Navigating Difficult Conversations

Prerequisite: We recommend that you take the Leadership Basics course prior to taking this course.

Description: Difficult conversations are inevitable in any workplace. Those conversations can create unhappiness, stress, and tension. They can also impair and even destroy relationships. When handled poorly, they are likely to result in serious problems that interfere with productivity and leave everyone involved feeling frustrated and dissatisfied.

You can’t avoid these kinds of conversations, but you can learn how to handle them more effectively. Developing the ability to handle these challenges will pay off in terms of reduced stress, increased confidence, improved relationships, increased trust, fewer problems, better teamwork, higher productivity, and better career opportunities.

After completing this course, you’ll be able to:

– Understand the nature of difficult conversations and what it takes to handle them.

– Identify the seven stages of handling difficult conversations.

– Use empathy in a way that minimizes negative responses and strengthens relationships.

– Apply best practices for preparing, initiating, and delivering the conversation.

– Discover how to generate solutions and bring the conversation to a close.

Course Year: 2018