Managing Difficult Conversations - Adelaide
## Managing Difficult Conversations Adelaide
**Professional Development Workshop Outline**
### Overview
We've all been there , outside someone's office, heart pounding, dreading that conversation you know needs to be had and that's been bothering the entire team for weeks. It may be the colleague who is always showing up late, or the team member whose attitude is dragging everyone down. These aren't conversations that you can run from or else they become more difficult to have, and that I've worked out over the years of working with Business owners all over Adelaide, that the business owners who thrive are those that can handle these moments better than others.
This full day professional development workshop is perfect for managers, team leaders and any professional looking to upskill in addressing challenging conversations at work. Rather than fearing these conversations, you will gain the confidence and skills to face them professionally and protect your working relationships.
There is practical application of what is being taught and no theoretical concepts are taught. You'll drill through real world scenarios that reflect what it is you're dealing with at work from addressing performance gaps to handling workplace conflict to setting clear expectations.
### Learning Outcomes
Upon fulfilling this workshop, participants should be able to:
Prepare and organise for difficult conversations with a time tested framework that reduces stress and increases success
Use communication strategies to remain professional in emotional encounters
Provide positive feedback in a way that encourages positive responses, and not defensiveness
Cope with their own responses, remaining calm and focused in difficult coming together situations
Record conversations in a manner that will facilitate follow up and ensure legal compliance
Know when issues should be referred to HR or other members of senior management for additional help
Follow up effectively to ensure the situation doesn't fizzle out
### What You Will Learn
**Foundation Skills:**
Here's the psychology of why difficult conversations are so hard
Prep strategies that will have you feeling empowered before heading into any challenging conversation
The structure for conversations that don't veer off topic
How to focus on the issue, not the individual, to build better relationships
**Communication Techniques:**
Exact wording and language which would alleviate, rather than aggravate, tension
Active listening skills that make people feel heard when they're getting hard feedback
How to ask questions that get people of all ages reflecting on their own behaviour and building ownership
Methods to maintain your cool when others get emotional or defensive
**Practical Applications:**
What to say regarding chronic lateness, minimum performance and attitude problems
These team player conflict resolution strategies involve neutralising disagreements between team members without taking sides
Providing feedback on sensitive topics such as hygiene or communication style
Creating limits for difficult clients or unreasonable requests
Talking through career development and expectations as a role player
**Advanced Strategies:**
Dealing with folks who become combative, hysterical, or just totally unresponsive
How to handle longtime workers who keep refusing to change
Comparing styles of communication in different cultures and generations
Taking action after hard conversations
Creating a culture in which honest feedback isn't something feared, but rather welcomed
**Self Management:**
Understanding your own triggers and how to work with your reactions
How to breathe and be grounded during stress
How to bounce back professionally from a conversation that didn't go as planned
Creating resilience for difficult relationships that continue
### Workshop Format
The day consists of icebreaker activities, role playing using real world work experiences, small and large group discussions, and individual introspection time. You will work with the sorts of scenarios that those working in workplaces in Adelaide encounter, whether working in a small family owned Business, or in a large corporation. Everything is written with your present job in mind.
### Concluding Remarks
Tough conversations are par for the course in a professional life, but they do not have to be feared. With proper preparation, approach and mindset, these conversations can translate into relationship enhancing, performance improving and workplace transforming opportunities.
In this workshop you get the tools that work, where the rubber hits the road! You will walk away feeling armed and ready to navigate those conversations you've been avoiding, knowing that you can deal with complaints while maintaining everyone's dignity and respect.
Great for Managers, Team Leaders, Project Coordinators and anyone who has to tell people their performance or behaviour isn't up to par. Please come prepared to practice, learn and shift your thinking around work communication.
Your investment in communication skills now will lead to stronger teams, better results and better sleep tomorrow.