In a previous post, I introduced you to a course I am designing and developing titled – Having a ‘Challenging Unhelpful Behaviour’ Conversation. I wrote about the course’s learning objective and key learning points. In this post, I am going to dive into how I start developing the course and the first part of the course (or the first key learning point) is ‘Introduction’ where I introduce the participants to what the course will cover.
My goal for this part of this course is to share the learning objective, give an overview of what the course will cover, and also tell them what they should be able to do by the end of the course.
The steps I follow in this part of the section are:
Share a slide with the learning objective.
Tell the participants what the course will cover and what they should be able to do by the end of the course.
Here’s the slide I created to share the learning objective:
After sharing the slide, I share the information below with them. You don’t have to follow that actual information but it does act as a guide:
During this session, we will explore how to have a ‘challenging unhelpful behaviour’ conversation that will lead to a positive outcome for all the parties involved.
We want you to leave this session with a good format or structure to have the conversation and some helpful resources too.
Most managers will agree that this type of conversation is the one they most struggle with and need help with.
When an employee demonstrates continuous failure in performance or behaviour, it is never easy telling them about it and challenging them to change.
The conversation structure we discuss in this session will help you overcome some of that fear.
After sharing that information, I might ask if they have any questions or comments, respond to them appropriately, and then move on to the next part of the session to deal with the next key learning point titled – PURPOSE OF THE CONVERSATION.
In my next post, I will discuss the ‘PURPOSE OF THE CONVERSATION‘ section.
In a previous post, I wrote about my intention to design and develop a series of training resources with ideas from the brilliant book by Nick Cowley and Nigel Purse – 5 Conversations: How to transform trust, performance, and engagement at work.
I now want to start designing and developing the first of those training resources titled – Having a ‘Challenging Unhelpful Behaviour’ Conversation. What I intend to do each is write our how I design and develop the resource. Unlike previous blog posts, I will not post the actual course. Rather, I will write about how I go about designing and developing the actual course and once I finish provide a way for people interested to get the whole training resource.
What I will discuss in this post is my starting point for design which is to define the course’s learning objectives and key learning points.
Quick recap here:
A learning objective defines what participants should be able to do after attending a training session.
Key learning points are what I define as the learning steps you will take in a training course to ensure the learning objectives are covered adequately.
Let’s start with the learning objective(s)
Learning Objective
This course has just one learning objective which is:
By the end of this session, participants will be able to:
follow a structure that enables them to have a positive ‘challenging unhelpful behaviour’ conversation.
Therefore, the goal of the training session is to help participants learn and develop a structure they can follow and use to have a ‘challenging unhelpful behaviour’ conversation.
Key Learning Points
To achieve the afore-stated learning objectives the course will go through the following learning steps or key learning points.
Introduction - introducing the participants to the course by discussing the learning objective.
Purpose of the conversation – discuss the purpose of the ‘challenging unhelpful conversation’ by answering five questions.
Nonviolent communication – exploring the principles of the ‘nonviolent’ communication principles for having challenging conversations.
Demonstrating a ‘challenging unhelpful behaviour conversation – participants observe and comment on a scripted demonstration of a ‘challenging unhelpful conversation.
Create your own script for a demonstration – participants work in small groups to write write own script of a conversation that they will demonstrate.
Practising in small groups – participants practice having ‘challenging unhelpful conversations’ in small groups.
Review - a review of the session.
Reflect-Note-Act – each participant reviews some of what they learned using stop-start-continue questions and shares one thing they will do as a result of the session. Then close the session.
These are the learning objective and key learning points for the session. In my next post, I will discuss the first key learning point which is the ‘Introduction’.
There are times when you may need to confront a person’s unacceptable or inappropriate behaviour. That may require you to have a ‘challenging behaviour’ conversation with the person. Today’s ‘learnagrafic’ summarises seven steps for having a ‘challenging behaviour’ conversation.
An ‘accountability conversation’ is about challenging people to take responsibility for something and holding them accountable. The ‘learnagrafic’ summary below outlines four steps involved in having an ‘accountability conversation’.
There are times when people in a team don’t want to take accountability for something. At times like that, the manager may need to have an ‘accountability conversation’ with the team member(s). In this session, participants will explore what an ‘accountability conversation’ is and how to have such a conversation.
DELIVERY MODE
Blended learning combining pre-session reading and virtual training.
In the previous part of the session, we looked at the learning objectives for the course. In this part of the training session, we will explore the four steps involved in having an ‘accountability conversation’.
THE ‘UNACCOUNTABLE’ SITUATION
Tell the participants that:
I want you to read about a situation called the ‘unaccountable situation.’
Direct them to the part of their workbooks titled – THE ‘UNACCOUNTABLE’ SITUATION.
WORKBOOK CONTENT – THE ‘UNACCOUNTABLE’ SITUATION
Tell them to go to that part of their workbook and read the information there. Give them 3-minutes for the reading.
After 3-minutes, stop them and get their attention.
Ask them this question – Is there anything related to accountability in that conversation that you just read.
Let them answer verbally.
They should indicate they want to answer the question either by using the virtual hand on the platform or by raising their hands physically.
Listen to as many of their answers as you can. If possible, listen to all of them.
