Having conversations is daily business if you are a manager. You have conversations with customers, with colleagues and with employees. Your role in this is always different. For this reason, conversations are always different. How do you conduct conversations with your employees? Do you expect the same from a conversation?
A conversation with an employee is meant to gain insight into the employee and his or her perception, talent, ambition, contribution, areas for improvement. But an employee's suggestions can also be super valuable to an organization or team. Are you getting everything out of your conversations? Do you know how engaged your employees are? It starts with asking questions.
Just a few questions can help you get more out of your conversations. We give 10 examples.
The 10 questions you can ask your employees:
- Do you have enough challenge in your work?
- What can I do to make your work more fun or easier?
- If you were the boss of this team, what would you change immediately?
- What would be one thing that would make you leave this organization immediately?
- What would you like help with from your colleagues?
- Is everyone's input heard, seen and valued? From whom more and from whom less? Why do you think this is so?
- You are a customer of your own team: what impression does the team make? What makes you happy and what could be better?
- What gives you energy? What do you get up in the morning for?
- What qualities would you like others to see from you? Do you think others see you that way?
- What are you proud of?
Having conversations that are about something needs the right input. That input traditionally comes from the manager. The manager lets the employee know how he or she sees the employee and what expectations are. On the one hand, this is difficult for the manager because conversations are time-consuming; on the other hand, it is not pleasant for the employee to undergo conversations.
In practice, you can realize this process in a simple and efficient way. You can read all about it in the white paper "From assessing to coaching.
What does work is to have conversations together. The employee is more in control. The manager does not dictate, but reflects on the input the employee brings in. That input can be 360 feedback that the employee has collected, or goals that the employee is working on.
The Treams platform brings together all input for good conversations and all follow-up steps. This way you get the best out of your people!