When I was a teacher, no-one told me how to manage parents! Working in a school means you’re inevitably going to have to deal with parents and some of these conversations will be difficult. If you or your team sometimes struggle with these conversations, then here’s something to help. My ‘Successful difficult conversations with parents […]
When you need to have a difficult conversation, it can feel like the other person will never change. In fact, that might be a reason for you to not waste time in having the conversation. However, in my experience, people do change in the vast majority of instances, even with some pretty entrenched behaviour: I’ve […]
Some people automatically flee from conflict. Perhaps they run away like a frightened child or flounce off with a flourish in a huff, or storm out angrily! What should you do? Let them walk away and then arrange another meeting, informing them that it is inappropriate to walk out of a meeting about work; such […]
As a leader, you are not going to witness everything that happens in your school. This means that your difficult conversations can be about things you have been told about but not seen first-hand. This is fine; it’s part of your leadership responsibility and an expectation that staff can come and report things they are […]
These tips and mistakes may sound obvious when they’re set out in black and white but, from my experience, these mistakes are frequently made by managers. Tackling someone’s poor performance can be very stressful for managers too and, at times of stress, we often forget to take basic steps before plunging into the middle of […]
To be honest, this is a bit chicken and egg (ok, I know the answer is egg, but you know what I mean). The two work together, they are symbiotic and symbolic. Let me explain: Symbiotic When I walk into an outstanding school, and I walk into a lot, the environment demands more of me. […]
You might be familiar with the ‘I do, we do, you do’ strategy. I’ve heard class teachers use it and you might know it by a different name. If you don’t I think it’s a really neat way to support someone develop. It works like this: I do – I demonstrate doing whatever the person […]
You know those difficult conversations you struggle to have because the person has upset, annoyed or angered you so much? You find it hard to have the conversation you need to because your emotions are running high. There is a technique that can help you called reframing. It’s where you try to see the situation […]
Thanks so much for all the replies to my question last week from Stuart, Sylvia, K, Jennifer and everyone else about what would make having difficult conversations easier for you. If you missed last week’s post, I’m Phil McMillan from Heads Up. This term I’ll be sharing some thoughts and looking to hear from you about […]
Do you hate having difficult conversations? I do. I’m Phil McMillan from Heads Up (aka Mr Sonia Gill!). Back when I was a team manager nothing filled me with more dread than having to tackle a member of my team about their performance or behaviour. Two weeks in to the new term and I’d imagine […]