The Training is broken into 2 phases and 6 sections.

Phase 1: Assessment.

Phase 1 involves understanding why conflict starts and escalates. What are the psychological triggers? Can we identify the exacerbating behaviors? Are their systemic company concerns? Is the corporate culture typically to Underreact or Overreact to conflict? Based on this information, what are the simple steps to resolving your office’s particular conflicts. These steps are based on 25 years of experience resolving workplace conflict, 7 years of studying how to resolve workplace conflict effectively for dissertation research, and a best-selling book on office conflict. Dr. Fowler’s trainings and techniques have been adopted by Google, Sirius, Harvard, and hundreds of other offices. These techniques will be explained in an approachable way, that can be easily presented to employees. The purpose is to make your employees feel empowered to resolve conflicts, not overwhelmed by distant theory and data.

Phase 2: Action.

The 2nd phase will focus on preventing future conflicts. The goal of this phase is to empower you to quickly diagnose and triage conflicts that are brought to your desk. Your job, after all, is not to solve everyone’s problem; Your job is to foster an engaged and motivated team. This session will focus more on your particular office culture. What preventative strategies would be embraced by your team? What does the timeline and roll-out look like?

Phase 1 will focus on building grassroots acceptance. Phase 2 will focus on support by management, to ensure management is modeling the practices taught to their employees.

Dr. Fowler and fellow experts will also focus on how to recognize and handle abuse, create a trauma-informed office, and create a resolution plan with unions and general counsel.

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*Please note: This is a fast-paced training, designed for HR and management staff alike. This is not a training on becoming a mediator or specific mediation skills. If you have interest in becoming a Workplace Mediator, check out our Workplace Mediation Training.

Agenda:

SESSION 1:

Intro and Purpose:

• Empowered
• Under and Overreact:
• Thunder Turtle Syndrome
• Psychology of Conflict:
• Recognition, Reaction, Role

SESSION 2:

PHASE 1: Assessment:

• What is in the backpack? Carrying everything weighs us down
• Empty the Backpack:
• What communication hindered
• What communication helped
• Refilling the Backpack:
• Hold
• Change Toss

SESSION 3:

What to Hold:

• How to Protect It (Group Brainstorm)
• Individual and Team Systems
• Management Support
• What to Change:
• Group Workshopping What to Toss and Why

SESSION 4:

Positions/Interests/Value

• Interests In
• Filtering
• Deescalating Difficult Situations
• Listening Between the Lines
• Rephrasing
• Group Practice
• Name it to Tame it (behaviors and situation)

SESSION 5:

Phase 2: Action

Interests Out –

• What do I want to say
• Instead of growing issues, venting, or avoiding
• Try elf, straight no chaser, biff, 3-2-1
• My Negotiation Style
• What is my behavior and goal?

SESSION 6:

What is the Company Style?

• Setting boundaries, empowering employees, goals, and securing management support
• Strong Conversations
• Negotiations, Check-ins, Next Steps
• Strong Meetings
• Facilitation, SONAR
• Strong Employees
• Mental Health Benefits
• Celebrating Little Victories