I have lost count of the amount of times I have talked about carpets over the course of my career.
You know, those ones that you lift up and sweep stuff underneath that is too difficult to deal with – apparently for the issue never to be seen again.
Things like, speaking to someone about their behaviour, ignoring a safety issue because well, it’s not that serious is it? Or not tackling a performance issue because talking about it over Teams is too….difficult.
But we all know that inevitably, the issue never really goes away. If anything that issue you swept under the carpet grows as you continue to ignore it and, eventually, other issues build up to the point where it’ll all start to trip you up.
The performance gets worse, relationships worsen, engagement goes down and then your key people decide to leave because they feel that there is no point in speaking up because “nothing ever gets done anyway.”
And suddenly you are losing key members of staff that you really need on the team and are potentially left with those that created the problem in the first place!
Is this really the way that you want to run your business? Surely it’s better to get things out in the open, dealt with and a plan put in place for the future?
Your team are constantly watching you, watching how you recognise those that are getting on and doing over and above what is expected of them, and watching how you deal with those that frankly are constantly pushing those boundaries. Those “watchers” will go one way or the other depending on whether you deal with stuff or sweep it under the carpet. And let’s face it, ideally, we’d like more of our team being totally engaged and motivated at work.
In his book Perform Under Pressure, Dr Ceri Evans talks about “five minute micro-performances” and how completing an uncomfortable item on our “to do” list once a day will transform our personal performance.
Don’t procrastinate about the issue and please don’t blame the fact you’ve been too busy to have a difficult conversation. It will trip you up, maybe not immediately, but over time it will impact on really how successful you and your business will be. (By the way, there is a great Ted Talk on procrastination – the link is at the end of this blog.)
- Have the conversation
- Discuss what needs to change to improve for the future
- Offer support, coaching and guidance and
- Stop sweeping stuff under the carpet. It will transform the relationships with your team and your business for the better.
We can help you to stop sweeping stuff under the carpet, whether that’s talking through what the issue is and how best to tackle it, or through a coaching conversation giving you the confidence to deal with the issue in the best possible way.
Get in touch if you’d like to know how.
http://www.bebusinessfit.co.uk
📹 Ted Talk – Inside the mind of a master procrastinator
📘 Perform Under Pressure by Dr Ceri Evans
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