Managing Difficult Conversations

Managing Difficult Conversations

We've all been there. You're staring at your calendar and see that meeting scheduled with the underperforming team member, or you need to address the coworker who keeps missing deadlines, or maybe it's time to have "the talk" with someone whose attitude is affecting everyone else. Your stomach knots up, you rehearse what you're going to say a dozen times, and then somehow the conversation goes sideways anyway. Sound familiar?

Look, nobody wakes up excited about having tough conversations at work. But here's the reality - avoiding them doesn't make problems disappear. It just makes them bigger. And frankly, most of us never learned how to have these conversations properly. We either come across as too aggressive and damage relationships, or we're so worried about hurting feelings that we dance around the issue and nothing actually gets resolved.

This training is about changing that pattern. It's designed for anyone who needs to address performance issues, give constructive feedback, or handle conflict situations - whether you're a team leader, manager, or just someone who wants to stop avoiding those conversations that keep you up at night. We're talking real workplace scenarios here: the employee who argues with every piece of feedback, the colleague who takes everything personally, the team member whose work quality has dropped but they seem oblivious to it.

You'll learn a practical framework that actually works in the heat of the moment. We cover how to prepare for these conversations so you're not winging it, how to start them without putting people on the defensive, and most importantly, how to keep them on track when emotions start running high. We also tackle the tricky stuff - like when someone gets angry, starts crying, or completely shuts down.

What makes this different from other communication training is that we focus on the psychological side of difficult conversations. Understanding why people react the way they do helps you navigate their responses more effectively. Plus, you'll practice with scenarios that mirror real workplace situations, not theoretical examples that bear no resemblance to your actual job.

What You'll Learn

How to prepare for difficult conversations so you're confident and clear about your objectives rather than hoping for the best. You'll discover how to frame issues in a way that focuses on behavior and impact rather than personality or character. We cover techniques for staying calm when the other person gets emotional, defensive, or tries to derail the conversation.

You'll master the art of active listening during tense moments - it's harder than it sounds when someone's being hostile or dismissive. We teach you how to acknowledge emotions without getting pulled into drama, and how to redirect conversations back to solutions when they veer into blame or excuses.

The training includes strategies for managing your own stress and emotions during these exchanges, because let's face it - your heart rate spikes just like everyone else's. You'll learn how to document these conversations properly, when to involve HR or senior management, and how to follow up afterward to ensure real change happens.

The Bottom Line

After this training, you'll stop dreading difficult conversations and start seeing them as opportunities to solve problems and improve relationships. You'll have a toolkit of techniques that work whether you're dealing with performance issues, interpersonal conflicts, or sensitive workplace matters. Most importantly, you'll know how to have these conversations in a way that preserves dignity and maintains working relationships, even when addressing serious problems. Your team will respect your directness, and you'll sleep better knowing you're addressing issues before they become bigger headaches.

Available in Melbourne