Correcting your colleagues without offending them: it is possible

Sometimes it is necessary to correct a coworker and it is necessary to know how to do it so that the work environment is not affected.

Leading a team is not easy, especially when you have to tell one of your employees that what he or she has done is not quite right. Somehow, the person concerned may feel offended by your remarks or even initiate a conflict that can cause problems in your leadership.

At EULEN Flexiplan, we believe that the way you say things determines the impact it has on others. That’s why in this article we offer you three techniques to correct your colleagues without offending them. Why not give them a try?

Pick your battles

Until a few years ago, many leaders thought that constantly pointing out mistakes reinforced their authority, since it supposedly showed that they knew more than others. Fortunately, more and more leaders are realizing that this type of action has just the opposite effect.

If you are in charge of a team, you should focus on correcting only those errors that are really important to their work. In this way, they will not feel that you are reviewing their actions for unimportant flaws and they will understand that when you come to them when an issue needs to be corrected, it is because it really needs to be followed up.

Put yourself in their shoes

An empathetic leader is much more effective than one who doesn’t know how to put himself in his employees’ shoes. When you spot a mistake, before you run to ask for explanations, stop and ask yourself: why did my colleague do this instead of doing it the right way? How did he come to that conclusion? If you don’t know what happened, before attacking anyone, approach him and respectfully ask him to explain why he acted this way. Try to understand his reasoning.

Suggest other options

If after listening to him you still think he made a mistake, put other options on the table so that, together, you can decide which one best meets all the requirements. In this way, your employee will not feel that you are trying to overrule him or belittle his work. On the contrary, he will feel that you trust him to make joint decisions about his work.

After all, one of your tasks as team leader is to supervise that all actions are carried out correctly. But don’t you think that in most cases there are different ways to reach the same end result?