Dear LPG,

I have to admit that it has been sometime since I had to go out to work, and it is something that I know I will never have to do again, but most of us can still learn a thing or two from the strategies that our office working offspring have to offer. 

Covid-19 has taken a lot away from us over the past year, but one of the things that it has given many of us is time to talk to all sorts of people, about all sorts of things that there just would never have been time for if not for the other restraints that it has forced upon us.

My son taught me something that I have never heard of before and he started with a story.  He told me that while video group calls have kept all his workmates in the loop during their ‘working from home’ experiences, he also has learned a lot more about some of the people he has worked with for years during their one-on-one telephone conversations, and in particular, about the many things that they do outside of work. 

He told me about one of his work friends who intimated that he was an online DJ once a week and he invited my son to listen to his online radio show.  My son told me that the show was not too bad, but there was definitely room for improvement.  It was obvious that he was trying to use the conversation to attract another fan.  Apparently, you can see how many people are listening online and, at the time my son was listening he could clearly see that his participation constituted 100% of the online fan-base.  The DJ had all the DJ banter flowing well, but when he put the records on, he kept forgetting to turn his microphone off resulting in the sound of his comments and the chewing of snacks being clearly heard over the records that were being played.  Luckily he did not say anything too bad. 

My boy told me that he knew that he would be asked what he thought of the show and felt he had to tell the DJ how bad it all was, even though he did not want to hurt his feelings too much. He told me that in order to achieve this he would use a management strategy to deliver the bad news.  I asked what, and he told me about the feedback sandwich.

He told me that the secret of getting the bad point across without making the person you are criticising feel all bad is to sandwich the negative point between two positive ones.  He told me that he would tell his friend that he thought his choice of music was really good before mentioning the chewing and chatting that happened over it, and then he would finish with a comment about what a surprisingly refreshing hobby it was.   Apparently, the negative sticks but the positive thoughts soften the blow. 

This got me thinking.  I have a neighbour whose front garden could do with a serious bit of a tidy–up.  All too often the mess overflows into mine and I have always wanted to mention it without upsetting her too much or making an adversary of her.  Using my son’s business advice, I am working on something like, ‘Hello, your plants are coming through nicely although your garden seems to attract all those bits of paper and stuff, but every morning, when the sun shines on that plant over there, it looks so good’.

I hope that I have the principle right…

BL, Crystal Palace.

LPG has found some more information on this code of management practice…

(►►►)   (►►►)     (►►►)    (►►►)