By speaking with clarity and neutrality, you avoid triggering defensiveness or straying off topic. Beware of these pitfalls:
Prefacing. �I'm sorry to have to say this, but,� �I couldn't be more unhappy with you� or �It's disappointing for me to have this chat with you....�
- Lecturing. �It's your job to,� �You should know better than that� or �It's only fair that....�
- Personalizing. �Problems seem to follow you,� �You're hardly innocent here� or �You've let me down....�
- Psychoanalyzing. �You always need to be the center of attention,� �You have a lot of suppressed rage� or �You appear depressed to me....�
- Confessing. �You think you have it bad-listen to my situation� or �I happen to be a recovering alcoholic....�
- Focus on informing the employee of poor behavior and specifying how to improve. Organize your thoughts in threes:
1. The precise problem ("I'd like to discuss a concern about your performance.")
2. Corrective steps ("To address this concern, you must....")
3. Consequences of failing to solve the problem ("If this problem continues, the next steps are....")