Have a know-it-all on your team? There is no mistaking this employee’s approach to tasks – they barrel through without getting feedback from the rest of their team. If they are not as great as they think they are: this causes overall quality concerns and frustration from the rest of their team. It’s also difficult to provide feedback to a know-it-all because they are so sure they are right. Here are tips for how to coach employees who think they know everything.
We all have experienced know-it-all’s in our lives. Whether from another coworker or within our circle of family and friends. They are frustrating to put it mildly.
The psychology term “belief superiority” is where one truly believes that their beliefs are better and knowledge of a topic are much higher than others. Despite being presented with evidence to the contrary, they will not accept that they were incorrect. Research has not demonstrated that those who have a higher belief superiority, or know-it-all, are justified by actually knowing more than others. So basically, re-iterating what you already know about these employees: these know-it-all’s are over confident in their abilities and really do not have a clue.
Working with a know-it-all takes a toll on the morale of the whole team. The rest of your team is left frustrated when they have to fix problems when a know-it-all is so sure they are correct that they will not ask for clarification or help. For the sake of the morale on your team, it’s up to you to keep the peace and coach employees who think they know everything.
Have more than one personality challenge on your team? Here are tips for dealing with easily offended employees.
4 different approaches for how to coach employees who think they know everything
When it comes to how to give feedback to a know-it-all , give yourself time to prepare. They will need some concrete examples, and plenty of follow up feedback for the know-it-all.
The basics of what is happening is a fear that they are not good enough, and are over compensating by having a know-it-all approach and stubborn beliefs that they are correct when presented with a different point of view.
Using a combination of these approaches, you will be able to build their confidence as a worker so they feel adequate without resorting to the know-it-all bad habits.
1. The magic of forward thinking developmental feedback
I have heard this described as feedforward rather than feedback. The first time I heard this term, I feel like I rolled my eyes so hard that I about fell out of my chair. I can’t stand cheesy business buzz words.
The lapse in branding aside – there is merit to this concept. Instead of focusing on what the employee has not been doing well, which will likely fall on deaf ears, tell them how they can improve for the future. Incentivize this future so they are more likely to go down this path with you.
With forward thinking developmental feedback, entice the employee by building on what they are already doing. When you clearly define what your expectations are and how they can meet them, you can lower their fear. You have given them a road map, they just need to follow it.
Here is a way to level up the conversation if they are still not receptive because they lack self awareness.
2. Tie mentorship into their action plan for improvement
When coaching employees who think they know everything, encourage them to work with other staff. The know-it-all needs to be able to work with both their colleagues and you as their leader. You and other staff that know the industry they will be mentoring.
Let them know a clear path with mini goals to meet your expectations and improve. When they achieve the mini goals if will make them feel confident that they are achieving your expectations.
3. Build their confidence
Being overconfident in your abilities is a superiority complex. The employee has to prove to everyone that they know what is happening with their know-it-all approach. The root is that they are afraid of their team realizing that they are a mediocre worker and hiding feelings of inferiority.
You can lower this fear by publicly praising when they actually are correct, and privately speaking with them one-on-one when they were not correct for what your expectations are and support for how they can improve.
4. A simple question to coach employees who think they know everything
If they do not seem receptive to the above steps, try this technique to soften them up.
“What would happen if you were wrong?”
The purpose of this question is to reveal if they would worry that their team would think less of them or they would lose their job. In this moment you can provide assurances that you are not going to fire them and their coworkers like them.
When you have succeeded in finding out why they are afraid of being wrong, you can circle back to steps 1-3 to work on a successful action plan.
If they tell you that this question is irrelevant because they are not wrong, you can proceed to answer the question for them that you are not going to fire them for admitting that they are wrong and their coworkers will likely respect them more when they can listen to their opinions too. You will have to be clear when you circle back to approach number 1 of developmental feedback and make it clear that if they do not walk down this path of improvement with you that they could possibly be terminated: not because they are wrong, but because they refuse to meet your expectations as a team player.
Follow up check in meetings
After you have coached an employee who thinks they know everything, it is important to have a loop back in meeting with them. Set up some specific times where you can provide feedback on their progress and how they can continue to tweak their actions.
You will feel like you have to have the conversations multiple times with concrete examples. Some people are just not self aware and will need lots of examples of where they have fallen short on not knowing everything. Have hope though, research also supports that once their belief superiority is lowered, they are more receptive to ideas and opinions they were not previously open to.