March 26, 5:54 am
Praise in Public, Reprimand in Private – even in Email
It’s been a management mantra for years: Praise public; Reprimand in private. In the past, violation of this rule occurred in the hallway, in meeting rooms, and on the shop floor. But it happens in “reply all” e-mail, too; sometimes with subtle but devastating effects.
One manager recently told me that he relies on e-mail to provide updates to his team of nine workers. “It saves a lot of meeting time,” he says. “Everyone stays in the loop.”
No surprise, the practice is quite common.
But then he told me the problem: When his boss (who gets cc’d on these messages) wants to “correct” some direction of the project or “advise” this manager on what he should do different, he uses “reply all” instead of e-mailing the manager directly. “Sometimes he really makes look like an idiot in front of my team,” he says.
This is NOT a good example of workplace excellence!
Whether this misstep is intentional or unintentional, the boss is not only weakening the effectiveness and the drive of his manager, he’s also encouraging political posturing amongst the entire team. Neither of these will lead to an increased dedication to goals or higher productivity.
Also, keep in mind this problem is not limited to e-mail. I’ve seen “corrections” and “constructive criticism” get totally misinterpreted on forums and comment boards, which end up becoming all out flame wars. With Web 2.0 becoming a business norm, the danger of this only increases.
Bottom line, it’s a good idea just to keep this long-standing rule in place for all conversations, be they verbal or written: Praise in public, correct in private.
Filed in Technology, Work, Business, Opinion, Motivation, Management, Leadership, Team Building
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