Week 4 Assignment Template
Handling Difficult Conversations—Communication Analysis: Part 1

Prepared by: Replace this text with your name.

Date: Replace this text with the submission date.

Walden University

WMBA 6695:
Communication for Leaders and Managers

The Situation

You are a manager who has been co-leading an important project with Adam, a fellow manager. The project involves rolling out updates to the user experience for your company’s most important software product. At project kickoff, you and your counterpart, Adam, agreed to the aggressive rollout schedule provided by upper management. Just this week, however, you have discovered that Adam has prevented shipping the most recent update, which you had already signed off on, as he didn’t feel it was ready. Word has gotten back to you that Adam has been making comments such as “this company doesn’t care enough about quality” and “I’m the only one who really understands what our users want and need.”

After speaking to your supervisor about the issue to get their advice, the two of you agreed that your next step is to reach out to Adam to address the situation. Your goal is to arrive at an agreement on how you will work together going forward to ensure both a successful project and an effective working relationship. You have also agreed that you will send your colleague an email after the interaction to continue building your collegial relationship and to ensure that your agreed-upon plan is in writing.

To begin, you have scheduled an in-person conversation with Adam to discuss the delays and to reach agreement on how you will work together going forward. You want to be sure to fully explore his concerns and priorities and make appropriate adjustments, if they are needed, while also clearly expressing your own concerns and priorities.

Simulation Challenges and Objectives

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Challenge/Objective 1: Frame the purpose of the conversation, describe the situation that necessitated the conversation, and set a tone of mutual respect and problem solving.

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Challenge/Objective 2: Ask for your colleague’s concerns and priorities related to the situation.

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Challenge/Objective 3: Share personal observations, concerns, and priorities related to the situation.

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Challenge/Objective 4: Explore solutions and strategies to reach mutual agreement on how to work together going forward.

Important Note: In the simulation experience, you will not be notified when you have met or not met a challenge and its objective. However, the avatar will respond positively when you “hit” the challenge and will react in a more negative manner if you “miss” the challenge. Please consult the WMBA 6695 Simulation Preparation (PDF) document for more information about the avatars.  

Part 1: Handling Difficult Conversations Checklist

Instructions: For each item on the checklist, write out a script, detailed notes, or key points that will help you respond during your live, online simulation experience. You will submit this as your Pre-Assessment and will then use this document to guide your one-on-one conversation simulation experience.

Frame the Conversation

_____ Welcome Adam warmly and thank him for meeting with you today.

Replace this text with your script, detailed notes, or key points to remember for your live, online simulation experience.

_____ State the purpose of the conversation briefly and succinctly by telling Adam you want to make sure any quality concerns are addressed and that your working relationship is on track going forward.

Replace this text with your script, detailed notes, or key points to remember for your live, online simulation experience.

_____ Recommend a process for the conversation (i.e., Adam will first share his concerns and thoughts that led him to delay the release and then you will share your perspective; from there, the two of you can work together to find a way to work more effectively together going forward).

Replace this text with your script, detailed notes, or key points to remember for your live, online simulation experience.

Understand Adam’s Concerns

_____ Invite Adam to share his thoughts and concerns that led him to delay the release of the latest update.

Replace this text with your script, detailed notes, or key points to remember for your live, online simulation experience.

_____ Empathize with Adam’s point of view by restating this perspective in a way that reflects both the content and his emotions, if any, without agreeing or disagreeing with his point of view.

Replace this text with your script, detailed notes, or key points to remember for your live, online simulation experience.

_____ Invite Adam to continue to elaborate, asking if there is anything else it would be helpful for you to understand. Repeat empathetic paraphrasing and asking for more information until it is clear Adam has fully shared his perspective.

Replace this text with your script, detailed notes, or key points to remember for your live, online simulation experience.

Share Your Concerns

_____ Thank Adam for sharing his thoughts on this situation and state that you’d like to share some of your perspectives. Get his agreement to go ahead.

Replace this text with your script, detailed notes, or key points to remember for your live, online simulation experience.

_____ Share your thoughts regarding both the delay and the comments that got back to you in a way that clearly labels your thoughts and feelings as distinct from the facts of what happened.

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_____ Manage your tone and body language, as well as your words, to avoid putting Adam on the defensive.

Replace this text with your script, detailed notes, or key points to remember for your live, online simulation experience.

_____ Thank Adam for listening to your concerns and point of view.

Replace this text with your script, detailed notes, or key points to remember for your live, online simulation experience.

Explore Solutions and Strategies

_____ Suggest that the two of you now spend some time working together to find solutions for co-leading the project more effectively going forward.

Replace this text with your script, detailed notes, or key points to remember for your live, online simulation experience.

_____ Stress your common interests—you both want the project to be successful and your leadership to be recognized as effective.

Replace this text with your script, detailed notes, or key points to remember for your live, online simulation experience.

_____ Ask for Adam’s ideas and combine these with your own to come to something you both agree is acceptable and will be effective.

Replace this text with your script, detailed notes, or key points to remember for your live, online simulation experience.

_____ End the conversation by summarizing the agreed-to plan, asking for additional comments or concerns, thanking Adam, and expressing gratitude.

Replace this text with your script, detailed notes, or key points to remember for your live, online simulation experience.