Highlights
- Step-by-step conversation framework applicable to any difficult leadership situation
- Specific modules on feedback, performance conversations, and role-change discussions
- Dedicated AI adoption scenarios: code assistant quality, monitoring, and role automation
- Live practice with facilitator coaching and structured peer feedback
- Personal preparation templates participants keep and reuse
Course Details
Module 1: Structure and Deliver Challenging Conversations with Impact
- Plan conversations so they align with your goals, values, and the other person’s needs
- Use proven conversation frameworks to keep difficult discussions on track
- Balance assertiveness with empathy — saying what needs to be said without saying it badly
- Open conversations with clarity of purpose rather than softening that creates confusion
- Communicate decisions clearly, including those that are not open to negotiation
AI & Technology Workplace Scenarios
- AI context: Telling a developer their role is being redefined because AI now handles a significant portion of their previous workload
- AI context: Addressing a developer who submits AI-generated code without adequate review — a quality, ethics, and professional responsibility conversation
- AI context: Explaining clearly why AI tool adoption is mandatory and what the consequences of continued non-compliance are
Module 2: Manage Emotional Responses — Yours and Theirs
- Recognise emotional triggers in high-stakes dialogue — in yourself and in others
- Maintain composure and create psychological safety even when the conversation is uncomfortable
- Apply active listening techniques to defuse tension before it escalates
- Separate the emotional content of a conversation from the factual or behavioural issue at its core
- Stay grounded when the other person becomes upset, defensive, or withdrawn
AI & Technology Workplace Scenarios
- AI context: Managing your own anxiety when telling a senior team member their specialist role is being partly automated
- AI context: Responding to a developer who becomes emotional or hostile when AI performance monitoring is discussed
- AI context: Handling the emotional weight of a team where several people fear job loss due to AI tool deployment
Module 3: Stay Calm, Respectful, and Focused Under Pressure
- Respond constructively to defensiveness, denial, and resistance without being derailed
- Use tone, posture, and pacing deliberately to manage the atmosphere of the conversation
- Maintain clarity even when conversations veer off course or become emotionally charged
- Handle blame redirects and personal attacks without abandoning the core message
- Know when to pause a conversation and when to push through to a conclusion
AI & Technology Workplace Scenarios
- AI context: When an employee challenges the fairness of AI-generated performance data and accuses the system of bias
- AI context: Responding when a developer argues that using AI coding tools undermines their professional development
- AI context: Managing the conversation when a team member’s response to automation is to threaten a formal grievance
AI context: Scenario: Addressing a team member who submits AI-generated work without disclosure or review
AI context: Scenario: Delivering a message about AI performance flagging to an employee who strongly contests the data
Module 4: Practise in Realistic Scenarios, With or Without Role Play
Choose between structured role plays with character briefs or coached scenario simulations
Work through conversations that reflect your actual leadership context and challenges
Receive direct, actionable feedback from facilitators on language, structure, and emotional impact
Debrief each exercise to extract principles transferable to your real conversations
Leave with a personal preparation template ready to use before your next difficult conversation
AI & Technology Workplace Scenarios
AI context: Scenario: Giving feedback to a developer whose AI-assisted code has introduced a production bug
AI context: Scenario: Explaining to a high-performer that a significant part of their role has been automated
Who should attend
- Managers and team leaders who avoid or struggle with challenging conversations
- Technical leads delivering feedback to developers or analysts on AI tool adoption and quality standards
- HR professionals coaching managers through sensitive people conversations
- Leaders facing performance, behaviour, or role-change conversations in AI-disrupted teams
Feedback
4.8 out of 5 average
"I thought that the style of creating a backlog of user stories and inputting them into sprints was very helpful and that the practical at the end of the course was excellent. Overall, it gave me a great insight into agile project management."
GW, Project Manager, Scrum, April 2021
“JBI did a great job of customizing their syllabus to suit our business needs and also bringing our team up to speed on the current best practices. Our teams varied widely in terms of experience and the Instructor handled this particularly well - very impressive”
Brian F, Team Lead, RBS, Data Analysis Course, 20 April 2022