Difficult employees and people can be a major source of frustration. Poor attitudes can try your patience, grate on your nerves, and make life miserable. As a manager, you've no doubt discovered that it's tough to end these nagging attitude problems using ordinary performance improvement and disciplinary techniques.

This training will identify the specific problem behaviors you must face everyday to help you better understand why difficult people respond so predictably and persistently. We will present numerous ways you can minimize and alter their behavior permanently. These techniques will help you uncover and handle the root causes of attitude problems so you can get employees with poor attitudes back on track for good.

Learn:

Through active participation in this session you will learn to redirect conflict towards creative and mutual conclusions as well as maintain the spirit of cooperation and teamwork necessary for a productive and functioning work place. You will learn how to confront problem behaviors in others and how to effectively negotiate solutions. You will be able to prevent and defuse emotionally charged situations and steadily increase your effectiveness and the effectiveness of your team. Through this training you will bolster your self-confidence, better manage manipulative behaviors while you minimize their effects, and seek solutions that are easier and less costly than firing.

Objectives:

• Learn to recognize and understand the problem employee and the specific behaviors you must face.

• Learn the major causes of attitude problems and how to prevent them.

• Identify the typical weapons difficult people use and how to confront and conquer them.

• Discover the strengths and weaknesses of active and reactive management.

• Understand methods to redirect conflict towards creative and mutual conclusions while maintaining morale and teamwork.

• Use problem solving exercises to learn how to prevent and defuse emotionally charged situations.

• Bolster self-confidence as you learn to manage manipulative behavior and minimize its effectiveness.

• Counsel marginal performers and confront those who think they're "above it all."

• Learn to stay calm and objective in the face of a difficult employee's onslaught.

• Learn how to profit from even lost-conflicts with the difficult employee.

• Translate what you learn into action.

Outline:
 

Recognizing And Understanding The Problem Employee

                A. The Classic Types Of Difficult People And How To Handle Them

                B. Typical Weapons Difficult People Use -- Confronting And Conquering Them

Fine Tuning And Adjusting Attitudes

                A. The Major Causes Of Attitude Problems And How To Stamp Them Out

                                1. Tip-offs that an attitude problem is brewing -- how to head it off

Specific Problems -- Recommended Treatments

                A. Counseling The Marginal Performer

                B. Stopping Employees Who Take Shots At Rules, Regulations, Or Procedures

                C. The "I Don't Care" Disposition And Ways To Turn It Around

                D. Steps To Take When A Disgruntled Employee Gets Others Rallied Against You

                E. Handling Employees Who Think They're "Above It All"

                                1. Answering employees who say, "THAT'S NOT MY JOB!"

                F. Responding To Employees Who Think They Know More Than You

                G. Stopping The Strictly 9-5 Attitude

Techniques Towards Management Of Difficult Employees

                A. Active Versus Reactive Management Responses

                                1. Predict, Plan, Prepare, Organize, And Practice For Difficult Encounters

                B. Learning How To Stay Calm, Objective, And Detached/Non-Emotional

                C. Positive Methods That Yield Results To Alter Negative Employee Behaviors

                D. When You Feel Like You Lost After A Tiff With Mr. Or Ms. Difficult?

                                1. Sure fire techniques to neutralize those feelings

                E. Profiting From Each Difficult Encounter So "Next Times" Are Fewer And Easier

Enhancing Your Communication And Coaching Skills

                A. Fine Tuning Your Primary Instrument: Active Listening

                B. The Basics Of Clear Communication (Two-Way)

                C. Tapping Into An Employee's Potential Through Asking Questions

                                1. Silence, re-wording, and probing may be effective tools

                D. Perceptions: The Employee's Conclusion And The Manager's Conclusion

                                1. Listening to content, acknowledging emotions, and by-passing them till later

Assertive Communication -- A Powerful Tool

                A. Language: Verbal And Non-verbal

                B. Expressing Emotions With Logic And Appropriateness

                                1. Focusing on honest, open, and appropriate communication

                C. Acknowledging Your Own Needs Along With Others'

                D. Choosing What You Say Confidently And Accurately So Others Understand

                E. Expressing Disapproval, And Disagreement Without Opposing

                F. Saying "I" Not "You;" "And" Not "But;" And "NO (Without Guilt) Plus Why!"

Conflict Management

                A. Dealing with Thoughts Before They Become Actions

                B. Finding And Eliminating The Root Problem In Any Conflict

                C. Understanding Power In The Face Of Conflict Situations

                D. Your Responses To Combativeness Can Stop It Cold In Its Tracks

                E. Viewing Confrontation As An Opportunity For Success And Growth

                F. Practical, Quick Steps And Methods To Permanently Resolve Conflict

                G. Negotiating Mutually Beneficial Relationships

Goal Setting -- The Backbone For Productivity And Work

                A. Learning The Steps To Reasonable Goals And Expectations (Check Them Out)

                                1. Inspecting what you expect -- stay on-track towards goal achievement

                                2. Understanding the joint advantages and power of goal setting

                B. Developing Clear-cut, Measurable Outcomes For Employee Performance

                C. Practicing Methods And Learn Techniques To Construct Targeted Goals

                D. Advantages Of On-going Objective Goal Oriented Performance Feedback

Motivation That Links Performance To Job Goals

                A. Employee Expectations Of The Organization (You And Their Job)

                B. Why Changes In Employee Standards Require Responsive Management

                                1. The strengths and how-to's of positive feedback

                C. Sure Fire Formula To Keep Employee Achievement In Line With Job Goals

                D. Motivating Employees With The Right Motivators To Be Productive -- Incentives

                E. Understanding What Motivates the Difficult People You Deal With!

                F. How To Motivate Problem Employees Through Greater Understanding

The Last Resort

                A. Obtaining Compliance With Established Rules Of Conduct

                B. Development Or Discipline?

                                1. Determining seriousness of offense

                                2. Obtaining all necessary information

                C. The Options: Progressive discipline--development vs. correction vs. punishment

                D. Follow-Ups Require Careful "Handling"