To the manager’s great surprise, she also shared that in certain areas, she would prefer even more, not less, stringent safety measures. She explained that she had a two-year old child and she was extremely concerned about lab safety as she wanted to reach home safe every evening. Since the technician was invited to have a discussion rather than “dressing down,” she was open and candid. Did she feel imposed upon to wear safety glasses as she had no choice? He then asked her if she thought that the rule to wear safety glasses, even when there was no experiment on, was “stupid” as there is no danger to the eyes. But instead of leading with his dismay and disappointment, he started by explaining that he had just received some training on motivation. He asked the technician to his office and could see that she was worried about his reaction. The manager has a no tolerance policy as far as safety is concerned and his normal response would be to call the technician to his office and in his words, “read her the riot act.”Īccording to the manager’s self-assessment: “I am known to blow a fuse (or two) when safety rules are flouted, however, I managed to keep my cool and decided to test my training.” While she was wearing safety glasses, the contractor was not.
On his first day back after his training, the plant manager noticed a Technical Service Executive in the lab having a discussion with an external contractor. Can you determine at least three important take-aways in this story from a plant manager in India who recently learned the skill of conducting Motivational Outlook Conversations?