Almost every organization has people whose personality, behaviour, attitude, work habits or other characteristics present occasional or frequent challenges for those around them. No matter what business you are in or what strategy you pursue, you need people to help carry out your plans.  When employees fall short of your expectations by underperforming or violating policies, they can bring difficult challenges to their supervisor. How well you learn to deal with these challenges can have a major impact not only on your effectiveness but the performance of the entire organization.

This workshop will provide you with practical tools and skills to handle difficult people whether or not you have sufficient positional authority. It will help you deal with difficult employees by reflecting on your expectations and defining the real issue and how to deal with challenging behaviours and personalities not only to remain in control of the situation but to engage the employees in the improvement process.

Learning objectives:

At the end of the program, participants will be able to:

• Identify a “difficult person” and give reasons why a person is difficult
• Develop skills to manage a feedback meeting with a high performer as well as a “difficult person”
• Manage your anger and that of others
• Know and discuss aggressive, assertive, and passive behaviours
• Learn to deal with negative behaviour in the workplace
• Know the importance of communication when dealing with a difficult person
• Develop active listening skills
• Resolve conflicts for positive outcomes
• Learn how to negotiate for a win-win solution
• Learn how to deal with difficult employees by reflecting on their expectations and defining the real issues
• Learn how to prepare and carry out a performance improvement plan
• Learn how to deal with challenging behaviours and personalities to remain in control
• Engage the employee in the  performance improvement process

For whom:

This program is designed for management staff and line managers at all levels but is recommended particularly for mid-level and front-line supervision.