the real one. Kenneth, a branch manager, learned that Patty, the office coordinator, kept showing up late. Patty's supervisor told the branch manager Patty doesn't have a good work ethic. The presenting problem, Patty has a poor work ethic, but is that a problem or an assumption? It's an assumption. We don't know why Patty is tardy because there's never been a conversation between she and her supervisor. If you find yourself in a similar situation, there are several things you can do to uncover the real problem. First, make a distinction between the presenting problem and the observable behaviors. The observable behavior is Patty's tardiness. We still…
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