Dealing with Difficult Behaviours

Dealing with Difficult Behaviours

Professional Development Course Outline

Course Overview

G'day! My name is Dr Marcus Clarkson and I have been working with Australian companies for nearly two decades, from small family businesses in regional Queensland to large corporate entities in Sydney and Melbourne. Here's one thing I've learnt in all my decades of consulting: every workplace has that one individual who can suck the productivity out of a good Monday morning by Tuesday afternoon.

This course was born from hundreds of conversations I've had with managers, team leads and employees who've told me, "Marc, I love my job, but working with [insert annoying colleague's name here] is making me crazy." The passive aggressive teammate, the sensitive client, and the co-worker who thrives on workplace drama, all of these types of difficult behaviour can throw productivity and harmony right off course.

What's different about this course is that it's based on actual Australian workplace experience. We're not referring to esoteric psychology, we're talking about the concrete, applicable things that can be an effective strategy for our particular business culture. You'll know how to deal with difficult conversations, protect your professional relationships, but most of all, your mental health, and be able to fulfil your jobs.

Curriculum Based Learning Outcomes

Upon completion of this course, participants will be able to:

Identify and Analyse

Identify early warning signs of increasing difficult behaviours

Differentiate between various types of difficult workplace personalities

Identify the mental processes leading to defensive and offensive behaviours

Respond and Manage

Use work related de-escalation tactics in an Australian context

Use boundary setting techniques that support your professional network

Have tough talks with prescribed communication strategies

Prevent and Protect

Cultivate your own resilience tools to prevent emotional fatigue

Design proactive communication methodologies to anticipate behavioural escalation

Develop systems in your workplace that limit the effect of hard behaviour on the workplace team

What You Will Learn

Module 1: Difficult Behaviours Demystified You will learn about the personality types that are likely to cause friction at work and why people may be defensive or aggressive in their approach to others. You'll learn to distinguish between personality clashes and truly bad behaviour and find out when you need to change your approach and when you need to confront the issue head on.

Unit 2: Reading the Early Warning Signs Before: Each time before an explosion the signs were ever there. You will know the verbal and non verbal signs that someone is about to get defensive, shut down, or start becoming aggressive. This early detection mechanism will be your super power in preventing little concerns from turning into big workplace dramas.

Module 3: De-escalation Techniques That Work from Lexi We'll go over how to use specific words, change tone, and use body language in a way that allows you to always have the upper hand when someone is trying to upset you. You'll rehearse redirecting negative energy and how to respond to common challenging behaviours (including interrupting, making excuses, and emotional outbursts).

Module 4, The Difficult Conversations This module will explore how to approach challenging behaviour in a professional and direct way. You'll discover solid methods for giving feedback to people who are on the defensiveness, calling out bad behaviour without making enemies, and documenting problems when it's time for escalation.

Module 5: Defending Your Own Mental Energy It is emotionally exhausting to deal with difficult people. You will learn how to maintain your own well being, establish healthy boundaries and prevent other people's toxic behaviours from impacting your job satisfaction and performance.

Module 6, Resilient Team Dynamics We'll finish by looking at how to build resilient team environments where challenging behaviours are naturally discouraged and constructive communication is encouraged. You will also learn how to cultivate workplace cultures in which issues are quickly and professionally addressed, rather than swept under the rug.

Course Structure

Duration: Full day invitation or three 2.5 hour sessions

Form of Study: Workshops including role play and group exercises, case studies

Materials: In depth workbook, complete with templates, scripts, and reference guides

Follow up: 30 days of email support, along with extra resources and tips

Summary

This is not some theoretical psychology course like you get in college. It's a hands on guide tailored to the Australian workplace, informed by lived experiences and evidence based practice. You will walk away empowered to deal with any difficult personality, tactics to stop small issues from becoming big ones, and, most importantly, methods to guard your own mental energy while working with your colleagues.

You're not going to become a workplace therapist, you're going to develop the tools to be able to do your actual job without spending all day managing other people's drama. After this class, you'll never spend a sleepless night rehashing a solution to a tough conversation, wondering what you really could have done differently.

For more information about our comprehensive range of workplace communication training programs, contact us today.