If you’re looking for some strategies on how to have difficult conversations at work, then you’ll love this article.
How do you usually handle difficult conversations? Would you rather to avoid the confrontation?
Each and every one of us, whether we work in an office or we are self-employed, occasionally gets to face difficult and unavoidable conversations.
Sometimes it drains up all the energy from us once we get through the talk or fight. Don’t give up and let the emotion out of control.
There are plenty of ways to handle it nicely. First you need to apply the following strategic approaches.
How To Have Difficult Conversations At Work:
1. Act quickly
It is better if a person doesn’t wait for the problem to get solved itself.
The faster the person act, the easier it will become to share the information.
For example, if a manager spots some defects in a subordinates working style and he lets him to continue in the same manner with the hope that he will resolve the problem himself, it will become difficult for the manager to convince the subordinate to change his method of working.
2. Thinking before acting
You must think before you say something.
You should analyze the problem, think of some solutions and check their feasibility in your mind. You must be asking yourself whether the problem is a real problem or you are just creating a mountain out of a small hill.
A serious and effective soul searching can make it easier to handle a difficult situation.
SEE ALSO: How To Deal With Jealousy At Work: 10 Ways To Stop Being Jealous
3. Listen and understand the other person’s point of view
You must listen to the other person. You must try to cooperate and understand what he wants to say. You must listen to him with curiosity and compassion. You must frame your words and analyze from their point of view.
It will make the conversation more difficult if the listener feels that your words are harsh, insulting or impractical. One thing you should always remember that you cannot change the listener.
Thus, you should be always ready to make adjustments or concessions yourself.
4. Be open minded
Being open minded is very important (1) for an effec ve communication. It can make a difficult conversation quite easy.
You should always hear them with nonjudgmental ear. You might insult the other persons if you make naïve assumptions.
5. Accepting facts
You should always accept small alterations if you see that they will lead to an effective communication.
6. Don’t become defensive
People o en become defensive when they see other person talking challenging them. It is better for the conversation if you listen to what the person has to say.
7. Asking a lot of questions
You should always ask a lot of questions while having a difficult conversation. This has two benefits.
Firstly you will be able to clarify all the doubts. Secondly the speaker will be interested in clarifying the doubts as he will feel that you are listening to him with attention.
8. Negotiate
Once you are aware about what the person is looking for, share your ideas or feedbacks. This will help to get a nice result out of a difficult conversation.
SEE ALSO: How To Build Self Confidence At Work: 10 Surefire Strategies
9. Being polite and courteous
Being polite (2) and courteous also helps to make a conversation easy. It develops friendly terms between the two persons. A conversa on is most effective when both the listener and the speaker are on good terms with each other.
10. Avoid vague endings
Try to avoid vague words like “I will try”, “let me see”, etc while ending a conversation.
I want to thank you for taking the time to read my article about how to have difficult conversations at work. I sincerely hope its contents have been a good help to you.
