Do you observe people?
Of course you do; we all do. Whether you’re making assessments of an interview candidate, observing your team during a meeting or meeting a prospective in-law for the first time. We’re always consciously and unconsciously observing and making assessments.
In business, these anecdotal assessments determine hiring decisions, salaries, promotions and assignments. Virtually every decision we make is based upon our firsthand observation. The problem is the conclusions we reach based on our personal observations are often wrong.
Here are the three most common problems with observations and tips to overcome them.
Lisa Earle Mcleod1. It’s a snapshot. When you’re observing someone, it’s a single moment in time. You didn’t see the 24 hours leading up to your moment of observation. It may have been the worst 24 hours of that person’s life, or the best. We can’t be expected to dive into the nuances of everyone’s backstory. What we can do is give people the benefit of the doubt. If in a single moment, someone seems unfocused, frazzled, ill at ease or some other less desirable trait, grant them the space to reset. Try not to overemphasize these single snapshots. Assess people from a variety of points of view, in a variety of situations over time.