People Management

The Leadership Habit That Could Save You Hours Every Week

How often do you walk out of a meeting or one-to-one and think, “What just happened there?” or “That could have been so much quicker”? You know that feeling – someone pops their head in the door asking for a “quick chat,” and an hour later you’re still sitting there, no clearer about what was […]

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Why your team says ‘yes’ but doesn’t follow through

Does this ever happen to you?You have a meeting with a colleague or your management team. Everyone nods in agreement. You leave thinking the way forward is clear. And yet, a week later, the same issue is back on the table and nothing has shifted at all. You might find yourself wondering: “Why aren’t they

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Does Your Team Have Meetings After (or Before!) the Meeting?

Listening to a podcast recently, I was struck by social scientist Brene Brown’s response when asked about the culture of her organisation: “The culture of our organization is, there’s no meeting after the meeting” To what extent could you say that in the case of the team you lead there are no meetings after (or

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Problem solving in Conversations Mary Rafferty Consensus Mediation

Problem-Solving Conversations – Drop the Advice and Help People Think for Themselves

Facilitating people to come up with their own solutions rather than telling them what to do is probably the number one challenge most participants in Mediation training courses identify. The skill or rather combination of micro-skills encompassed in an ‘Ask and Listen’ rather than ‘Tell and Sell’ approach to problem-solving are also essential competencies in

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Persisting Behaviour despite Feedback Mary Rafferty Consensus Mediation

What If Someone Persists In A Behaviour Despite Your Feedback?

You’ve asked them once, you’ve asked them a second time and yet the behaviour still keeps happening. How to address behaviour that persists despite your feedback about it… Transcript Hi Mary Rafferty here Today I want to talk to you about a question that came up yesterday in a seminar I was delivering to a

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Chinese Whispers in Difficult Conversations Mary Rafferty Consensus Mediation

Don’t Play Chinese Whispers In Difficult Conversations!

“I know you think you understand what you thought I said but I’m not sure you realize that what you heard is not what I meant” (Alan Greenspan, American Economist)  It’s so easy to mishear and misunderstand what others are saying to us and vice verse, particularly when tensions are starting to rise. Here’s a simple

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Trying to get your point across but they wont listen Mary Rafferty Consensus Mediation

Trying To Get Your Point Across But They Won’t Listen?

Ever feel you’ve hit a brick wall (or an iceberg!) when trying to get your point across to someone? No matter what you say they just won’t listen. Here’s another way to think about how to handle this situation… Video Transcript Mary Rafferty here, in today’s video I want to share an analogy that can

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Circular arguing - Mary Rafferty, Consensus Mediation.

Going Around In Circles In A Conversation? Circular Arguing And How To Break That Cycle

A common question in ‘Difficult Conversations for Managers’ workshops is what to do when it feels like you are in one of those fruitless dialogues, a circular argument, repeating the same thing without achieving anything.The other person isn’t listening or taking on board what you need them to hear or understand. A recent example was

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Frustrated trying to Deal with Difficult Conversations Mary Rafferty Consensus Mediation

Frustrated Trying To Deal With Difficult Behaviour? Try These 3 Simple Shifts

Frustrated trying to deal with difficult behaviour? Imagine you had a magic weather wand. A simple wave and you would have glorious sunshine, a gentle breeze with a cloudless blue sky above. With your magic wand you would lighten people’s moods, you’d lift people’s energy and motivation. In one swoosh, you could banish the grey

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