CPD tips - How to have difficult conversations at work

Whether it’s conversations with teammates, managers, or employees you manage, there are various situations that require tricky conversations in the workplace. Learning to effectively broach these discussions in a professional and effective way is an essential soft skill in any professional career, but it can be very hard to develop these skills organically. This CPD article will touch on some key considerations and techniques to help you prepare for and manage difficult conversations at work.

Tips for how to handle challenging conversations

Prepare

Often these discussions revolve around issues within the workplace and, therefore can invoke emotion from either party. Preparation is essential to ensure you’re equipped to face any areas of discussion that could be inflammatory. Here are some things you can think about in preparation for handling difficult conversations:

What makes the conversation difficult?

• Why is the thought of the conversation making you uncomfortable?
• What exactly is it that worries you?
• Are you worried about driving conflict rather than resolving it?
• Are you afraid that you lack the skills to communicate effectively?
• Are you worried about being unable to keep your emotions in check?
• How do you feel about the matter at hand?

What do you want to achieve?

• What is your purpose for having the conversation?
• What do you hope to accomplish?
• What would be an ideal outcome?

At this point, it helps to identify any hidden purpose you may be subconsciously concealing. We often think our motivations are completely pure but try to be honest with yourself and highlight if any aspects of your motivation might be driven by unhelpful feelings, bias or unrelated circumstances.

How to begin a difficult conversation?

Starting the conversation can often be the highest hurdle and even if you manage to get past it, a poorly communicated start to the conversation can set a negative course for the discussion from the outset. Consider these things to help set things off the best way possible:

Be direct

Try to get to the point as directly as possible without being confrontational. Avoid skirting around the issue as the longer you don’t bring up the difficult topic that needs to be discussed the more difficult it becomes to broach. The only thing to note here is potential cultural differences. In some cultures being direct is seen as a positive attribute that shows a willingness to see an issue resolved. This isn’t, however, universal. For example, certain traditional Asian cultures value discretion and indirectness in communication. To converse in a more direct way could be interpreted as confrontational or disrespectful.

Be empathetic

It’s easy to focus solely on your feelings and desired outcomes going into a difficult conversation but it’s vitally important to consider the other person’s point of view. Before the conversation think about how they feel about the matter. If you don’t know how they feel or what their thoughts are, explain you don’t know what their take is and ask them to share it. 

Work at finding a resolution together

This links directly to being empathetic as once you understand the other person’s point of view you’ll be much more inclined to find a solution together more effectively. Opening out the discussion to ensure each party has ample opportunity to express their point of view and contribute towards the outcome makes it much less likely to devolve into confrontation and more likely to reach the desired outcome.

CPD courses for having difficult conversations

If you’re interested in developing your ability to handle difficult conversations further, explore the CPD accredited courses that our providers offer here. Our CPD Courses Catalogue has thousands of training courses, conferences and events, workshops and seminars available from a variety of CPD providers. All the courses shown on our website have been reviewed and recognised as meeting the required standards.

We hope this article was helpful. Established in 1996, The CPD Certification Service has over 27 years’ experience providing CPD accreditation. With members in over 100 countries, our CPD providers benefit from the ability to promote themselves as part of an international community where quality is both recognised and assured.

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