Good communication is important. One of the biggest frustrations I hear when coaching teams pertains to interruptions. We all know the feeling. We are trying to express something, we have a train of thought going, and zap! We get interrupted. When this happens, we begin to wonder if the other person is truly trying to listen and understand what we are saying. Is there an antidote to this situation? There might be. Consider framing your discussion. Here is how it works:
A few weeks ago, I was talking with a sales manager about how he would coach one of his team members. The person was operating below performance, and he needed to reach the level of production he had agreed to. In approaching this person, Jason was concerned about him getting defensive and interrupting. Jason decided to start out the discussion with framing. He said, “Eric, I want to talk to you about your sales goals, but before we do, let me outline the format of the discussion. First, we will review your current numbers and performance. As I am doing this, I ask that you listen carefully to fully understand. If any thoughts or comments come to mind, you can hold them until I am finished. After that point, you can share your comments, and we can have a full discussion. Is that fair?” Eric said, “Yes”. That means they had an agreement.
The result of this framing was a much improved and productive discussion than those in the past. Yes, there were instances where Eric starting to interrupt, but Jason reminded them of their agreement, or “contract”, and Eric held back. Because Jason framed the discussion, he was able to have a coaching conversation that was less defensive and more strategic.