When you finish listening to them, you should also contribute your own view by telling them that:
There are some accountability issues in the conversation because Dennis is refusing to do anything beyond arranging the training course and showing up to deliver the training on the set date.
Even though the training session was cancelled, and some have been cancelled in the past, he does not want to take any accountability for trying to improve the situation.
He believes dealing with the cancellations is entirely up to the manager.
But Daniella has some thoughts about Dennis’s behaviour on the issue.
Display the slide titled – DANIELLA’S THOUGHTS.
SLIDE – DANIELLA’S THOUGHTS
Allow them to read the information on the slide for about 20-seconds. After they’ve read it, tell them that:
Those are Daniella’s thoughts, but she also speaks to one of her more senior colleagues who may have some advice for her on how to deal with the issue.
Go to the part of your workbooks titled – WHAT WOULD YOU DO? There you can read the conversation between Daniella and her colleague, Basia.
WORKBOOK CONTENT – WHAT WOULD YOU DO?
Give them 3-minutes to read the conversation between Daniella and Basis in their workbooks.
When they’ve finished reading it, let them know that you’ve got a chat window activity for them to do.
Ask them this question – Basia listed four things she would do if she had an accountability conversation with Dennis. What are the four things?
They should write their answers to the question in the chat window.
Give them up to 3-minutes to write down their answers. As they are writing, read through their answers quietly so you don’t distract anyone.
After 3-minutes stop and thank them for doing the activity. Let them know that you will now show them the four things and they can check whether they identified them correctly or not.
Share the slide titled – BASIA’S STEPS.
SLIDE – BASIA’S STEPS
After sharing the slide, tell them that:
Basia’s approach to having an accountability conversation can be summarised into these four steps.
Click on the slide once to display some information and say that:
The first step is – Where are we now?’
This step is about getting to know what the current situation is.
Click on the slide to reveal more information and say that:
The second step is – How did we get here?
While the first step is about understanding what the situation is. This second step focuses on how the current situation arose. This step is particularly important if you don’t want the situation to occur again.
Click on the slide for a third time and say that:
The third step is – What can we do?
This step is about collaboratively coming up with a solution to the issue on ground to move forward.
Be mindful that since this is a conversation about accountability you want the person to own the solution. It’s therefore much better if they come up with a solution, they are responsible for.
Click on the slide for a final time and say that:
This final step follows on nicely from the previous one. It is – Who’s doing what – and by when?
This is where you decide who’s going to do what from the solution agreed on. So, who is accountable for what aspect of the solution.
At this stage you have to clearly spell out what the person is going to be accountable for and what you are accountable for.
You also need to make sure you identify a clear deadline by when it should be done.
This step is about making sure the person knows what they are accountable for.
Let them know that there is a short handout in their workbooks describing the four steps titled – FOUR STEPS FOR AN ACCOUNTABILITY CONVERSATION.
WORKBOOK CONTENT – FOUR STEPS FOR AN ACCOUNTABILITY CONVERSATION
After telling them that, ask if they have any comments or questions. Listen to any questions or comments they have and respond appropriately (if necessary).
Then move on to discuss, what an accountability conversation looks like.
In the next part of the session, the participants will explore what an accountability conversation looks like.
There are times when people in a team don’t want to take accountability for something. At such times the manager needs to have a conversation with his team to set things straight. In this session, participants will explore what an ‘accountability conversation’ is and how to have such a conversation.
DELIVERY MODE
Virtual (VILT)
DURATION (ESTIMATED)
3 hours
SUITABLE FOR
This is a full training session suitable for anyone who has responsibility for managing a team of people.
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
By the end of this activity, participants will be able to:
describe what an ‘accountability conversation is, and
demonstrate how to have an ‘accountability conversation’.
WORKBOOK
Yes (the participants must have the workbook before the activity starts)
PREPARATION
Make sure you read through all the resources, so you understand how they work together to deliver the session.
PREREQUISITES
Ideally, each participant should be responsible for managing a team.
The next post will focus on introducing the session’s learning objectives.
A previous activity (which you can find here) examined the three conversations that make conversations difficult. These three conversations are the ‘What Happened?’ conversation (there is an activity on it here), the ‘Feelings’ conversation, and the ‘Identity’ conversation. This activity will focus on the ‘Identity’ conversation.
INTRODUCTION
A difficult conversation is anything we find difficult to talk about. They are conversations that are awkward and make us feel vulnerable. They are conversations we would rather avoid but they are part of life, and we can’t go too far without having them. While we can’t prevent them, we can learn to handle them better. In this activity, the participants will explore one of the components that make conversations difficult which is the ‘Identity conversation.
DELIVERY MODE
Virtual (VILT)
DURATION (ESTIMATED)
30 – 45 minutes
SUITABLE FOR…
… a bite-sized training activity on its own or used as part of a wider course on managing difficult or challenging conversations.
LEARNING OBJECTIVE
By the end of this activity, participants will be able to:
describe how the ‘Identity conversation makes conversations difficult.
WORKBOOK
Yes (the participants must have the workbook before the activity starts)
PREPARATION
Make sure you read through all the resources, so you understand how they work together to deliver the session.
PREREQUISITES
Able to describe what a difficult conversation is and understand the ‘What Happened?’ and ‘Feelings’ conversations.
LearnaBytes 