Tel: 0844 394 8877

Boulden Management Consultants

Management Skills  >  Half-Day Courses

Conflict Management

Boulden Management Consultants

How to manage and defuse conflict at work

Half Day Course

Course Brochure Download
Conflict Management brochure
  • Learn how your personality profile affects the way you deal with conflict
  • Develop your ability to manage different personalities and situations
  • Become confident and skilled in having difficult conversations

Overview

Dealing with conflict and ‘difficult conversations’ is a fact of life for senior executives, managers and team leaders yet many people find that they feel anxious or uncomfortable when they are confronted by hostility, aggression or challenging behaviour. So learning to understand what causes conflict at work and how it can be managed and defused in a professional and self-confident manner is a core management competency. This half-day programme looks at the key aspects of confronting and defusing these situations with elegance and poise.

Learning objectives

By attending this highly intensive half-day course you will:

  • Gain an insight into the ‘golden rules’ and guiding principles for handling difficult people and managing conflict
  • Appreciate which of the five common conflict strategies you are naturally most comfortable with and become adept at using all five methods
  • Acquire methods for remaining calm and confident in the face of aggressive people
  • Discover a range of assertive techniques for taking control of a challenging conversation
  • Understand the ‘ladder script concept’ and how to apply it to managing conflict

Who should attend?

This is a fast paced, intensive and interactive half-day workshop that is ideal for any person who has to manage conflict either within their team or directly between themselves and another person.

 

Workshop

Pre-workshop preparation

In advance of the workshop participants will be asked to complete an on-line version of the Thomas-Kilmann Conflict Mode Instrument. The TKI gives each person a report on how they habitually use the five conflict styles to deal with difficult situations. Each style or mode is appropriate in different situations; each is effective at different times, thus learning which mode is their primary mode is extremely useful to people who have to take part in managing conflict or holding difficult conversations.

The inner game of ‘difficult conversations’ and handling conflict

Here we consider the role perception and beliefs of people who are excellent at handling difficult conversations.

The Thomas Kilman Conflict Mode Instrument

Reviewing the score from the online tests and understanding how each of the five conflict strategies can be used to good effect depending on the circumstances that relate to a specific ‘difficult conversation’.

Achieving self control

Developing the capacity to mentally ‘step back’ and to observe the difficult behaviour without being emotionally effected by it.

Assertive Communication Techniques

Learning ways of interacting with difficult people that challenge their behaviour in a constructive way.

  • Assertive Listening and Assertive enquiry
  • 3 step assertive technique, Broken record and Fogging
  • Negative Feelings Assertion and Workable compromise

Ladder scripts

Learning a set sequence for understanding what is going on in a difficult situation and planning the sequence in which the assertive tools should be deployed to manage the ensuing conversation. And using case studies to apply the ladder scripts to role-play situations and real life scenarios.

Learning and action planning

  • Capturing and summarising key learning points
  • Creating plans to apply the learning into the workplace

 


Feedback

Feedback is based upon peer review using Boulden assessment checklists. Completing the assessment checklists is not only valuable to the people involved in a given role play or case study, it also helps those completing them to gain an in-depth understanding of the strategies involved in effective conflict management.


Remote Training

All of our workshops can be delivered as Remote Training via e-learning modules plus Zoom based virtual workshops. Please see our Virtual Training page for more information.


Contact

Further information on this course is available by contacting
Boulden Management Consultants:
via our Contact form
Tel: 0844 394 8877