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Writer's pictureDr. Marvilano

Manager’s Guide: What should I do if our team suffers from a credibility problem?


This article is part of the Manager’s Guide series. To read other articles in this series, please go to the main blog page, click the filter button, and select the Manager’s Guide category.

What should I do if our team suffers from a credibility problem?
What should I do if our team suffers from a credibility problem?


Q: What should I do if our team suffers from a credibility problem?

A: There are four things you should do, i.e.,



1. You Must Get Things Done.

Do:

  • Create a proven record of accomplishment.

  • Do what has to be done. Get things done.

  • Complete the missions.

  • Deliver results on-time and within budget.


Don't:

  • Poor performance/failure to deliver.

  • Underpromise and overpromise.

  • Give justifications for failing to fulfill.

  • Delivering activities rather than outcomes/results.

  • Faking up work.

  • Working hard, but doing nothing productive.


Say:

  • What specific results do you want from us? How soon?

  • How will we know if we've done well?

  • What will happen as a result of this?

  • I promise to deliver... by [[the due date]].

  • This is what we said we would do, and it costs less than we planned.

  • We're all done. Did you expect something else?

  • Whatever it takes, we need to get these results.

  • Which one of these goals is most important?



2. You Must Promote Openness.

Do:

  • Be truthful in a manner that others can confirm for themselves.

  • State your intention.

  • Be sincere and honest.

  • Be honest and upfront.

  • Over-disclose everything if possible.

  • Be honest when you can't be transparent (for example, when the law or ethical standards forbid it).

  • Work under the guiding principle "what you see is what you get."


Don't:

  • Withhold knowledge, conceal it, cover it up, or obscure it.

  • Possessing hidden motives, secret intentions, or hidden goals.

  • Impersonating others and making things seem different from how they really are.

  • Pretending.

  • Appearing, as opposed to being.


Say:

  • My goal is...

  • My plan is...

  • I'm going to be honest and open about this.

  • This is who we are as a team...

  • What I want to happen is...

  • Here are the truths...

  • Here are the facts...

  • In case you disagree with me...

  • This is all I can say because of law and compliance issues...

  • Right now, things aren't going well.



3. You Must Fix Mistakes.

Do:

  • If you make a mistake, fix it.

  • Say sorry quickly.

  • Try to make things right if you can.

  • Pull through service recovery (i.e., reaching out to customers who had a negative service experience to rectify the situation).

  • Be humble.


Don't:

  • Deny or excuse wrongdoing.

  • Make excuses for bad behavior.

  • Don't let your pride stop you from doing the right thing.

  • Trying to cover things up or hide mistakes instead of fixing them.

  • Not admitting their mistakes until they are forced to.

  • Let shame hinder you.


Say:

  • I'm sorry. It was my mistake.

  • I apologize for…

  • I made a mistake when...

  • What should I do to fix this?

  • Please tell me what you need help with.

  • What will it take to get things right?

  • What could I have done differently?

  • What lessons can we learn from this?

  • We promise to do the following...

  • What can I do to make it right for you?



4. You Must Continuously Improve.

Do:

  • Keep getting better.

  • Get better at what you can do.

  • Never stop learning.

  • Use both formal and informal channels for getting feedback.

  • Do something with the feedback you get.

  • Thank people for sharing their feedback.

Don't:

  • Deteriorate.

  • Become complacent/useless/irrelevant/out of date.

  • Think of yourself as better than feedback.

  • Assume that your today's knowledge and skills will be enough for the challenges and difficulties of tomorrow.

  • Making changes that are "hot" temporarily but don't last.

  • Always learning but never producing anything.

  • Talking a lot about how you want to get better but never doing it.

  • Trying to make everything fit into what you're good at.


Say:

  • Where can I get better?

  • How am I doing these days? Where can I get help?

  • What particular things (systems, structures, procedures) must we improve?

  • How are we currently doing?

  • What advantages would this improvement bring? What are the disadvantages of inaction?

  • How will we get consistent feedback?

  • How likely are you, on a scale of one to 10, to tell others about our product or service? Why?

  • We appreciate your feedback and will take action on it.


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