Summary:
Conflict is inevitable. As humans, we have individual needs and goals that we try to meet. Conflict occurs when we perceive or experience:
- Incompatible goals or needs
- Different processes/routes to a goal
- Interference in meeting our goals or needs
This course teaches you how to explore those differences, look for common ground, build understanding, and find solutions that meet the needs of both parties in a collaborative way. We will also explore how to handle problematic behaviour to prevent conflict from escalating. Conversations such as these can be difficult as emotions may escalate, so you will also learn how to handle defensiveness and anger – both yours and the other party’s.
You will learn a combination of methods to establish rapport, defuse anger, explore assumptions, clarify issues, identify needs and interests, and negotiate mutually agreeable solutions.
Course content can be custom-designed to meet your timeline and needs from topics such as:
- Adversarial and collaborative approaches
- Destructive and positive functions of conflict
- Various personal styles of resolving conflict
- Identifying issues and individual interests/needs
- Understanding the reasons we react and behave the way we do
- Communication skills for listening & asserting/speaking
- Clarifying assumptions
- Conflict resolution model
- Self-management, setting limits and disengaging
- Understanding emotion
- Responding to defensiveness, anger, and resistance
Methods:
The learning environment includes instruction, exercises, small and large group discussions, and lots of hands-on practice. My goal is to help you develop your skills and sense of confidence.
*Note: I am also a certified personal coach with experience working with individuals on this topic. I can work with you one-on-one to learn and practice these skills in a confidential setting.
Pam Penner was exceptionally helpful to me when I was facing a transitional time in my career. She was able to assist me in isolating the issues I was facing and providing perspective that allowed me to move on. I would highly recommend her services.
M.V.
I decided to try coaching to overcome a longstanding block I experienced with being successful at interviews. Pam put me at ease during our coaching sessions and skillfully helped me to believe in my ability to perform well at interviews and more importantly in many other areas of my life. Her coaching was a major contribution to my success in being offered the job of my dreams in a highly competitive process.
S.R.
Pam worked with me to dig into what truly motivates me at work and how to deal with difficult client relationship issues. We also discussed how I could get more satisfaction in my free time. Since my meetings with her, I have produced a successful children’s tv show and have re-connected to my love of making art. Pam is patient and thoughtful and helps you to ask yourself the questions that will move you forward. By working with her and doing the homework she assigned, I feel I have a deeper understanding of how to be my best self.
B. Dawson
Working with Pam helped me gain clarity and stay grounded during a period of change and uncertainty in my life.
Through exercises, reflections, and questions, Pam provided a framework that helped me assess where I was at, where I wanted to go, and what were the blockages in getting there. With a forward-looking approach, Pam helped me set goals and follow through on my commitments to myself. Pam helped me more clearly articulate my values and then assess my possible career paths in terms of how they aligned with what was important to me.
The work was still mine to do, but Pam was an indispensable guide in the process, keeping me on track and accountable, always in a supportive way. The exercises and tools I learned will help me long into the future.
Amy Frye
I have utilized Pam’s skills as a facilitator working with our Safety Committees at both Canfor and Tolko. As a facilitator, she creates an environment where all participants become actively engaged in the process. The results are demonstrated in a strong commitment by the participants to achieving the targets and goals that are agreed to. Participants leave the process with positive comments about the process and Pam’s ability to engage them in a positive outcome.