Today I had to reassign one of our consultants to a different role. Managing consultants and staff is not something I am used to, but I think I learned a little bit about how to reassign a person according to his strengths somewhat diplomatically.
1. Praise the person's current work. Everyone does something well. If you are not actually having to fire someone, you can always start out with praise for the part of the job that has been done well.
2. Let the person know that you want her to have more time to do the work that she is so good at. Remember, this is not a firing, but a reassigning for the good of the project.
3. Don't use the "death knell" voice. If you think your tone of voice would be best accompanied by funeral bells, change it.
4. Stop procrastinating and just do it. Starting tough conversations is like ripping a band-aid off. You just have to start and at the end you'll probably look back and decide that the anticipation was the worst part of the entire ordeal.
5. Don't imbue the interaction with the importance of nuclear war. We all have our strengths and weaknesses. Giving feedback is one great way of helping a person to maximize the former while minimizing the latter. Besides, the reassignment may not be the big deal for the staff person that you think it is and you are unnecessarily making a mountain out of a mole hill.
6. When all else fails, pawn off the dirty work onto someone else. See if you can't convince a co-worker or boss to do the deed. I tried to get my director to take care of the reassigning, but she just wrote back "LOL". Still, it was worth a try.
Now as I finish this list, I realize that I have been totally reassigned! I got schmoozed out of my first role into this project management one! Thank goodness, because I could not stand the client interface/training/tax appeals part.
HA! Evil brilliance. Well played, Director, well played.
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