Like most managers, you are busy…very busy.  But when it comes to talking to any of your employees about a potentially touchy topic, especially if there is a performance issue, let’s be honest, this is the one task that you keep putting off for one reason only…you have absolutely no idea what you are going to say!  And because you don’t know how to start or finish the conversation you put it off until things escalate beyond repair, and then when you do have the conversation, things quickly get out of control!

And if this sounds familiar… then you really need to keep reading…

…because when you think about it without effective communications in the workplace, business results and team relationships suffer. Poor performers continue to perform poorly; productivity drops; good people are overloaded with more and more responsibility; and work relationships become strained. In our personal lives, we blame each other for our lack of communication and often agree to live in what we call ’companionable silence.’

It doesn’t have to be this way.  Stepping up to difficult, emotionally charged conversations, saying what is on your mind, and managing your emotions, involves a specific set of communication skills.  You can learn them, and then practice the techniques until you are confident that you can step up to almost any conversation with a plan for how you will handle it constructively.

This highly practical 2-day training course focuses on how to proactively face and manage those difficult and tough conversations that you need to have with your employees.  It will also help you to build a solid set of communication skills to proactively solve problems, diffuse conflict, build consensus and improve workplace relationships.  Straight Talk is the skilful alternative to biting your lip or speaking out in anger.

In order to achieve this, the methodology used during the course is based on action-learning and is highly interactive in nature.  Throughout the training course you will learn how to apply the tools presented in each module using examples of real-life conversations that happen in the workplace.  You will walk away with the confidence and know-how to tackle those difficult, crucial, challenging and important conversations and you will also learn how real dialogue and effective debate, can be a far more effective approach.

Using Straight Talk you can learn how to:

• Open a difficult conversation by setting the right tone from the very start
• Put the facts on the table clearly and precisely
• Explain what is on your mind without blaming or accusing
• Make it safe for your employees to speak to you about how they feel
• Negotiate a solution to the performance problem, so that both you and your employee are committed to the outcome