4 Ways To Navigate Difficult
Conversations
Y ou have to deal with difficult conversations
regularly. There are constantly issues arising from
personality conflicts to inefficient work.
These situations call for you to have difficult conversations with the
employees or other leaders involved. You’ll have to get dirty and discover
precisely what’s going on and what it will take to resolve the issue.
The good news is that you’re equipped and able to do this. You can
diffuse tense situations.
But what does it take to do so? You’re about to find out.
4 Ways To Navigate Difficult Conversations
When there’s a conflict or a difficult situation that arises, you typically
have to have a conversation with someone. These conversations require
you to be brave, bold, and confident. That’s the only way you can get
through them.
We’re going to look at 4 ways to get through these conversations. These
techniques are time-tested and approved.
1. Prepare the best you can:
Have you ever rushed into a difficult conversation? Maybe you thought it
was for the best until you realized you didn’t have all of the
information you needed. Or did you discover there were additional
circumstances that were pressing at the time?
You have to be prepared when you enter into a difficult conversation.
Know what you want to say. Know what points you want to make.
Practice them and then deliver the difficult conversation.
2. Listen actively:
Difficult conversations are stressful. People often feel misunderstood.
This is where active listening comes into play.
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Listen with the intent to understand. Take the time to get the other
person’s point of view. Discover why they acted the way they did or made
the choices they did. When you do this, you may uncover more
information and that they weren’t being malicious in their actions.
To listen actively, you need to maintain appropriate eye contact, use body
gestures, and repeat their statements to show you understand what
they’re telling you.
3. Use “I” statements instead of “you” statements:
No one likes the blame game. Even fewer people like being blamed.
When we make you statements, the other person often feels
attacked.
Instead of saying: “You actively participated in office gossip,” try a
statement such as: “I saw you and your coworkers talking about Susan. It
sounded as if it might have been gossiping. Can you help me understand
what was said?”
See, this deflects from blaming the person you’re having the difficult
conversation with. Instead, you’re asking them to help you understand
what happened.
Try this the next time you have to have a difficult conversation and watch
the atmosphere of the room change.
4. Present amicable solutions:
Too often, we focus on the problem when we have to hold complex and
challenging conversations. We talk about what went wrong, who did
what, and what the consequences are.
What if instead of talking about what happened, we talk about what
could be?
What could be’s are the solutions that we find in the unfortunate
situations that have presented themselves. They are answers rather than
accusations, restatements, and frustrations. They’re forward looking.
Work on addressing the issue by looking at the solutions to the issue at
hand rather than the specific problem.
Have The Difficult Conversations
Difficult conversations are rarely fun. They’re hard, they bring out
emotions, and they can stress relationships.
However, difficult conversations also get results. You discover that
difficult times aren’t an end. Instead, they’re the beginning of new
opportunities and solutions.
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Stop hiding from them, start having the difficult conversations you need
to have.
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