Win-Win Conversations

Creating a Psychologically Safe Space for Effective Meetings

In our previous two blog posts, we’ve looked at the importance of having a clear purpose and clear objectives for your meeting, as well as ensuring time and attention are spent on the process as well as the content. Today, we will delve deeper into process management, particularly in relation to how people interact with …

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What-How-Team-Meetings

Top Tips for Structuring an Effective Team Meeting

From the hum of bustling team huddles to the high-stakes decisions made in boardroom discussions, meetings serve as the lifeblood of any organisation. They provide a collaborative space where progress is assessed, goals are set, and crucial decisions are made. Yet, we’ve all experienced the frustration of sitting through an ineffective meeting—a room filled with …

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Managing a Crisis-Mary Rafferty Consensus Mediation

Managing a Crisis? 3 First Aid Tips for ‘Difficult Conversations’

Even when your organisation is in crisis mode you still need to hold people accountable. Yet raising ‘difficult’ issues -performance, behaviour, or any unmet expectations – is hard to do properly when the stakes are high and everyone is running on adrenalin. So how can you manage those ‘difficult conversations’ in a time-strapped, pressure cooker …

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Framing What You Need To Say In A Difficult Conversation Mary Rafferty Consensus Mediation

Framing What You Need To Say In A ‘Difficult Conversation’ – Free Template

Download Word Doc version of ‘Framing Your Key Messages‘ Download a completed template ‘Framing Your Key Messages in Addressing an Issue‘  in relation to addressing lateness. (This is an example of how you might use the template , it is not a prescription or recommendation. Your context, situation and way of expressing yourself might be completely different.) …

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Difficulties in Working relationships Mary Rafferty Consensus Mediation

Difficulties In Working Relationships: Understand And Reverse The Negative Cycle

When we find ourselves becoming increasingly annoyed, upset or fearful around someone’s behaviour and attitude over an extended period of time, here’s what tends to happen for many people: We start to have increasingly negative thoughts about that person/persons which in turn causes us to experience a greater level of unpleasant emotions such as anger, …

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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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How to Listen when someone is Offloading on you Mary Rafferty Consensus Mediation

How Do You Listen If Someone Is Upset, Annoyed And Off-Loading On You?

Listening is a much-lauded but greatly under-used skill – and not because we don’t know how to listen well.  Instead, it’s that so easily fall into the trap of trying to ‘fix’ the situation rather than taking the time to let a person talk (and think it) through and in doing that, find their own way …

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