Uncomfortable Conversations
Master the art of the difficult exchange
Turn edgy interactions into moments of growth and change for all
Difficult conversations with colleagues, clients and suppliers are a feature of work. Avoiding them is a powerful temptation. But a dangerous one. Because conversations like these are often urgent or important. Avoiding them compounds problems.
Mastering the difficult conversation allows you to move towards and beyond the tricky issues that strangle organisational performance and personal growth.
Uncomfortable Conversations is a development course that will transform your and your team’s willingness to approach emotionally complicated conversations with confidence and skill. And help you bring the best out of yourselves and others in every conversation, no matter how awkward or challenging it might feel.
The programme
Module 1
What makes a conversation uncomfortable?
The neurolinguistics. What’s really going during this fundamental, but misunderstood part of working life?
- What is taking place - for us and for others - during the conversation process
- What makes a conversation a Difficult Conversation
- Case study: when conversations go wrong
Module 2
Becoming comfortable with the uncomfortable
Understanding the barriers that prevent difficult conversations. Then teaching a framework to overcome them.
- First response - what are your options in the face of a complicated interaction
- The essential skills you need to manage a difficult conversation
Module 3
Speaking the truth
Teachings on how to feedback to colleagues and clients when emotions - and stakes - are high.
- The power of behavioural feedback
- Understanding your attitudes and responses to feedback
- Skills for giving constructive feedback
Information
Any timeframe, always high impact
We deliver the course over 3 modules of 3 hours each. We can compress into a week, or stretch over six months.
- Face-to-face or over Zoom
- Short homework assignments
- One-to-one or group coaching available as a complement to the core development experience
The essentials
Why is the course so valuable?
When your team learns to approach difficulty and conflict with calm confidence, good things start to happen. Entrenched barriers shift. Growth and change (both personal and organisational) revive.
What will you and your team learn?
Uncomfortable Conversations teaches how healthy conflict builds responsiveness, resilience and innovation. And sparks breakthrough commercial performance. You’ll discover why we all prefer to avoid the ‘zone of uncomfortable conversations’ – and how to engage in problematic conversations in a way that is constructive, effective and galvanising.
You and your team will benefit from an improved ability to:
- Communicate with each other, and those outside your team,
efficiently and effectively. - Express challenging views or perspectives in strategy meetings, performance reviews and Board meetings.
- Manage and overcome perceived power imbalances in conversation – including those that occur with clients and colleagues.
What tools and tricks will you pick up?
Uncomfortable Conversations equips your team with practical skills from Day One. Skills they can take straight into the workplace to make a material difference, fast.
- Self-assessment: understanding why you skirt around conflict and personal challenge.
- Preparing for impact: a preparation method for tough conversations.
- Initiating the conversation: a planning tool for starting conversations in an assertive and positive way.
How long is the course and how is it structured?
Uncomfortable Conversations takes place face-to-face or over Zoom, in three modules of 3 hours each. Participants have a small amount of work to complete between modules. We are also happy to discuss one-to-one or group coaching as a complement to the core development experience.