Course Description
This course coaches you on how to deal with difficult people in the workplace. Personalities play a major role and can present major obstacles to productivity. This course teaches the art of handling and cooperating with any employee.
There are numerous workshops and books on dealing with difficult people, so what makes this approach different? The fact that you will examine how you react and respond to difficult people, and how you can become part of the solution. As an added benefit you will also discover the tactics you learn in this workshop will help you both personally and professionally.
Substitution & Cancellation Policy:
You may cancel or reschedule up to 21 days prior to the start date of the class at no penalty. For any cancellation or reschedule requests within 21 days, the full course tuition is still due and not eligible for refund. Any paid tuition will be credited towards a future class and must be used within 12 months.
*Partner delivered courses may be subject to different cancellation terms
Agenda
1. Building Effective Business Relationships
Building effective work relationships is quite a subjective process; however there are ways to tell if professionals are treating each other well in the workplace. When dealing with difficult or hostile situations, there is the potential that the problem could be due to a relationship issue. Effective relationships are the foundation we will build upon during this workshop. This section focuses on the key elements that identify signs of good relationships.
- Developing good working relationships and networking
- Building trust and respect
- Accepting differences
- Preparing for opportunities and challenges with business relationships
Practice Sessions - We will begin with an activity that will have you perform an assessment of your working relationships with others. Understanding your preferences will help you with strategies for the succeeding content and practice sessions. Next, you will analyze your level of respect when working with others which is a key component of building trust. With the help of your team, you will understand your relationship style as you prepare for any type of people interaction. Then, as a small team you will discuss the opportunities and challenges of building effective business relationships.
2. Dealing with Workplace Politicians
People who are successful in dealing with others have a tendency to be politically adept and they know how to work the political systems within their workplace. Politics are everywhere; so in order to acquire a larger budget for your project, create win-win outcomes for a project team, influence and negotiate with others, or be recognized for your accomplishments, it is necessary for you to become politically savvy. This section focuses on both destructive and positive politics people use in the workplace and the different politician styles.
- Discovering your methods
- vIdentifying political behaviors
- Practicing general political principles with different politician styles
Practice Sessions - You will begin this section by analyzing your methods and motives for dealing with workplace politics. Working with your team, you will identify appropriate and inappropriate political behaviors. Your team will work on multiple case studies to determine effective tactics and strategies for handling the different political styles.
3. Dealing with Workplace Politics
Now that you understand the different political styles and strategies for handling the diverse types, it is time to focus on how to deal with the specifics of individual, difficult political situations. These situations could include a practitioner taking credit for your ideas/work, hidden agendas from stakeholders, professionals attempting to taint your reputation, being caught in the middle of multiple stakeholders disagreeing about requirements, etc. This section focuses on how to deal with these specific types of workplace politics.
- Recognizing workplace political problems
- vPreparing for political problems
- Dealing with political problems
Practice Sessions - You will start by learning how to recognize the different political problems that occur in workplaces today. Next, you will prepare for how to handle these common situations. Working with your team, you will practice how to deal with the differing political problems by participating in case study exercises. You will complete this section by discussing with other teams how they handled challenging political situations.
4. Influencing Others
As a professional, you may not realize that you are influencing people just about all of the time. Dealing with difficult people involves using the art of influence. The problem is there is more than one way to influence others. You will be involved in situations where support is needed from others to complete a project, persuasion needs to be used to inspire others to work on activities, relationships need to be established and maintained with stakeholders, or team members need to become engaged in creative problem solving. This section focuses on helping you learn how to master the art of influencing, especially in difficult situations.
- Reviewing the influence model process
- vExamining what practitioners find valuable
- Applying influencing skills
Practice Sessions - You will begin by assessing your current approach to influencing others and the tactics you use to influence others. Next, you will identify an action plan of how to use the influence model process in your workplace. Working with your team you will identify what practitioners find valuable in the workplace in order to be influenced. Working with other teams you will identify barriers to the influencing process. You will complete this section by practicing the influencing model on a situation where practitioners are emotionally charged-up about an issue happening in their workplace.
5. Handling Conflict
Every day in your workplace you encounter conflict. Conflict can be good, bad, or ugly. It's how you deal with conflict that makes a difference. Many people deny that conflict exists or try to avoid it altogether. This is not a healthy approach to handling conflict. This section focuses on how to handle conflict constructively in your workplace when dealing with difficult situations.
- Approaching conflicting situations
- vDetermining the source(s) of conflict
- Learning the conflict resolution process
Practice Sessions - You will begin by assessing your current approach to handling conflicting situations in working with others. Working with your team, you will determine the sources of conflicting situations. You and your team will identify conflict resolution styles used in the workplace. Working with your team you will practice the conflict resolution process to resolve a conflicting situation.
6. Dealing with Specific Types of Difficult People
There are many different types of difficult behaviors people will display in the workplace. Problems can come from peers, your boss, stakeholders, other departments, direct reports, etc. This section focuses on the specific types of difficult behaviors, including the bully, the person who can never say no, the chronic complainer, the gossiper, and everything in between. In this longest section, you will learn which types of people utilize these difficult behaviors.
- Defining the types of difficult behaviors
- vIdentifying strategies for dealing with difficult behaviors of people
- Conducting difficult discussions
- Reaching agreed upon solutions
Practice Sessions - You will begin by assessing the different types of difficult behaviors. Working with your team, you will identify the benefits for dealing with difficult people, as well as the barriers to these discussions. You and your team will also practice different strategies for dealing with difficult people through different case studies. You will complete this section by determining how you will use the difficult discussion tactics more effectively and which approaches you will use in your workplace.
7. Changing How You Deal with Difficult People
You already have a reputation in your workplace of how you deal with difficult people. There are key strategies you can use in order to enhance or change your approach. Change takes time and it will not happen overnight. This section will help you put together a process for how you will transfer what you have learned in this workshop.
- Managing the transition
- vShifting your approach
- Obtaining feedback
Practice Sessions - You will begin by reviewing how you have assessed yourself regarding dealing with difficult people and situations. Working individually, you will identify if you are ready for change in any particular area(s). Next, you will review transition strategies to guide what you will implement. Finally you will complete this section by creating an action plan of tools, techniques, and strategies you will use in your workplace when dealing with difficult people.