How to Handle Difficult People

Learning Method:

Instructor Led

Duration:

2 Days

Overview:

The New Horizons How to Handle Difficult People Program teaches participants techniques to deal with difficult customers and staff members in a positive and assertive way. Participants learn the assertiveness model and various strategies to communicate with individuals who are manipulative, dominant or potentially emotionally volatile. Program activities include role-plays with difficult situations, boundary setting and empathising. Participants also learn about themselves in interaction with others, how emotional responses can impede positive outcomes and what to do about it. The manual is designed for quick scanning in the classroom and filled with interactive exercises that help ensure participant success.

Target Audience:

This course is suitable for anyone who deals with people in their day-to-day work.

Supervisors, Frontline managers, Training managers
Help desk supervisors, Administration staff

Key Participant Benefits:

Helps participants understand themselves better to enhance behavioural change necessary to be an effective communicator
Builds skills to minimise conflict and defuse tense situations
Includes strategies to help resolve differences and find ways of working effectively with all types of people
Provides skills to let you be yourself, stand your ground and manage difficulties to achieve positive outcomes
Allows time for practice and insight

Key Business Benefits

Minimises friction caused by miscommunication or lack of empathy
Consequent increase in rapport and potential retention of difficult customers
Lift in productivity through confidence in difficult interactions

Outline:

Lesson 1: Managing Diversity

Gather, convey and receive information and ideas How do values drive behaviours? - Understand different behaviour types and patterns

Lesson 2: Dealing with Difficult Behaviour

Handling difficult people
Coping with difficult behaviour
Identifying your personal responsibility
To counsel, coach or discipline?

Lesson 3: Practical techniques for dealing with:

Aggressive behaviour
Blaming behaviour
Defensive behaviour
Passive behaviour

Lesson 4: Effective Workplace Communication

Learning how to be assertive and standing your ground
Positive self talk Giving and receiving feedback
Learning how to say 'no'

Lesson 5: Prevention is better than cure

Disempowering to co-operation
But vs. And
Co-operation language
Gathering Information
Questioning techniques