Communicating with Difficult People: Working with Difficult Employees

Audience

Managers facilitators team leaders and professionals who need to handle situations with difficult employees co-workers or superiors.

Objective

• Recognize the four types of difficult personalities.
• Apply the proper motivational techniques for each personality type.
• Differentiate between supportive and defensive language.
• Apply the HELP acronym to prevent negative situations caused by difficult behavior.
• Recognize potential obstacles to communicating effectively.
• Discipline a difficult employee by applying the correct process.

Topics Include

Unit 1: Identifying Difficult Employees

• Select examples of difficult behavior.
• Differentiate among the three types of difficult employees.
• Identify the characteristics of difficult behavior.
• Recognize causes that make regular people become difficult employees.
• Identify the characteristics that comprise the two main sources of difficult behavior.
• Identify the steps that make up the HELP acronym.
• Apply the HELP acronym to prevent negative situations caused by difficult behavior.
• Simulation Overview:
• In this simulation you will be meeting with John Laforge one of your employees in the Accounting Department. John's work has been inconsistent lately and he often seems indifferent to the work he is assigned. His co-workers have been noticing his apathy and a comment from one of them recently caused John to lose his temper. As John's supervisor you must discuss the situation with him and identify the difficult behavior. In addition you must attempt to pinpoint the reasons for his behavior and take steps to prevent the difficult behavior from continuing.

Unit 2: Addressing Difficult Employees

• Identify the four types of difficult personalities.
• Evaluate a difficult employee's personality.
• Identify three reasons why some managers avoid addressing difficult employees.
• Apply the proper motivational techniques for each difficult personality type.
• Simulation Overview:
• In this simulation you will be meeting with three members of your Marketing Department Colleen Ford Terry Jones and Susan Cole. Three weeks ago the three of them were assigned to prepare for Icon's appearance at an upcoming trade show. However because of the different personalities of the three employees they have experienced difficulties in working together effectively. As their manager you must recognize their different personalities and respond to them appropriately and ensure the team will complete their preparations in time for the tradeshow.

Unit 3: Communicating with Difficult Employees

• Differentiate between supportive and defensive language.
• Use supportive language during employee interaction.
• Communicate with a difficult employee by following the appropriate guidelines.
• Apply the correct process to discipline a difficult employee.
• Identify important issues to consider before terminating an employee.
• Simulation Overview:
• In this simulation you will be meeting with Don Hamilton an Account Executive in the Sales Department. In the last few weeks other Account Executives have come to you complaining about Don's methods of acquiring leads. They have accused him of taking information from conversations and following up on other salespeople's leads. As a result Don has acquired several new accounts that his co-workers feel are rightly theirs. This has happened several times and many of his co-workers are angry with Don for his underhanded tactics. After sitting down with each of the complainants you have determined that the matter is serious enough to warrant discussion with Don. As his supervisor you must discuss his behavior with him and effectively plan a course of action to help him correct it. If necessary you must also determine what disciplinary action should be taken against him.

Duration

4

Minimum Requirements

The CDROM version of this course requires:

• At least a 486DX 33Mhz CPU.
• Microsoft Windows 3.1 or higher and a Microsoft compatible mouse.
• At least 8MB RAM.
• At least VGA graphics capability with a minimum 512K video RAM (1MB video RAM recommended).
• At least a double speed CDROM drive.
• An MPC compliant sound card with attached speakers or headphones is recommended (Currently only the CDROM version supports audio).

• At least a 486DX 33Mhz CPU.
• Microsoft Windows 3.1 or higher and a Microsoft compatible mouse.
• At least 8MB RAM and 22MB available hard disk space or file server space.
• At least VGA graphics capability with a minimum 512K video RAM (1MB video RAM recommended).

Media