Confronting Difficult Issues

Difficult People Technical expertise alone will not guarantee successful work relationships-the essence of business success-with your customers or colleagues. Despite your technical expertise and your best intentions, efforts often go badly. How often have you found that: Your manager hasn't given you the resources or authority that you've needed to do a good job? Halfway through the project, you and your customer find you have differing ideas about what you should be doing? You acquiesce to your boss, knowing it will result in a bad business decision? Your direct reports have resisted change, undermining the impact of a solution? Your client has quietly accepted your recommendations — and then done nothing? Your customer, himself, has turned out to be the problem? You have little real influence with your colleagues? Workshop Overview The success of the work relationship is your responsibility, one that requires a set of skills very different from those that make you an expert in your field. You must straightforwardly connect with your customer or your colleague on a personal level if you are to get the cooperation you must have to accomplish the project. CONFRONTING DIFFICULT ISSUES will teach you the practical skills and strategies you need to successfully handle the difficult situations that are bound to arise. CONFRONTING DIFFICULT ISSUES will enable you to act with courage-and thereby demonstrate your commitment-even with your most difficult customers and colleagues. In this workshop you will learn to: Let your customer know what you need in order to be successful; Raise difficult issues honestly and directly; Manage conflicts skillfully and courageously; Be frank, direct and persistent, even when things aren't going well; Directly confront — and resolve — issues of control; Recognize when and how you — as well as your colleague — contribute to the problem; Deliver bad news and handle the other person's reaction; Manage your own defensiveness and self-doubt; Get your subordinate to own responsibility for a problem and commit to action. Target Audience CONFRONTING DIFFICULT ISSUES is intended for people for whom establishing successful work relationships are vital to achieving business results. Among others, these include executives, managers, project leaders, human resources professionals, technical consultants, systems analysts, financial specialists, and both leaders and members of cross-functional teams. Methodology We will draw upon real-life situations and experiences and will address specific work-related needs and concerns of each workshop participant. You will learn through lectures and demonstrations, group discussion, skill practice, and video-taped role playing with feedback and coaching-all in a supportive, non-threatening atmosphere. To these ends, the workshop is purposefully limited to ten participants. Instructor Stanley R. Wachs, Ph.D., is a management and organizational consultant who works with groups and individuals in improving their planning, problem-solving and decision-making capabilities. He is the founder of Wachs Associates, a management consulting practice in Los Angeles. Stanley is a stimulating, dynamic and skillful trainer. He has a special talent for involving participants in learning activities and for enabling them to apply practical theory to their work situations. He has the ability to get people to face difficult work issues squarely. Those who work with him come away not only with new skills and practical knowledge but also with a commitment to act on their new learning. Schedule and Details DATES: TBD TIME: TBD LOCATION: TBD TUITION: $2500 You may register by email, mail or telephone. All fees are due at the time of registration. Cancellation Policy Due to the intimate size of the workshop and to the fact that we do not overbook, cancellations affect us significantly. Confirmed registrations may be canceled with a full refund up to two weeks prior to the workshop. After that time, 50% of tuition will be refunded. Further Information If you have any questions or wish to inquire about our group rates or in-house workshops, please call (310) 440-1039 or email

Home  |  Resume  |  Workshops