Communication skills have long been considered essential for effective leadership. After all, regular and effective communication with employees can help managers provide the right support to team members in their moment of need, which can prevent greater performance challenges later on.
In addition, communication — or lack thereof — can impact employee engagement. This is significant, as it’s a challenge for many organizations. A Gallup article found that 4.8 million fewer U.S. employees are engaged as of early 2024, with reasons for low engagement including less role clarity, lower satisfaction with their organizations and less connection to the companies’ mission or purpose. More frequent, and effective, communication can help bridge these gaps. It also shows that you, as a leader, are invested in your team members’ engagement and, ultimately, career journey.
Maggie Shibley, learning solutions architect at The Center for Leadership Studies, says, “If people feel that you aren’t invested in their engagement, they’re not going to give you 100%.” You’re “going to see a similar return” in engagement based on the level of support and investment you provide to employees.
Despite the importance of communication in the workplace, leaders who excel in communication are still few and far between. Research shows that 69% of managers say they’re often uncomfortable communicating with employees and 91% of employees say they feel their managers lack effective communication skills. This can quickly impact business outcomes. In fact, research has found that large organizations face an average yearly loss of $62.4 million due to poor communication, and smaller organizations face an average yearly loss of $420,000.
Fortunately, communication is a skill that can be learned. In this article, we’ll outline a four-step approach to impactful, everyday performance conversations using the Situational Conversations™ Framework.
Let’s take a look at the framework in more detail.
What Are Situational Conversations?
Situational conversations are performance-based conversations that consider the whole person in addition to their Performance Readiness® level to complete a task.
Shibley explains, “Situational conversations are the everyday leadership conversations that you have about day-to-day tasks.” Unlike “difficult conversations” or “high-stakes conversations,” these conversations are the “everyday conversations that you can use to avoid getting to the point where you need a high-stakes conversation” in the first place.
Ultimately, situational conversations offer a proactive approach to managing performance and can help build trust between managers and employees.
The Situational Conversations™ Framework is based on the four Situational Leadership® behaviors: Diagnose, Adapt, Communicate and Advance (Figure 1).
Situational Leadership® and Situational Conversations™ are trademarks of Leadership Studies, Inc.
A 4-Step Approach to Better Conversations With Team Members
Based on the four behavioral phases of the Situational Conversations™ Framework, here is a four-step approach to having effective performance conversations with team members.
Step 1: Diagnose
First, you need to diagnose the performance issue through a holistic lens. Start by considering if the task was completed to the expected standard.
If the task was not completed to the set standard, leaders are responsible for uncovering any factors that may be hindering performance. These factors may be personal, professional and/or organizational.
To uncover these factors, leaders can ask questions like:
- Are there any external factors that are impacting your ability to perform this task?
- Do you feel you have been provided enough support and resources to perform this task?
- Are there any additional challenges associated with this task that I may not be aware of?
The information you uncover during this step may impact the rest of the conversation, Shibley says. So, it’s important to listen actively and to pivot based on what information is uncovered. Be prepared to navigate sensitive topics that may arise using human-centered leadership skills like empathy, active listening and self-awareness.
It’s worth noting that this step isn’t about encouraging leaders to cross boundaries: It’s about creating psychological safety so that employees feel comfortable sharing any challenges they’re facing with their manager.
Step 2: Adapt
Next, leaders need to adapt their approach to the conversation based on what they’ve learned during the diagnose step.
For instance, if an employee shares that they’ve been struggling with burnout due to an unmanageable workload, the leader may pivot the conversation to address these challenges and brainstorm solutions to help solve the root cause of the performance issue at hand.
Leaders might also adapt their approach based on the employee’s reaction to the conversation.
Some common reactions to performance conversations include:
- The Defender: The employee may begin defending their actions before you even finish addressing the situation. Shibley says that these individuals “want to defend their actions and [to] make sure you see their point of view,” which can come across as slightly argumentative.
- The Avoider: The employee may put off discussions when they know they’re performing poorly and will try to end performance conversations as quickly as possible.
- The Processor: The employee will allow you to address the situation fully but may not have a response in the moment. They might revisit the issue after they’ve had a chance to reflect.
- The People Pleaser: The employee is overly apologetic for any mistakes they have made. They may tend to overpromise, attempting to compensate for any mistakes made.
“Before going into a performance conversation, leaders may be able to anticipate how an employee might react based on past conversations they’ve had with them,” says Julia Pope, director of marketing at The Center for Leadership Studies. Even so, leaders should still be prepared to adapt their communication style and approach based on the above reactions, Pope says. Doing so will leave them better prepared for a more productive conversation.
Step 3: Communicate
This step is about clearly communicating with the appropriate leadership style, based on the observable behaviors and information shared. This is when the leader articulates their message to influence the individual in a positive way.
For example, if an employee reacts defensively, use objective language to avoid the employee feeling personally attacked. Be specific about the performance issue or behavior — and its impact on your team and/or on the business at large. Offer suggestions for improvement and ask for the employee’s input to help them feel heard.
Here’s an example: “I want to discuss the recent client meeting you missed without letting me know beforehand. Did something come up that I should be aware of?” If the employee shares that the time of the meeting conflicted with a personal responsibility or obligation, ask if there’s a different time that would work better for future meetings and reiterate the importance of communication when unexpected conflicts arise.
It helps to remember that you and your team members have a shared goal. When navigating difficult emotions and reactions in a performance conversation, Shibley suggests, “Remind the employee that you have the shared goal: You want to see them succeed, and they want to succeed. You might have different perspectives on how that happens, but you need to find that common ground.”
Step 4: Advance
The last step is to advance performance through impactful and frequent conversations moving forward. One meaningful conversation isn’t the key to unlocking sustained performance. However, having consistent meaningful performance conversations can lead to sustained performance over time.
To continue advancing communication and performance after an initial conversation ends, determine next steps and any action items before ending the conversation. Make a plan to check in, which can help foster accountability.
Better Conversations — and Performance — Ahead
Having impactful, everyday performance conversations with employees may seem like a challenge. The four-step approach we’ve outlined here can help by offering a structured framework that can help you, and your team members, have more impactful and productive conversations that elevate performance over time.
