1) Confront the person to the side.
Confronting your team members in front of others is a sure way to make them feel embarrassed and unvalued. This will create a culture of resentful behavior and a lack of creativity. Instead, confront the person privately and take them to task. This will earn you respect and trust.
2) Address immediately:
If a member of your team has done something wrong, confront them. A leader who doesn’t confront their team member because they fear for their safety or thinks the problem will disappear is just as damaging. If you don’t confront your team, you are demonstrating to them that you don’t care enough to see their progress. Even though it is awkward, people want to learn how they can improve.
3) Don’t overwhelm them with a long list of problems.
Be specific and only address one problem at a given time. If you list every thing they did wrong, it can feel as if the team member has been attacked. Respect is earned by addressing an issue and finding a solution that works for you both.
4) Don’t repeat the same thing over and over again
This is especially true when leaders want to let the person they confront know the gravity of the problem. This might seem difficult, but it is necessary to make them realize the foolishness of their decision. It’s okay to say it, but don’t. This can make team members feel small and can lead to their growing resentment.
5) Take a flexible approach to your work:
Sometimes, you may have to recognize that a member of your team is incapable of changing certain things. This is something you need to be aware of as a leader. If you ask your team members to do something that they are not capable of, it will cause irritation within your relationship.
6) Avoid sarcasm
Many leaders use sarcasm to attack their team members. Although this could be a defense mechanism that they have learned from life experiences, it can cause team dysfunction. If you’re sarcastic with your team members, it shows that you don’t care about what they did. This can lead to bitterness among your team members.
7) Avoid definitives like “always” or “never”.
You can make statements like “This always happens with me.” This is not something you do. You are creating problems for yourself. This can lead to errors in your statements, which can result in your team members becoming defensive.
8) Transform your criticisms into questions or suggestions
Imagine your staff attending a team building event and one member of your team gets into a heated argument with another person in front of the entire staff. What can you do? Ask them questions. Ask them what they think they could have said differently. Or ask how the team felt at the time.
9) Don’t apologize for confronting them.
Be assertive and firm. This is a very different approach to being aggressive. You will also not be able to help yourself if you are too passive or apologise for your actions during confrontations. This will make the confrontation less effective. This also shows the other team member that you don’t think you have the right to confront them.
10) Add compliments to your confrontation
It is a good idea to compliment someone on something they have done well when you approach them. Don’t try to fake compliments, but tell the truth about the compliment. Next, confront them about the matter and end the meeting by giving another compliment. This is crucial because statistically speaking of negative things, 10 positive words about yourself must be said for every one that has been said.
