DZone
Agile Zone
Thanks for visiting DZone today,
Edit Profile
  • Manage Email Subscriptions
  • How to Post to DZone
  • Article Submission Guidelines
Sign Out View Profile
  • Post an Article
  • Manage My Drafts
Over 2 million developers have joined DZone.
Log In / Join
  • Refcardz
  • Trend Reports
  • Webinars
  • Zones
  • |
    • Agile
    • AI
    • Big Data
    • Cloud
    • Database
    • DevOps
    • Integration
    • IoT
    • Java
    • Microservices
    • Open Source
    • Performance
    • Security
    • Web Dev
DZone > Agile Zone > Mastering Negative Conversations

Mastering Negative Conversations

In agile methodologies communication is vital. And not all that communication is positive. Learn how to handle the inevitable negative conversations you'll need to have here.

Adi Gaskell user avatar by
Adi Gaskell
·
Aug. 31, 16 · Agile Zone · Opinion
Like (12)
Save
Tweet
3.99K Views

Join the DZone community and get the full member experience.

Join For Free

Having difficult conversations is perhaps one of the most challenging roles a manager can undertake. It is, however, one of the more important things for a manager to master, at least according to a recent study into the topic.

The study examined just how managers typically respond when an employee comes to them with negative feelings. The authors wanted to test how this response contributed to subsequent feelings about the manager by those employees.

Types of Response

The study uncovered four common types of response to such concerns by employees:

  1. Modifying the situation – in this scenario, the manager would attempt to address the situation that caused the negative feeling
  2. Cognitive change – the second type would involve trying to shift the perspective of the employee so that they could reframe the situation and hopefully learn from it
  3. Distraction – the third approach would be to try and distract the employee, perhaps by telling a joke or lightening the mood
  4. Modulating the response – the final method would see the manager try and suppress the negative emotions by requesting the employee just get on with things

Why It Matters

To understand how these different approaches influence employees, the researchers quizzed each participant on the quality of their relationship with the manager, and indeed how much they enjoyed their work. The bosses were also quizzed on how engaged they felt employees were, as exhibited by helping others.

So, which approaches worked best? The results suggest that both resolving the problem and putting the problem into perspective helped to enhance the relationship between manager and employee. Unsurprisingly, suggesting the employee get on with things did little to build a healthy relationship.

It should come as no real surprise, as the first two approaches suggest that the manager cares about the wellbeing of their employees, and is, therefore, interested in helping them resolve their issue. The latter suggests anything but that.

I suspect that having these kinds of conversations with colleagues at work will remain one of the hardest aspects of management, but hopefully this insight will go a little way toward helping you construct them in a positive manner.

Conversations (software)

Published at DZone with permission of Adi Gaskell, DZone MVB. See the original article here.

Opinions expressed by DZone contributors are their own.

Popular on DZone

  • API Testing for Open Banking Operations
  • A Complete Guide About Scaled Agile Framework (SAFe)?
  • Three Mantras for Effective Standup Meetings
  • What Is SSO and Why Do You Need It?

Comments

Agile Partner Resources

X

ABOUT US

  • About DZone
  • Send feedback
  • Careers
  • Sitemap

ADVERTISE

  • Advertise with DZone

CONTRIBUTE ON DZONE

  • Article Submission Guidelines
  • MVB Program
  • Become a Contributor
  • Visit the Writers' Zone

LEGAL

  • Terms of Service
  • Privacy Policy

CONTACT US

  • 600 Park Offices Drive
  • Suite 300
  • Durham, NC 27709
  • support@dzone.com
  • +1 (919) 678-0300

Let's be friends:

DZone.com is powered by 

AnswerHub logo