Communication
Pro tip: don't yell at people
One thing that comes up every year in our leadership training sessions is that no one responds well when someone yells at them.
Seriously. Some people can handle being yelled at better than other people, who either lose it and yell back or “turtle” (shrink back and shut down). But no one becomes a better, more competent professional because someone yelled at them.
What do people learn when a boss or client yells at them for doing something?
Don’t do that thing again
That person is a jerk and I don’t want to work with them anymore
When someone needs negative feedback, try to make sure you have control of your own emotions when you give it. Ideally, do it privately—no one wants witnesses to being told they messed up. The goal should NOT be to punish them or make them feel bad; THE GOAL OF FEEDBACK SHOULD BE TO MOTIVATE THE PERSON TO DO IT BETTER (preferably the right way) next time. What do they need from you to make that happen? Training or re-training? More complete communication of your expectations when assigning tasks? Motivation and encouragement? Confidence-building? To have you '“point out the cliff” of the error they will make if they do it the wrong way? Figure out what they need to do the task well and give them that… preferably as soon as possible.
Now, there are some valid reasons to yell (“GET OFF THE TRACKS! THERE’S A TRAIN COMING!”), but most of those valid reasons are not in effect when giving negative feedback to your team members. Focus on the fix, and things will run more smoothly.
(Photo by Icons8 Team on Unsplash)