This week we’ve been hosting Dr. Dan O’Connell, a clinical psychologist and expert in health care communication. At a lunchtime seminar, he addressed how to talk to disruptive colleagues.
One of the take away points for me was that the person is not the problem, the problem is the problem. Rather than telling someone, “You are incompetent.” It is more helpful to say, “I noticed that the patients were not put in rooms today. Did you notice that too?” This approach enlists the person in crafting a solution. Criticism only puts the other person in a defensive posture.