Dr. Julie Rennecker, PhD

My first step is usually to get everyone's "position" out of their heads and onto a whiteboard or PowerPoint slide in the form of a diagram, flowchart, or other physical illustration of their respective views. Often they find they have more in common than they expected. Then I encourage the entire group to generate a list of stakeholders we need to keep in mind while making a decision, then to consider long-term and short-term benefits and risks of each approach for each stakeholder. As we move through the process, each side typically softens as they realize they'd overlooked a key stakeholder or only been focused on short-term or long-term impacts. They are then usually able to work together to develop a compromise solution.

It seems counterintuitive to focus on strengths rather than deficits in performance reviews and plans. Both the Gallup organization and academic studies have shown, however, that focusing on strengths - that is identifying what someone does well and helping them do more of that - yields much greater performance improvement than focusing on deficit-fixing. In fact, the deficit-focused model can actually result in performance declines and employee disengagement.

Using one's strengths at work has a positive ripple effect that extends far beyond the workplace. Employees who feel more confident, valued, and fulfilled take those feelings home and into the community.

When we talk about another person's "strengths," there's a tendency to focus on their technical competencies, the knowledge and skills associated with their formal role - e.g., accountant, engineer, risk manager. These may or may not, however, be what energizes a person. For instance, someone may have strong organizational skills or be able to make a spreadsheet sing yet be exhausted by doing those tasks. In the context of leveraging a team member's strengths for purposes of increasing both performance and employee engagement and satisfaction, it is important to focus on those capabilities s/he finds energizing.

In my experience, an important part of this communication is being very clear about what you do know, what you do not know, and what you know but cannot share. The old model was to create a reassuring veneer of being "in control of the situation." This often translated into pretending to know more than you did and to hide unflattering information. In today's social media climate, transparency is essential to build trust. If you lie or try to hide unflattering information, there's high risk you will be called out. That said, the public does understand that certain strategic or security information cannot be disclosed. So put as many of your cards on the table as possible and set expectations about how frequently you will be provide updates.