Why challenging conversations are good?

Conflicts or challenges at work are almost always due to poor communication. People might send mixed messages, say one thing but do another, or they might not listen at all.

However, you can learn from the experience. It’s all about your perspective. So, change your perspective.

Challenging conversations can be an important part of achieving a successful outcome at work. If you approach them constructively, they can become a moment for personal growth. 

First, let us understand tips for managing challenging conversations.

Here are eight tips to help you to resolve and navigate challenging conversations:

1. Embrace the fact that challenging conversations are an opportunity for growth and address any issues as soon as you feel calm and centered.
2. Set clear expectations to avoid confusion.
3. Listen carefully and give the person your complete attention.
4. Recognize and respect personal differences.
5. Find points of agreement.
6. Make the other person feel heard by reflecting back what they’ve said and fostering eye contact.
7. Use ‘I’ statements instead ‘you’ statements so that you focus on your own feelings and beliefs rather than the person you are speaking with. Your conversational tone becomes softer and less accusatory.
8. When structuring feedback, try this approach: state what happened, then how it made you feel, and finally conclude with a solution of how it can be made better. 

Now it’s time to put pen to paper for your communication development plan.

This will help you to set meaningful communication targets for yourself and to identify and create a strategy to develop those skills. By taking the time to address what aspects need to be further developed, you will be better prepared for job interviews, the workplace environment, and everyday conversations.

The communication development plan comes in two parts. 

The first part of the plan is:

What are your communication goals and which areas of communication would you like to improve?

First, break it down into three groups:

1. Strengths (Areas where are you succeeding, what are your strongest skills.)
2. Areas for Improvement (Identity what you need and want to improve, what do you tend to struggle with most.)
3. Intentions (What would you like to achieve by improving your skills.)

The second part of the plan is:

What do you need to do to get your communication goals into a fit state?

There’s a definite benefit to thinking about how you will spend your time and what resources you will use to help strengthen your communication skills.

Remember to keep your communication goals SMART:

• Specific
• Measurable
• Achievable/Attainable
• Relevant
• Timely

In order to prevent yourself from creating a plan, you won’t use, list the actions you’ll take to improve your communication skills.

When choosing your development areas you can also list skills which you are already good at but wish to get to a better position. There is no limit to what goals and objectives you set for yourself.

The purpose of this communication development plan is to help provide you with an ongoing regime where you can continue to nurture your strengths and make concrete plans to work on your areas for growth. It can be used as a source of reflection and can be amended over time.

Through effective communication, you will be able to easily work with colleagues and accomplish any given tasks. Just like the muscles in your body, communicating needs to be exercised regularly.

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