In the previous article, I gave a scenario in which your boss sits you down to tell you that your performance is not up to spec. Your boss tells you that you have a time period in which to correct your behavior or perform some tasks. You now have a choice as to how you respond. We’ve already covered the behaviors you could choose to engage in if you wanted to be fired. This week’s installment covers successful behaviors that are more likely to result in successful handling of the situation.

Without further delay, here are my recommendations for how to handle a warning:

Show Listening

Sit forward in your chair while your boss is speaking. Take notes. By the way, never EVER go to your boss’s office without a notebook and a pen, and never let your boss come away from any meeting with more thorough notes than you have.

Keep your facial expression even. Nod in agreement as your boss speaks while writing. Keep your hands focused on taking notes. Remain silent unless you wish to clarify to improve your note taking.

When your boss is finished, go over the notes you took. Restate what you are expected to do. Provide dates by which you will do these tasks or make changes. If the changes asked for are behavior, then change immediately and state that you commit to changing your behavior immediately and forever to eliminate any worry over further occurences.

Do Not Argue

Do not argue with your boss. Do not explain to your boss that it isn’t your fault. Do not hold up your hand and interrupt your boss by saying, “Now hold on just a minute there, I didn’t do that.” If your boss has overcome their fear of confrontation to hold this meeting, I can almost assure you that in fact you are guilty of what you are accused. Most managers will not hold such a confrontation with an employee unless the behavior in question is egregious, obvious, and pervasive.

Do not try to make it your boss’s fault. “You never told me I had to do that!” Your boss doesn’t care. They are already so stressed out by the confrontation that any defensive response on your part will be equally returned with you the loser.

Do not try to make it the fault of others. Say things like, “I can take care of that. Not a problem. I will get on that right away. I understand why that is a concern. I will try to do better at this starting immediately.” Pointing fingers, even if you are the victim of political setup, is going to make you look like a weasel who is trying to deflect blame and create a diversion.

Do Not Complain

Tell no one you were warned. Simply undertake immediately to work the issues. When you tell someone you were warned, you damage your reputation. Your boss might not keep it quiet, but you need not add to your public embarassment. Keep your feelings to yourself and make the changes requested.

Do What You Can

Attempt to complete every task. When you arrive for your follow-up meeting, be prepared to show what you finished, and you better have something finished and documentation that you finished it. Don’t complain about how late you stayed up. Just present what you were able to do, even if it wasn’t everything.

Make sure you ask to set up a follow-up meeting for the next day or later that day to review your further progress. Show you are trying, show that you do not fear having your work reviewed, and show that you are planning for getting everything done and prioritizing the work.

If you are a manager, bring your project plan with start and end dates for each task showing all of the activities you are going to undertake to turn things around. Bring a plan. Without a plan, you’re dead.

Be On Time

Whatever followup meeting is called. Don’t be late. If you call ten minutes after the meeting has started to say that you are running late, you are so fired. If you are going to be late, call way ahead of time. Plan to be an hour early - maybe two. This will be the meeting that decides your employment. No doctor’s appointment, no family issues, no nothing can be allowed to get in the way of it if your priority is to keep your job.

The strategy is to take a disadvantage and turn it into an opportunity for success. This is an age old strategy known to military commanders and warriors since time immemorial. Follow this advice, and you can survive a review of your work and show improved performance and cleanup to your boss.