It’s Monday morning and the difficult conversation about your team’s performance that you should have had last week is still sitting on yours to-do list from Friday. Managing conflict within a team is never easy
Maybe if you avoid it, it will go away, they might not be firing on all five cylinders but at least they are at work. If you try and talk to them then they will only get upset or start shouting at you like last time. What if you upset them? They might go off sick and you're short staffed as it is… Does this sound familiar?
Don’t worry you are not alone! No one enjoys those sensitive conversations that could damage the relationship you have with the people in your team, but what if you could approach the situation in a way you can control and be prepared for any potentially awkward outcome?
Think of it this way, if you were learning to drive, would you take your test before you have any lessons? Would you use a left-hand drive car when you’re used to driving on the right?
Of course, you wouldn’t, so why try to perform in other areas of your life without firstly gaining the tools and then secondly, being able to practise, practise, practise.
Here at PDW we not only give you the tools but also the opportunity to practise with a real life actor who is also a fully trained coach. The idea of role play may terrify those who have experienced the usual amateur-theatrics in a room full of colleagues; this isn’t that.
We help recreate your unique situation with detailed preparation to ensure its relevant to you. If you struggle talking to your colleague because they react in a certain way, we will react that same way and allow you to rehearse how that conversation will happen.
Sessions are one-to-one wherever possible, and you have the power to call time out to stop and rewind the tape’ whenever you want. And when I say ‘rewind the tape’ I mean this literally. As well as getting real time feedback, both good and bad, have the opportunity to watch discreet footage of the conversation with a workshop facilitator in private in order to show just how effective you can be when you change your seating position, sit up a bit straighter, talk a bit louder and smile!
Trust us, we have taken hundreds of people through this experience and after being given the tools and the opportunity to practise with no fear or repercussions, they leave us with the confidence to go and have that courageous conversation the very next day! So much of our feedback tells us that they also get a much more positive response which then means they go on to have more and more courageous conversations having a massive impact on their life not just work.
If you're interested in finding out how the PDW approach could work for you and help you manage conflict within a team, contact us today to talk about our unique tailor-made workshops.
by Jo Mousley
Image Source: Canva