There comes a time in the life of every line manager and employee when that ‘little chat’ must be had, which can sometimes be very unpleasant for both parties. So what can we do? First, we need to understand the common traps line managers fall into. These are usually in the broad areas of avoidance and not wanting to be the bad guy. Failure to speak up when the issue is current usually means we are trying to either buy time or hope the problem will take care of itself. We also don’t want to be the bearers of bad news and try to couch our feedback withvague language or ascribe negative observations to others.<\/p>