Critical Conversations: Having the "Hard to Have" Discussions (A5S4)

Overview

Silence isn’t always golden. Problems don’t solve themselves and as the engagement leader, it is your responsibility to proactively address and resolve issues, even if it means having challenging conversations. As uncomfortable as some of these conversations may be, keeping your silence won’t resolve the issue and may in fact add to it. No matter which side of the table you find yourself in a “hard to have” talk, you can learn to manage the conversation. In this session, you’ll learn how to recognize when a conversation becomes critical, how to plan effectively for the conversation and which communications strategies can help you create a win/win outcome. (Please Note: This module is part of Surgent's Audit Skills Training: Level 5.)

Major Topics:

• Identifying when issues need immediate resolution
• Approaches for preparing for and having difficult conversations
• Effective communication skills for challenging conversations

Learning Objectives:

• Recognize when a conversation becomes “critical”
• Identify how to plan effectively for the difficult conversation
• Identify steps to follow during the critical conversation
• Demonstrate communication skills which master those difficult conversations and result in win/win outcomes
• Prepare for having your critical conversation; build a script during the session using the 6-Step Model