Summary
When personal problems affect a staff member's productivity, it is the manager's responsibility to approach the subject with sensitivity and the appropriate counselling techniques. This program shows managers and team leaders how to handle the often delicate counselling interview. After running through the wrong way to offer counselling, Cleese demonstrates the four stages of a successful structured approach. A manager needs to be able to spot impending problems and create an opportunity to talk confidentially when there is sufficient time to listen. Open questions should be used to encourage feedback. Summarizing the interview and rephrasing will help to clarify thinking. Finally, managers should not impose their own solutions. Instead, working through each stage will help employees discover their own resolution to the problem. Above all, remaining friendly and neutral is essential for conducting successful counselling interviews. The manager's role is to: set up the interview, encourage the employee to talk, then let the employee find the solution.