How to deal with difficult participants

When someone keeps challenging your authority, questioning everything you do shows up with inappropriate behaviour in your meetings?YOU NEED TO step into your role as a leader for your group.

But if you're not careful, you could?make the situation worse and that can escalate quickly...

In this video, I'll share my?Emergency Checklist?to figure out if action is necessary and then interrupt the challenging behaviour - with love & respect.?

Here is a quick summary of what my process?looks like:

1. Assess the impact on the group:?Is it worth dealing with quickly or can it wait until after the person has finished speaking or even at the end of the meeting?
2. Check in with yourself:?Take a deep breath. Channel your facilitation superpowers and get grounded.
3. Respectfully interrupt the unhelpful behaviour:?How can you "take back the mic" without having to mute the other person?
4. Acknowledge them: Make them feel seen, heard and understood before you do anything else.
5. Share the impact of their behaviour:?Tell them exactly why their behaviour is unhelpful to the group and the meeting's purpose.
6. Ask them if they are willing to change their behaviour:?Don't force them to change, invite them to make a choice so the whole group can move forward.
7. Check-in again:?Reach out in private messages or with a 1-on-1 phone call during breaks to get curious and let them know you care about them.
8. Be prepared to ask them to leave:?If there is not enough change in the person’s behaviour to ensure the group will reach its outcomes, you'll need to introduce some consequences.

The main thing I discovered about handling challenging participants is that it's much like parenting a?toddler who is throwing a tantrum.

Some of the best parenting advice I've ever received is:

"Connect. Then correct."

So before we can talk about changing behaviour and look for solutions to a problem we need to connect with our?participants.?

We need to make sure they feel?seen, heard and understood.

Only then, we will be able to move on.

?If you'd like more strategies on?how to deal with difficult participants in your meetings and workshops, then check out my workshop tomorrow:?

DIFFICULT PARTICIPANTS WORKSHOP

Join this 90-minute interactive workshop to learn how to?handle difficult participants?with?respect?and?confidence, so you can?get things done?in your meeting.

• ?? Tuesday, September 13, 2022
• ??12PM – 1:45PM ET | 9AM – 10:45AM PT | 6PM – 7:45PM CEST

?? Get Your Ticket Here

Even if you can't make it, I would encourage you to sign up for the?replay, the "Respectful Interruption Scripts" and to join my?Deep Connectors Community?where we'll continue supporting each other through challenging situations like these afterwards.

But if you're sure you already know how to handle?Quiet Lurkers, Oblivious Oversharers and Disruptive Troublemakers?then there is no action for you to take today??

Ok, I got to get back to prepare some more slides and roleplay scripts for tomorrow.?

PS: Early Bird Enrollment for the next?Virtual Facilitator Training ?cohort is closing in a week. If you've been looking for an experiential training with other trainers, consultants and educators - join us Sept 27-29, 2022.

And if you come to the?Difficult Participants Workshop ?- I'll even share a super cool bonus with you.