If you catch your boss lying, proceed carefully

Catching your boss in a lie can be incredibly upsetting. If you decide to call him out, be sure to give him the opportunity to save face.

Avoid labelling the deceit as such, and don’t be accusatory. Accept that you might learn something that you didn’t know.

Use language such as “I might be seeing this the wrong way” or “I understand that there may have been circumstances that prevented you from sharing all the details with me.”

Ask for an explanation of recent events to see whether you perceived them accurately. Then listen carefully.

You have to decide how hard to push, because while having a boss who lies to you is not OK, losing your job over a mistruth may not be worth it.

(Adapted from “What to Do If You Catch Your Boss in a Lie,” by Pamela Meyer.)

Proceeding after a meeting

After a meeting ends, it can be challenging to keep your team focused on doing the agreed-upon tasks. You need to end the meeting with clear agreement on specific actions and completion dates for them, but that’s not enough.

Ask people to speak up if they realise they won’t be able to deliver on an action item. Assign someone to track and follow up on action items between meetings. And keep a running tally of which items get done, aiming for an 85pc completion rate.

But don’t let the tracking turn you into a taskmaster. Be understanding if things come up and people aren’t able to meet their deadlines.

(Adapted from “How to Get Your Team to Follow Through After a Meeting,” by Paul Axt ell.)

Questions to ask before your next decision

You shouldn’t spend an equal amount of time on each decision — if you do, you’ll short-change some and waste time on others.

To be more efficient, sort decisions into three categories: strategic, significant and quick.

Strategic decisions are often analytically complex and have the potential to impact the long-term direction of your company. They require the most attention, as well as a rigorous, comprehensive process.

Significant decisions require a sound business case, and can add up to considerable investment, but aren’t critically important on their own.

Quick decisions aren’t complex, and can often be delegated to others. Consider coming up with straightforward rules and checklists to help you make these decisions as quickly as possible.

(Adapted from “A 4-Step Process to Help Senior Teams Prioritise Decisions,” by Peter Hopper and Jugnu Sakuja.)

When to change your employee’s goals

As a manager, what do you do if, after working with your employee to set goals at the beginning of the year, it’s no longer clear that those targets are still worth pursuing?

Meet with the employee to review the existing goals and plans. These three questions can help guide your discussion:

— Are the goals still realistic, given any changes in resources?

— Are they still timely? Is now the best time to achieve them?

— Are they still relevant? Do they still align with the company’s strategy?

Depending on the answers, you may need to change only a single goal, replacing it with a new one — but in some cases, the entire plan might need to shift.

Work collaboratively with your direct report to come up with new goals that are achievable and important to the organisation.

(Adapted from the “HBR Guide to Performance Management.”)

Be a better colleague by being less vague

Sometimes people send vague messages because they’re in a rush, perhaps tapping out a quick text en route to the airport.

But if the recipient doesn’t know the full context, a curt message is often read like a Rorschach test, with fears and interpretations piled on.

Be aware that if you send a late-night email to a co-worker that says “We need to talk” without further explanation, it can trigger an unhelpful cascade.

Your colleague might wonder: Is there a problem? What did I do? Is she going to reprimand me? This can inflict a psychic toll that isn’t healthy for your colleague — or for you, when you have to deal with the person’s stress the next day. Take the extra time to make your messages clear.

(Adapted from “3 Small Things Every Person Can Do to Reduce Stress in Their Office,” by Dorie Clark.)

Published in Dawn, The Business and Finance Weekly, August 21st, 2017