Mastering Difficult Conversations & Feedback
Empowering you to have more genuine, effective & constructive engagement within your team & organisation
It’s not surprising most of us have the tendency to avoid potential conflict. It’s human nature. Difficult conversations are tricky, but they cannot be avoided.It is essential for leaders to have the confidence to identify and manage problems at work early on, before they escalate. Without the confidence to navigate difficult conversations, leaders may find themselves avoiding or delaying and actually perpetuating the problem. Generally speaking, this leads to more frustration, internal confusion and resentment and despite all this avoidance and delay – you still have to have the (now more) difficult conversation. The good news is that difficult conversations can be successfully managed and can achieve positive outcomes for all involved. Handled well they actually present an opportunity to:
- Resolve workplace conflicts appropriately and efficiently
- Refresh and sustain high performance and engagement
- Improve relationships within your team and reaffirm respect for you as their leader
Attend this two day masterclass to transform your own performance in order to navigate difficult conversations well and deliver excellent feedback.
Key learning outcomes
Understand your impact on difficult conversations
Recognise when to have the conversation
Explore the balance between caring for people and challenging them to help them grow
Discover a range of models to increase your confidence in delivering feedback
Understand why an ‘open door’ policy may be a barrier to conversations
Ensure convergent thinking doesn’t hijack your team meeting
Identify ways to increase psychological safety in your own teams
Deal effectively with conflict between peers or team members
Takeaway linguistic and non-linguistic strategies for effective management of important conversations
Go beyond ‘great job’ when delivering praise-based feedback
Eleanor Groat
Developer of Leaders and Teams, Your Best Asset
Eleanor is the founder of Your Best Asset and is a committed developer of leaders and teams. She is an engaging and experienced facilitator who has held a lifelong fascination with what makes people ‘tick’ and brings a unique perspective on human behaviour with a 20-year career in this field across the corporate, law enforcement, mental health, education, and not-for-profit sectors.
Eleanor Groat
Eleanor is the founder of Your Best Asset and is a committed developer of leaders and teams. She is an engaging and experienced facilitator who has held a lifelong fascination with what makes people ‘tick’ and brings a unique perspective on human behaviour with a 20-year career in this field across the corporate, law enforcement, mental health, education, and not-for-profit sectors.
She is passionate about working with people to find their ‘fit’ and to create psychologically safe environments and cultures which enable individuals to flourish and the business to thrive.
Eleanor holds an MSc in Forensic Psychology and a BSc (Hons) in Psychology, is an ICF accredited coach, and combines her background with other qualifications in training and design to create and deliver customised programs. These programs have a focus on engagement and implementation through which she works with individuals, teams, and leaders at all levels and then supports them to apply their learnings in the workplace.
Designed to support you and your leadership skills
- Designed to support your core leadership skills including leadership & accountability, independence & decision-making and stakeholder management
- Ideal for advancing your career within the APS:Â This seminar informs and teaches the skills and knowledge required to prepare, facilitate and lead difficult conversations. It will support attendees to assess and hone their verbal and non-verbal skills in having difficult conversations
- A personalised learning experience: With a maximum of 25 participants, this intimate and hands-on Masterclass will give you the opportunity to share your personal objectives and organisational challenges, work in groups to solve problems & have 1-1 discussions with the facilitator to receive personalised feedback and insights
Who will attend?
Leaders and Executives across the Australian Public Sector in roles such as the below will find the content of this course relevant:
- Senior Executives, Directors & General Managers
- Senior Managers & Leaders
- Regional & Department Heads
- APS5 – SES Band 1
- Team Leads, Managers, Advisors and Senior Advisors
- Those in policy, program, project, contract, procurement, finance, stakeholder and communications based roles
Agenda
All times are shown in AEDT
Opening remarks & Acknowledgement of Country
Setting the context
- Exploring what makes a conversation difficult
- Knowing when the best time is to influence a difficult conversation
Morning Tea
Striking a balance
- Why challenge is important for all of us
- Understanding the cost of being ‘too nice’
What if I’m the difficult part? (1)
Reflecting on the ‘evil twin’ your team might see
Lunch break
What if I’m the difficult part? (2)
The myth of the ‘open door’ policy
Is your mouth on your side?
- Adapting your language to the ‘country’ you are in
- How to really stuff it up
- Making questions your superpower
Afternoon Tea
Is your brain on your side?
- How your brain can subconsciously sabotage your conversations
- Teach your brain an absolute non-negotiable
- Exploring emotional intelligence and power, and the impact on conversations
Key learnings, closing remarks and questions
Close of Day 1
Opening remarks and activity reflections
More people more considerations
- Understanding how one person anchors the whole conversation
Morning Tea
The role of Psychological Safety
- Exploration of how attending to, and increasing, psychological safety creates a healthier environment to have your difficult conversations
What is feedback? (1)
- Understanding that feedback is more than an annual conversation
- Knowing how to give praised based feedback well
Lunch
What is feedback? (2)
- How to stay on track during the difficult conversation
Delivering tough messages effectively
- Identifying structures that support you in giving good feedback
Afternoon Tea
Getting feedback can be a tough conversation too
- Seeking feedback for yourself
- Understanding why feedback doesn’t always feel fun – and what to do about it
Final reflections
Close of Masterclass
Sydney | Gadigal Land, NSW
Venue to be confirmed.
Pricing
Early bird savings until 6 October
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Early bird pricing
Save $600
Early bird savings until 27 October
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Early bird pricing
Save $400
Early bird savings until 10 November
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Early bird pricing
Save $200
Standard price
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