Education 2.0 & 3.0

Have we taken our quest to eliminate jerks in the workplace too far?

 

Article after article has argued that aggressive employees are toxic to your company, while another set of advice underlines the incredible power of positivity. Read all of these and you just might come out thinking that being a good boss means an unbroken sunny disposition and perpetual good cheer.

But while true jerks are indeed a productivity and culture killer and entrepreneurship does require a healthy dose of optimism in the face of contradictory evidence, science suggests running a business well doesn't mean always, always holding your temper. Anger, researchers recently showed, has its place at the office.

Via The Learning Factor

When you’re a leader, giving feedback, both positive and negative, comes with the territory. But not everyone is comfortable giving it. Sarah Green, a senior associate editor with the Harvard Business Review, recently scoured HBR’s blog for the site’s best advice for how to give negative feedback. Here are her five tips:

 

1. Be direct by avoiding the feedback “sandwich.”

 

Instead of couching criticism with positive feedback (which can dilute the message and sounds insincere), approaching the issue directly and with transparency allows everyone to understand the purpose of the discussion and keep the conversation on track. For example, if a colleague’s presentation style needs improvement, you can approach the conversation by asking if you can provide some feedback. They’ll (most likely) say yes, and will be more open to accepting it.

Via The Learning Factor