Difficult conversations | management | Lehigh University

Difficult Conversations

Scenario: The performance of your top employee has recently slipped. You had a conversation with the employee to address it. The employee improved for a period of time, but slipped again. Now, your boss has noticed, which questions your leadership. You do not want to terminate this employee because you know the value of this person and their work, and you trust and respect this employee. However, you are starting to look bad.

It is time to take action, so you schedule a meeting with the employee.

Part One: Considering the course materials for this week, discuss your strategy for the meeting, including:

• What you will do to make your point clear and candid during the conversation.
• How you will remove your own personal emotion from the conversation while still maintaining empathy and trust with the employee.
• What techniques you will employ to build effective working relationships, and why you would choose these techniques.

Part Two: Write a brief dialogue recording the conversation between you and this employee that demonstrates your use of the strategies outlined above. Include at least 4 interchanges between you and them.