Dealing with Difficult Behaviours Training - Brisbane

Managing Difficult Behaviours Training - Outline

by David Smith Leadership Coach

Course Overview

You know when you are walking into a meeting and it’s simply going to be one person who is going to make sure there is no meeting? Are you already dreading new interactions with specific co-workers because you know they will either tear down every idea or cause a dramatic uproar over nothing? What if I told you that such toxic workplace dynamics don’t have to command your day or deplete your energy?

In 20 years of coaching leaders all over Australia, from mining sites in Western Australia to tech start-ups in Melbourne, I have seen these patterns again and again. The manager that learned how to change the toxic culture of the team, the project manager that found a way to be effective with their most challenging stakeholder, and the tons and tons of professionals who reached a place of peace with relationships they found so stressful before. The common thread? They all learned that dysregulated behaviour followed predictable patterns and that if you know these patterns, you can respond strategically — as opposed to emotionally or reactively.

This intensive workshop provides you with research-based solutions and hands-on skills to confidently and professionally manage difficult workplace behaviours. You don’t need to avoid challenging people or wish you could suck it up and make your conflicts go away – you get to learn how to face issues constructively, take care of yourself, and keep your team humming.

Learning Outcomes

Through this training, participants will:

Analyze and classify various difficult behaviors to determine appropriate response strategies

De-escalate in the moment during difficult interpersonal interactions

Set and maintain professional boundaries, while maintaining a working relationship.

Employ stress control techniques that help you stay emotionally balanced while in the presence of difficult people

Judgment can be applied to decide when to act independently, and when to consult the supervising attorney or his/her delegated designee.

Communicate designs in a manner that keeps minor issues from erupting into major disruptions in the workplace

What You Will Learn

Module 1: The psychology of difficult behaviour

Learn why individuals act in difficult ways and recognize the underlying causes. You will learn to tell between actions motivated by fear, frustration, overwhelm or lack of communication skills. This is one of the foundation of helping you pick responses that will address the issue instead of the behavior only.

Module 2: The De-escalation Toolkit

Learn certain verbal and nonverbal tips for defusing situations. Discover tested phrases that steer conforntations in the right direction, body language moves that emanate chic, cool command, and timing tricks that protect you from entering into the danger zone.

Module 3: Setting Professional Boundaries

Learn to confidently respond 'no', guard your time and energy, and hold you ground with respect but firmly. This section shares the tangible difference between being assertive and aggressive, and steps you can take to communicate limit that people actually recognize.

Module 4: Specific Scenario Management

Work through tough behaviors like the chronic complainer, the idea saboteur, the responsibility avoider, and the conflict deflector. There are several responses that you can choose from for each scenario as well as advice on modifying your response to suit different character types.

MODULE 5: Creating a Shield Around Your Energy and Health

Discover how to not take on other people's negativity, stay professional when facing pressure and keep other people's issues separate from your headspace. This involves ways to reset in between challenging interactions.

Topic 6: Documentation and Contact Escalation Types

Learn what constitutes crossing the line from difficult to unacceptable behaviour, how to document problems in an appropriate way, and how to raise your concerns with management or HR in ways that lead to real action, not defensiveness.

Module 7: Harnessing Your Team Dynamic for Good

Discover proactive techniques that stop difficult behaviours before they gain a foothold and how to exemplify your own communicator style, to promote healthier interactions your entire organisation.

Training Methodology

It is made up of interactive workshops, role-plays, case study review and group discussion with your peers. They try out techniques in safe environments and environments until they own them in real working situations. All case studies are derived from real-life Australian workplaces to keep students engaged and concentrated on the practical aspects of OHS.

Summary

It is inevitable that we encounter challenging workplace behaviors, but enduring difficult encounters is not. With this training, you will stop reacting in frustration and start thinking strategically. You’ll walk away from the program with an arsenal of time-tested tools, a greater grasp of how human behaviour works and how to work WITH it and not against it, and how to keep your professionalism and your peace of mind, no matter who you’re working with.

The point is not to turn difficult people into easy ones — but rather, to change the way you react to them. Once you've got that down, you'll realize difficult colleagues are just one more element of the arena of your professional life that you can conquer, clearing a path to do the work you want to do and build the career you want.

Duration: Full-day immersion or 4 x 2-hour sessions

Perfect for: Team leads, project managers and professionals at all levels

Max participants: 12 for better interaction and plenty of opportunities to practice