**Managing Difficult Conversations Training**
Course Outline For a 40 minute Managing Difficult Conversations Training Course
Facilitator: Dana Harris, Business Expert
Location: Brisbane, Australia
Length: All Day Session (8 hours)
Format: Instructor led (team based or personal) training with hands on exercises and real world applications
**Course Overview**
We've all been there, that sinking feeling when you really should talk to someone about their performance, behaviour or attitude, and yet you'd rather do anything but that. The fact is that not having difficult conversations doesn't make the problems go away, it makes them proliferate like bunnies in spring.
This all encompassing training changes the way you think about critical workplace conversations. Instead of dreading that encounter, you will learn to handle it professionally, compassionately, and efficiently. By using field tested tactics and practical techniques, you'll find that difficult conversations actually get easier when you know how to break them down and pinpoint a solution.
It's not about becoming combative or dogmatic – it's about stepping into, stepping towards, the courage of the truth in ways that change the game for the better and your team can trust.
**Learning Outcomes**
At the end of this course participants will:
Organise discussions with an established format that provides focus and prevents off topic derailment
Strategically prepare for difficult conversations with intention and contingencies.
Control all emotions (their own and others) in difficult or touchy conversations
Use certain language patterns that minimise defensiveness and promote open discussion.
Design mechanisms of accountabilities for the follow up and sustained behaviour change.
Use conflict resolution remedies to treat causes not symptoms
Create an environment of psychological safety among the teams – Being open, respectful, and honest with teams.
Manage power dynamics interventionally in cases across the different levels of the Organisation.
**What You Will Learn**
**Module 1: Groundwork & Mindset (1 1/2 hours)**
Why we run from hard conversations, and the high cost of avoidance
Changing the conversation from "confrontation" to "collaboration"
The neuroscience of defensive reactions and how to navigate the human psyche
Gaining self confidence by preparation and practice
**Module 2 CLEAR Conversation Framework (2 hours )**
Context setting and environment creation
Actively listening and powerful questioning
Asking, not telling, and working on solutions together rather than imposing fixes
Convening and agreeing towards specific actions and timeframes
Reviewing progress and maintaining accountability
**Module 3: Language That Gets Great Results (90 minutes)**
Certain words that signal the beginning rather than the end of discussions
How to differentiate between behaviour and character without sounding clinical
How to give feedback that people can actually hear — and use
Know how to deal with some common defensive reactions
**Module 4: Emotional Management & Handling Difficult Personalities (2 hours)**
Evenness when others are getting riled up
Manage tears, anger, silence and blame shifting.
Understanding your own triggers and strategies for emotional regulation
Varying your style for different personalities and communicating styles.
**Module 5: Application to Real World and Practice (90 minutes)**
You could then practice role playing real life situations that someone might be in right now.
Solving difficult situations through group problem solving
Developing "I can" individual action plans for upcoming dialogues
Establishing momentum for the continuous development of confidence through peer support and feedback
**Module 6: Follow Up & Long Term Success– 60 minutes**
Creating powerful follow up conversations which keep the ball rolling
When to raise issues that are persisting and how to do this
Developing team cultures where hard conversations are the norm and productive
Resources and tools to continue learning
**Key Skills Development Areas**
Communication Mastery: Learn verbal and other non verbal techniques to transform a difficult conversation into a constructive one.
Emotional Intelligence: Learn how to read perceptions and respond effectively in the heat of the moment.
Conflict Resolution: Discover how to deal with root problems rather than simply addressing surface conflict.
Leadership Presence: Develop the confidence and power to take on difficult situations.
Building relationships: Recognise that honest conversations done right instead build greater professional relationships.
**Summary**
This training makes one of the most difficult aspects of being a boss into a digestible, teachable skill set. Attendees walk away with practical tools that they can use right away, and an organising model for dealing with any difficult conversation.
Ultimately, it's not just to make those conversations easier but to create a workplace where people feel heard, respected and understand the expectations. When leaders are able to handle challenging discussions with both competence and empathy, teams will thrive, relationships will deepen, and workplace culture will shift from evasion to evolution.
You will engage yourself less and less in these elements, and you will lose sleep less and less over what the situation could be or should be, and more and more about what you can do and the best way to do it.