Dear Crucial Skills, Our organization took a hit last year and many people were laid off. I was lucky to stay but now I feel overwhelmed by the amount of work and responsibilities that I’m required to do in others’ absence. I don’t want to look like I can’t handle my workload and I especially …
ABOUT THE AUTHOR Joseph Grenny is author of three bestselling books, Influencer, Crucial Conversations, and Crucial Confrontations. READ MORE Dear Crucial Skills, Our company has a review policy called the 70/20/10 rule. This means that 70 percent of my staff must be rated “Meets Expectations,” only 20 percent can be rated “Exceeds Expectations,” and worst …
ABOUT THE AUTHOR Joseph Grenny is author of three bestselling books, Influencer, Crucial Conversations, and Crucial Confrontations. READ MORE Dear Crucial Skills, I need advice on how to have a conversation with a subordinate about her provocative attire. It’s tricky because her clothes are clean and very nice—just more revealing than is appropriate for our …
Dear Crucial Skills, I’m holding a performance review with one of my direct reports. The way we do it here is that he rates himself first. Next, I provide a rating and lots of data to support it. It’s not unusual for the employee to offer a higher rating than the supervisor, but this time …
Dear Crucial Skills, Our hospital offers Crucial Conversations Training, so I was greatly disappointed to witness a recent firing that felt very wrong. A manager who had been with the organization for fifteen years was devoted to her job, but at times, seemed overwhelmed with its demands. Many were concerned about her poor follow-up on …
ABOUT THE AUTHOR Joseph Grenny is author of three bestselling books, Influencer, Crucial Conversations, and Crucial Confrontations. Dear Crucial Skills, I have always tried hard to contribute to my company. And yet, when I went to the Crucial Conversations Training, I realized I often did not express myself when I should to avoid making waves. …
ABOUT THE AUTHOR Joseph Grenny is author of three bestselling books, Influencer, Crucial Conversations, and Crucial Confrontations. Dear Crucial Skills, I have a big problem that I’m sure other office managers face. How does a manager stop the rumor and gossip mill? Nothing is said that isn’t around the office within five minutes and even …
Dear Crucial Skills, I read your survey results on long-distance loathing with great interest. I work for a multi-site corporation and approximately two-thirds of our staff are in one city while the rest are dispersed over five smaller sites. Despite significant efforts to bring our teams together, there is still a strong sense of us …
Dear Crucial Skills, I joined my family business seven years ago. We have since grown the firm by 200 percent. Despite our success, I’ve had several struggles with my sister, who has a history of either showing up late or not showing up at all. I have talked to her, but she doesn’t feel the …
Dear Crucial Skills, First, congratulations on such a terrific newsletter. I’d like to raise a question on the article titled “Addressing Mediocre Performance.” I recently departed from an organization I had been with for three years in a senior management capacity. When we were one year into a major merger, it became very apparent that …
