WHAT TO SAY AND HOW TO SAY IT Ingroup bias – People naturally polarize into groups. This bias means people tend to view ‘their’ group as better, while outsiders are collectively viewed as inferior. As a manager, this is your opportunity to tear down silos and bring your team together with others. This is also something to watch 2 for and be wary of in cross-team feedback situations. Con昀椀rmation bias – People tend to ignore information that does not 昀椀t with their beliefs and weigh agreeable information more heavily. This is an especially concerning bias in conversations, as it means we tend to create evaluations that 昀椀t with our beliefs about employees — potentially forgetting other critical information that may be pertinent. Be sure to reference past conversations and notes, as well as feedback from others, to be sure you 3 have a full picture of each employee’s performance. Negativity bias – People pay more attention to and take more seriously negative rather than positive information. This bias is particularly common in check-in situations, where no matter how many positive things you say, the employee might 昀椀xate on one piece of criticism. This is one reason why it can be helpful to separate moments of appreciation and recognition from conversations that orient around changing behavior. Research shows that 4 the ratio of positive to negative comments should be no less than 6:1. System justi昀椀cation – People will prefer the status quo, seeing it as better, more legitimate, and more desirable than new alternatives. This bias is one reason many employees have di昀漀culty with change. People will tend to prefer the system they already have — so when you are trying to help them 5 do things in new ways, be aware you will be working against this bias. Spacing e昀昀ect – We tend to recall information better when it happens or is repeated over a longer span of time, as opposed to something that happens once, or in quick succession. This means that information should 6 be repeated over time if you really want it to sink in. Recency bias – The recency bias is our tendency to remember recent events most clearly. This is a good argument for frequent check-ins, because the longer you wait between conversations, the more likely you are to only recall the last few weeks and forget all of the things that 7 happened longer ago. THE MANAGER’S ULTIMATE GUIDE TO GREAT CONVERSATIONS 18