Manger/direct report interview role play

[gnome13]

Hello,

I wondered if anybody could please offer me some advise on a role play I have to do as part of an interview?

There will be a scenario that i find out about on the day and then I have to role play a meeting with my direct report to explore what has happened/is happening and give them feedback.

I don't have a lot of recent experience doing these kind of meetings with direct reports, so any thoughts would be very welcome. Thanks

I'd hazard a guess that the scenario will involve investigating poor performance or similar. You need to start thinking about how you'd structure this. I would:

1. Welcome the colleague
2. Explain in factual language what the purpose and aim of the meeting was, e.g. 'I'm concerned about your productivity over the last month. I want to work with you to identify why it's fallen, and to support you to get back on plan.'
3. Show colleague evidence of poor performance and invite their comments
4. Give colleague an opportunity to talk about any underlying problems - personal issues in/out of work, struggling with an aspect of the role etc.
5. Offer support as appropriate
6. Agree and gain commitment to an improvement plan - talk about what colleague can do to achieve this. Note down all actions, by whom and by when.
7. Arrange further meeting to assess progress
8. Thank colleague for their input

Thanks, this is really helpful.

Thinking about this more I think its also possible the scenario could be that something is going wrong that is outwith their control (like a supplier being late or a deal falling through)

Would the best thing to do be to let them talk through what they think the solutions are rather than trying to offer them solutions? Thinking about it this is what my manager does with me!

Do you think this might affect how to structure the first part of the meeting? If its that they need help because a supplier is late should I let them explain the issue in full first rather than me attempting to summarise?

Yes. If it's framed as the colleague asking you for the meeting, begin by giving them an opportunity to explain the issue, then reassure them that you will support them in finding a solution. Most definitely encourage them to put forward their ideas rather than immediately offering your own solutions; and agree an action plan together.

If it's driven by your report you need to consider how you will keep the discussion on track (a role play might be deliberately challenging in this respect) and have wording in mind if the colleague brings up unrelated issues, to 'park' them and deal with one thing at a time.

One key thing is that any meeting should end with a clear action plan, clarity over who owns the various actions, and when they need to be completed by - usually including actions from both of you. A useful question to ask is 'what do you need from me to make this happen?' so that you have actions too, to support what your report is trying to achieve.

Just wanted to check back in and say - the interview was on Tuesday and you were absolutely right - it was about poor performance.

Your advice was really helpful, thank you very much.

Should find out next week - fingers crossed!