Working Up

by Dwayne Phillips

As a manager, when an employee provides short, pleasing answers sound all the alarms you have. Ask more questions until you pull usable information from the employee.

Manager: How are things going?

Employee: Fine, okay.

Manager: (thinks to herself) Great! I’ve communicated with the employee, and we are good.

Gosh. How many times have you seen this? What does “fine, okay” mean? Train wreck coming, so move the innocent bystanders way back.

Manager: How are things going?

Employee: Fine, okay.

Manager: Glad to hear that. Now,

1. Tell me three things you can measure that indicate things are going well.
2. Tell me three things you cannot measure, but give you a feeling things are going well.
3. Tell me two things you can measure that indicate things might go badly in the future.
4. Tell me two things you cannot measure, but give you a feeling things might go badly in the future.

Gee whiz, the manager is being sort of tough in this second conversation. Why is she prying so much?

This second example is about the manager pulling information from the employee. “Fine, okay” is not an acceptable answer. Hence, the manager asks and asks and asks until she receives information she can use.

One of the major reasons the manager needs to pull information from the employee is placating. The employee wants to be nice. This problem exists particularly in volunteer organizations. I want to help; I want to be positive, so I give nice, positive answers. “Fine, okay” are nice, positive answers.

Placating is when the employee lives by the creed “you are everything while I am nothing.” Hence, I will provide you with the answer you want to hear, i.e., everything is fine.

If you are a manager, expect employees to placate. Expect employees to give you the answer that they think you want to hear. If you hear a pleasing answer, resist the temptation to smile and go on your merry way.

Pleasing answers should cause bright red lights to flash and big horns to blast.

Dig into pleasing answers. Ask, ask, ask, pull, pull, pull. You will probably feel much better later.