Difficult Conversations with Staff (Supervisors)

We avoid difficult conversations because we don’t feel prepared for them. It makes sense to avoid something that’s difficult, but the delay could mean the problem situation growing rather than going away. In this session we review steps to make a potentially difficult conversation with a supervisee go according to plan with a direction, and desired outcomes.

• Recognizing what makes a conversation difficult
• Preparing yourself
• Separating issues from personalities
• Developing a strategy not a script
• Clarifying your position without minimizing theirs
• Following up and following through