Page 71 - Communication in Organizations Basic Skills and Conversation Models

Communication in organizations 60

Freddy, I think we talk too little about the new assignments. The reason is
you are out much of the time and I don’t know where to reach you.’

Reacting to criticism (see p. 30) is an important skill in a performance evaluation
interview. Many people are inclined to regard criticism as a direct personal attack. They
then try to defend themselves by attacking the other person in return, thus producing
negative results. Criticism can often help in getting things sorted out and may form a
basis for improving cooperation. In the first place it is essential that the manager listens
quietly and checks with himself whether he understands the other person’s criticism.
When he has heard out the criticism, several different approaches are possible. In the first
place he can partly or totally agree with the criticism. In this case he can agree with the
other person and indicate how he is going to try and change his behaviour:

Freddy Fortune could, for example, say: ‘Yes indeed, I have been away
quite often lately and I can imagine that has caused you to be over-loaded.
Maybe we should make an agreement for the coming period that we see
each other for sure at least once a week at a fixed time.’

It is also possible that he totally or partly disagrees with the criticism. He then can (again)
paraphrase what the employee has said and indicate his opinion about it. Next he can try
to come to an agreement on this issue, maybe by making a compromise.
Sometimes the employee may be angry about something that has happened in the
organization or angry with the manager himself. Being able to react in an appropriate
manner to anger is an important skill for the manager. In the first place he has to keep in
mind that the interview is of a functional, businesslike character. He can cope with
emotions such as anger by dealing with them in a functional way. He can do so by asking
for concreteness and by trying to find out as much as possible about the exact cause of
the anger: ‘Can you indicate what you exactly mean by “all the mess”? Can you give a
concrete example?’
Sometimes it is necessary briefly to reflect the feelings of anger: ‘I can imagine that
you are angry. Shall we now try to look at this case peacefully so that we can find out in
the best way possible what the reason for your anger is so we can do something about it?’
When the employee has had a chance to express his reasons for being angry, the
manager can paraphrase: ‘I understand that according to you the personnel department
does not want to show compassion for your situation.’ Then he may reflect his own point
of view about it. Maybe the employee has also had a part in the development of the
problems. However, it is not wise to bring this up too quickly; the danger exists that this
will make the situation explode. Finally, the manager should try to make a concrete
agreement in order to find a solution for the cause of the anger. When employees have
brought up all their points, the manager checks whether all the issues have now been
dealt with: ‘Are there any other points that you would like to discuss at this moment?’ At
the end of this stage the manager may turn to his own points of discussion.