Managing Difficult People & Situations

The aim of the training is to provide delegates with a set of practical strategies and approaches to effectively manage difficult people and situations.

Specifically, the course will:

• Promote correct mind-sets and approaches when handling difficult people & situations to achieve positive outcomes and perceptions;
• Underscore how personal responses either fuel or defuse potentially difficult situations and the need to control own reactions to aggressive and abusive customers;
• Raise personal confidence and competency levels in selecting and deploying specific strategies to defuse and/or de-escalate emotionally charged situations and people;
• Re-enforce the need to select & utilise appropriate communication style(s) when dealing with difficult people and situations including when to use calm responses; apologetic and assertive styles; and
• Build personal resilience levels going forward.

• Understanding the causes of difficult behaviour
• Evaluating your responses to difficult people & situations and how this could fuel or de-fuse a difficult situation or angry customer
• Strategies for developing an empathetic & professional mind-set to managing self and own responses including not taking personal offense.
• Understanding types of difficult people including “ramblers”, “volcanoes”, “clams”, “compulsive complainers” etc and strategies for successfully handling each type.
• Essential Communication Skills and Styles including selecting appropriate styles for different situations
• Effective complaint handling
• Conflict resolution strategies
• Strategies for handling verbal abuse and aggressive communications.
• Skills practice throughout
• Course summary