Think Learn Succeed

How to say no

Meredith was a Human Resources consultant. She was passionate about supporting her clients. But this meant that she often said ‘yes’ to work she had little time to do. She was working long and starting to feel burnt out.

Meredith was taking on some projects to keep her clients happy, even though those projects fell outside her core area of expertise. This meant she was working excessive hours in order to master them. It was time Meredith started saying ‘no’ to these projects. She came to one of my communication skills training sessions. Here are some of the ideas Meredith picked up. You can use the same principles to say no to time-wasting tasks in your job, too.

10/09/2016 By Eleanor Shakiba TLS Services communication skills • communication skills training • conflict coaching • conflict resolution • conflict resolution training • emotional intelligence • leadership • leadership coaching • mediation skills • team building • team conflict • team dynamics • workplace conflict 0 Comments

Kiera and Jason didn’t get on. Annette, their supervisor, tried to sort things out. But Kiera insisted it was all Jason’s fault.

Kiera refused to acknowledge her own part in the conflict. In desperation, Annette enrolled in my course on Dealing with Difficult People. During a break, I talked to Annette about how to set boundaries and limits on poor behaviour in the team. You might find these tips useful, too.

09/09/2016 By Eleanor Shakiba COMMUNICATION assertive communication • assertiveness • communication coaching • communication skills • communication skills training • difficult people • emotional intelligence • influencing skills • persuasion 0 Comments

Trish needed to break news her clients didn’t want to hear. She wondered how to make the process easier.

Although Trish was an auditor, her question was one many professionals ask. Doctors, lawyers and Human Resources practitioners are just three examples of people who regularly need to deliver unpopular messages. Does your work involve breaking bad news or giving critical feedback? Then you’ll be interested in the advice we gave Trish’s team in their custom-designed training program.

09/09/2016 By Eleanor Shakiba COMMUNICATION change management • communication skills • communication skills training • conflict resolution • emotional intelligence • influencing skills • leadership • leadership coaching • persuasion • positive psychology 0 Comments

How to make change positive

Sean was preparing to announce the relocation of the company’s head office. Some staff might react badly to this change. How could he get everyone onside?

Sean needed to prepare his presentation very carefully. I helped him use NLP framing techniques to build a positive message. You can use the same techniques whenever you need to announce a change or introduce challenging news.

31/08/2016 By Eleanor Shakiba COMMUNICATION active listening • communication skills • communication skills training • difficult people • empathic listening • empathy • reflective listening • showing empathy 0 Comments

How to show empathy during tough conversations

A little empathy makes a big difference to difficult conversations.

Empathy is the ability to recognise and acknowledge how someone else is feeling. You may not agree with those feelings. But you CAN recognise the other person’s point of view and show respect for it. Here’s how to show empathy in tough situations.

31/08/2016 By Eleanor Shakiba COMMUNICATION assertiveness • boundary setting • communication skills training • emotional intelligence • saying no • setting boundaries • setting limits • time management • women in business 0 Comments

Guilt-Free Ways to Say No

Finding it difficult to turn people down? Here’s how to say no when you need to.

The direct no

You may sometimes feel you need to explain why you’re saying no. The problem is, explanations are often heard as excuses. For some people, your excuse is an opportunity to persuade you to say ‘yes’.

A direct approach is often needed. And some ways of saying ‘no’ work better than others. Saying ‘I can’t/won’t’ gets straight to the point but the most likely instant response will be ‘why not?’ Before you know it, you’re in explanation territory again.

31/08/2016 By Eleanor Shakiba COMMUNICATION assertive communication • assertiveness • communication skills • communication skills training • conflict resolution • conflict resolution training • emotional intelligence • leadership • team building • team conflict • team dynamics • workplace conflict 0 Comments

The FAST way to sort out conflict

Negotiation can be challenging, particularly in a conflict situation. Using FAST principles will help you keep the conversation in ‘okay’ mode.

Focus on one issue at a time

Difficult negotiations can be derailed by side issues. So you need to focus and keep the conversation focussed on one thing at a time. Sometimes, during conflict, the other person deliberately tries to take the conversation off-track. But you can prevent diversions by identifying the key issue which needs to be resolved.

31/08/2016 By Eleanor Shakiba COMMUNICATION assertive communication • assertiveness • communication skills • communication skills training • conflict resolution • conflict resolution training • difficult people • emotional intelligence • influencing skills • negotiation skills • persuasion • team dynamics • workplace conflict 0 Comments

Keep control of difficult conversations

Dreading the drama of a crunch point conversation? These four steps will help you through conversations with difficult people

Yes. Other people behave badly sometimes. But there are constructive ways you can broach tricky subjects, minimise conflict and move beyond impasses. Here are five ways to get started.

31/08/2016 By Eleanor Shakiba COMMUNICATION communication skills • communication skills training • conflict resolution • emotional intelligence • influencing skills • negotiation skills • persuasion 0 Comments

Amplify Your Influence: Steps for Success

Are you struggling to get others to listen to you? These strategies will help you get through to them

Widen your perspective

To influence others, you need to make what you say matter to them. Look at your proposal from their perspective as well as from your own. What benefits are important to them? How will what you want also help them? Be as specific as possible and keep in mind that different people have different needs and aspirations. Tailor what you say to the particular person you say it to.

31/08/2016 By Eleanor Shakiba COMMUNICATION assertive communication • assertiveness • communication skills • communication skills training • conflict resolution training • negative people 0 Comments

How to handle negative people

Bad attitudes can be infectious. So how do you stay immune?

Have you noticed how quickly bad attitudes can spread through a team? They seem far more contagious than good attitudes. And there’s a reason for this. Our brains are ‘wired’ to pick up emotions – in particular, emotions which signal something is wrong. Negativity is one of those emotions. But there are steps you can take to prevent yourself catching a team mate’s bad attitude.

Tag: communication skills training