Discussion with: / Date:

What do you want to discuss? Why is it important?

What is your objective(s) for this discussion?

How will you know whether the person/team has accomplished the task or is achieving desired results after the discussion? How will progress or success be measured?

What are the personal needs, tendencies, or characteristics of this person/team that you need to consider?

What are the opportunities/challenges in this discussion or the underlying situation?

Opportunities
/
Challenges
Esteem
  • Be specific and sincere
  • Focus on facts
Empathy
  • Describe facts and feelings
  • Empathize without agreeing
Involvement
  • Unleash ideas with questions
  • Help others discover ways
    to improve
Share
  • Disclose feelings to build trust
  • Share concerns openly
Support
  • Help the person/team make decisions, but don’t take over
  • Create clear accountability
/
SEEK
/
TELL
/ Purpose/Importance
Impact on person, team, organization
Background information
Issues, concerns, barriers
Ideas for improving performance/work habits, needed resources/support
Specific actions to be taken,
ways to observe performance
and measure results
Summary

Make procedural suggestions

Check for understanding

*1. OPEN by identifying the improvement opportunity.

  • State purpose of discussion
  • Identify importance (impact on/benefits to person, team, organization)

What will I say to state purpose? What is the impact of the situation on the person, team, organization? What might I say to help the person see the impact? How can I use Key Principles to maintain self-esteem?

Make procedural suggestions

Check for understanding

2. CLARIFY details about the performance/work habit situation.

  • Seek and share information about the situation/task
  • Identify issues and concerns

What will I say or do to explore specific examples with the person/team? What are the natural consequences of the situation continuing, or improving? What do I think is causing the situation? What might the person(s) be concerned about? What will I say to uncover those concerns? How can I use Key Principles to gather details?

Make procedural suggestions

Check for understanding

3. DEVELOP ideas for improvement.

  • Seek and discuss ideas
  • Explore needed resources/support

What will I say to begin exploring ideas? What improvement ideas do I have? How will I help the person/team explore needed resources? What support can I provide? How can I use the Key Principles to involve the person/team in developing ideas and exploring resources?

Make procedural suggestions

Check for understanding

4. AGREE on specific plan and self-monitoring method.

  • Specify actions, including contingency plans
    if appropriate
  • Confirm how to measure progress

What might I say to guide the person/team toward deciding on actions? What could I say to spark contingency thinking? What might I say to encourage self-monitoring? How can we measure progress in terms of quality, quantity, cost, timeliness, or other factors? How might I use the support Key Principle?

Check for understanding

5. CLOSE by summarizing and confirming positive expectations.

  • Highlight important features of plan
  • Confirm confidence and commitment

What might I do to highlight discussion points? What might I say to end on a positive note? What would I say to enhance self-esteem? What might I say to acknowledge others’ feelings at this point?

  • What one thing did I say or do particularly effectively (for example, to identify purpose and importance
    or use Key Principles)?
  • What one thing could I say or do more effectively next time?

Actions we agreed to (who will do what by when):
Person/Team
/
Me/Others
Ways we’ll observe performance:
/
Feedback on performance (STARs)
Situation/Task  Action  Result
Periodic updates
Direct observation (me or others)
Self-report
Other
Ways we’ll measure results:
  • Quality—Direct observation (me, partners, customers), customer survey results, error rate, number of orders filled correctly, amount of rework, other

  • Quantity—Units produced, sales made,
    number of calls taken/placed, downtime,
    billable hours, other

  • Cost—Cost of scrap, actual vs. allowed
    expenses, expenditures vs. budget, cost per
    unit produced, other

  • Timeliness—Deadlines met, response time, processing time, milestones met, weekly
    targets met, other
/

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© Development Dimensions International, Inc., 2003.