Get a copy of the Productive Conversation Framework
Use these two printable tools to keep your team talking with the right people about the right stuff.
The Direct Conversation Standard and the Learner's Ladder are ready for your desk or meeting room wall.
Two tools, one framework
For a conversation to be considered productive, it must pass two checks: Is it directed to the right people? Is it filled with the right stuff? The framework gives you one tool for each.
The Direct Conversation Standard
It’s a standard for directing concerns to the people involved. When someone brings you a concern about another person, redirect them to that person. When you have a concern of your own, go direct to the person involved.
The Learner’s Ladder
It’s a tool for recognizing your own thinking before you speak. Share what you observed and how you interpreted it before you share your conclusions, then test it with the other person.
Why it matters
On most teams, concerns go to everyone except the people who can act on them, and they arrive as untested judgments instead of discussable observations. That inevitably costs alignment, trust, and results. But these two tools turn those conversations around.
Proven with hundreds of leaders at these organizations:
Ready to implement these tools with your team?
The Productive Conversation Playbook walks you step by step through implementing the framework with your team: from the launch meeting, to teaching each tool, to making it a team habit.
The guide is free. Print it, keep it at your desk, or post it in your meeting room.