Managing Difficult Conversations

Managing Difficult Conversations

Course Outline

Overview

Most of us have experienced that familiar knot in your stomach when you observe certain names appear in our calendar. Whether it's the team member who receives all feedback as personal attacks, the colleague who turns every conversation into a debate, the client who's just never happy, these conversations happen in professional life. But most of us would sooner get a root canal than have another awkward workplace conversation.

It's what I've learnt in working with hundreds of Australian businesses: avoiding the difficult conversations doesn't make the problem go away, it makes the problem fester. The ugly downs disgrace project That economy killer project gets uglier. Poor performing team member still does not seem to be pulling their weight. The hard to please client is all the more impossible.

This course has no corporate speak or HR jargon. It's preparation for real world communication that will survive in the real workplace. You'll learn how to tackle tough issues and preserve your professional reputation, how to turn conflict into collaboration, and how to mount the kind of challenge that insulates your Company from future crisis.

With hands on exercises, you will gain the experience you need to handle anything from performance problems to personality clashes. Most importantly, you'll learn the mindset and the tools that you need to enter these conversations not in dread, but with confidence.

Learning Outcomes

Upon completion of the course, you will have:

Strategically prepare for those tough conversations with a proven structure.

Recognise red flags for when a communication process has broken down and how to correct the problem early between ISS partner and you.

Utilise certain tactics to diffuse tension and facilitate productive discourse

Communicate difficult messages with empathy and empathy

Deal with the feelings in a professional manner without getting defensive

Develop action steps toward targeted workplace changes

Strengthen working relationships even when critical issues are on the table

Follow through and finish and really transform for good.

What You Will Learn

Module 1: Foundation and Mindset

You'll learn why most people shy away from the tough talks, and how doing so can break your Organisation's spirit. We're also going to help define difficult conversations so you can separate them from impossible people, and figure out what battles are worth fighting. You'll learn how to approach these exchanges as opportunities for growth, rather than as fights to be avoided.

Module 2: Strategic Preparation

Learn to prepare without over preparing. You'll find out how to collect the right facts, pick the best time and place, and mentally rehearse points without having to memorise a script word for word. We will discuss how to predict potential reactions and have ready responses that can keep us from being derailed from our conversations.

Module 3: Opening the Conversation

Discover reliable methods of initiating tough discussions without being met with a defensive response. You will learn to establish tone in your first sentence, to state the purpose behind your communication in a way that your audience will actually care about and to foster psychological safety in order to create an environment that is primed for honest dialogue.

I. Module Four: Traversing the Middle Ground

This is typically where the conversation takes a turn for the worse. You'll learn how to tell when conversations are going off the rails and how to get them back on track in a productive way. We'll explore what it means to truly listen, how to ask powerful questions that break through to deeper issues, and how to keep your head when the emotional temperature rises.

Module5 Tracking pushback and resistance

There are people who will question everything you say. You'll discover tips for managing defensiveness, aggression and passive resistance. We are going to train you to be able to stay balanced emotionally while taking a stand on things you really care about.

Module 6: Finding Solutions Together

Transform complaints into collaborative problem solving. You'll learn how to shift the focus off blame and onto solutions, and how to engage the other party in action planning, as well as maintain clear expectations going forward. We'll consider how to convey serious consequences without threatening.

Module 7: Closing and Follow Up

Learn to complete tough conversations in a positive way, despite the fact that you do not agree on all matters. You'll learn the process for consolidating action items, affirming the next steps, and setting follow up. We'll also discuss how to effectively document conversations and track follow up.

Summary

College of Communication New Media Journalism offers the following Integrated Concentration: New Media Journalism Integrated Concentration (9 credits) This immersion course combines the theory of practical communication with the practice of hands on experiences. Use simulations, case studies, and group discussions to lay the foundation for developing the skills and confidence necessary to deal with issues that arise in the workplace.

By attending, you will have a clear personal action plan, new go to conversation tools + frameworks and most importantly, a mindset to begin to see these tough conversations as leadership engagement rather than issues to avoid. The result? More cohesive teams and better communication and workplace problems solved rather than ignored.

And it's worth the investment because the payoff is immediate, better stress management, better team work, stronger professional relationships that are needed to drive business success.