You can’t blame managers for feeling some reluctance when it comes to having challenging conversations with peers and direct reports.  Most people feel some uneasiness when facing a necessary discussion they know has a lot of emotion attached to it.  A couple of resources posted by The Ken Blanchard Companies this month can help.  Depending on the level of knowledge and encouragement a manager might be looking for, each of these resources can play a part in helping to ease some of the anxiety, or provide a structure for moving forward.

Handle Challenging Conversations with Confidence–a short online article featuring the thinking of Eryn Kalish, mediator, conflict resolution expert, and co-author of The Ken Blanchard Companies’ Challenging Conversations program.  Introduces five skills Kalish recommends as a way of feeling comfortable and being open to others’ feelings.

Challenging Conversations: Strategies for Turning Conflict into Creativity –a four page white paper that takes a look at common misconceptions about challenging conversations, six types of conflict, and why managers avoid emotionally charged situations.

Challenging Conversations: 5 Communication Skills for Transforming Conflict into Productivity–a free 60-minute webinar recording where Kalish shares a 5-step model that explains how to handle the most challenging, intense, and emotionally-charged types of conversations.

Whether the topic is delivering a difficult message, giving tough performance feedback, or confronting insensitive behavior, managers need to step into the “uncomfortableness” of each situation.  Check out these resources.  They can help.