Unfortunately, most managers and leaders are so busy that they wait until there’s a problem, crisis, or challenge to tell employees what they are doing wrong. This creates an environment for demotivation and fear. When you coach to the problem, the situation is easily perceived as negative rather than as a positive learning experience. To create a positive learning experience and encourage your people to be their best, follow these four tips.

1. Be timely.
Don’t wait until you see bad behavior to give feedback and coaching, and don’t wait until the yearly performance evaluation. Doing so creates a negative situation for you and the employee. Realize that people don’t learn when they’re being criticized for things they did months ago. Delaying only encourages the employee to give you a negative response to your negative feedback.

2. Point out the good.
When you see good behavior occur, promote it. Be specific about what you observe. Use this time as an opportunity to go beyond the situation and coach the employee to greater performance. For example, you could say, “Bob, you did an excellent job taking care of that customer when he was upset. I could hear you on the phone and you were really positive and kind. You did a good job of calming him down. Now I’d like to see you follow up with the customer in writing. I know sometimes that’s hard to do because it takes some time. But let’s try to do that this time. Why don’t you put an e-mail together and I’ll look at it, and then you can send it to the customer.” This simple communication gives you an opportunity to show the employee that you want him to do a better job of following up in writing. Now you’re helping your employee create a more complete customer service experience.

3. Stop compiling.
Point out little things for correction at the time they occur rather than compiling a long list of things or waiting until something escalates. When you catch a mistake here and there, it’s easier to point out the mistake, be specific about it, and get understanding and buy-in from the employee. Share with the person the expected behavior or action. If necessary, take time to walk them through how it should be done. Now the person feels that you care about his or her performance and you’re not attacking them. 

4. Use appropriate language.
Your language will determine the other person’s response. Use lead-in statements such as, “Let’s talk about taking you to the next level in your position,” “What I’d like to see happen now is…,” or “I thought you did a nice job with this situation; now let’s transfer that over to…”. Always start with a positive statement; then follow it up with what new activity, action, or behavior you’d like to see next.