How to Prepare for Difficult Conversations

There are a few ways for a manager to prepare for the eventual difficult conversation. Here are a few tips to keep in mind as you get ready for a potentially negative meeting:

• Prepare yourself. Find out everything you can about the situation before you have the difficult conversation. You want to be able to answer any questions they may have.
• Be ready for the conversation. Make sure you know what you want to achieve with the discussion.
• Choose the right time and place. Clear the area of distractions and make it an open forum for feedback after you deliver the news.
• Deliver the message promptly and clearly. Focus on the facts and tell the truth about the situation. Don’t become emotional or angry.
• Try to see their view. Put yourself in their shoes and think about how you would want to hear what you are delivering to them.
• Listen actively. You should empathize, acknowledge, respect, and validate the other person’s feelings. Don’t take their reactions personally – they may just be upset at the news.
• Be open-minded and willing to negotiate. Sometimes negotiation can help a situation. If there is wiggle room, try to work with them.

HRDQ has resources that can help with difficult discussions. Navigating Difficult Conversations: Deliver Your Message with Poise, Empathy, and Resolve is a reproducible title that helps participants understand the nature of difficult conversations and what it takes to handle them. Participants will be able to identify the seven stages of handling difficult conversations, learn how to use empathy in a way that minimizes negative responses and strengthens relationships, apply best practices for delivering the conversation, and learn how to bring the conversation to a close with solutions.

For more insights on handling difficult conversations, don’t miss my webinar, Difficult Conversations: Embrace Confrontation and Produce Long-Lasting Benefits. You’ll walk away with the skills to tackle any tricky situation in the workplace and learn what it takes to handle these conversations, see how to identify the stages of difficult conversations, develop ways to use empathy to strengthen relationships, learn how to prepare, initiate, and deliver the conversation, and discover how to generate solutions in difficult situations.