Meredith Gardner Warns That Learning To Handle A Difficult Conversation Is Essential To A Person's Future

Meredith Gardner, Ph.D. is an expert in resolving conflict in the workplace, both individually and in groups. Her work gives her tremendous satisfaction, knowing that she has been able to make a positive difference in the lives of others. All her programs are in-house corporate training packages. She specifically deals with sensitive issues, like handling difficult conversations. With her company The Strategic Edge, http://www.strategic-edge.com, she is keen to stress that handling these issues is vital to how a person would progress in the corporate organization.

"My experience is that everyone needs to be accountable to each other," explains Meredith. "Sometimes they don't think so and act out inappropriately. The CEO is ultimately accountable to the Board of Directors for the company's performance. The chairman of a company is the head of its board. Hence, even the most senior people in an organization, from bottom up and top to bottom and sideways, must learn how to communicate and not be condescending."

Meredith points out that relationships sour when people alienate others through poor communication skills. This affects collaboration, innovation, creativity, and more. She believes that it is vital to learn what needs to happen in these conversations, something that she addresses in her training programs.

Meanwhile, she has also established specific programs for people in the IT industry, as can be seen at http://www.strategic-cio-solutions.com. She adds: "You must set up the ground rules for your next difficult conversation. This is challenging in part because you don't know if or when the discussion will go off the rails. To make sure that things will go smoothly, agree on a code of conduct with your counterpart beforehand. At a minimum, suggest no interrupting, no yelling, and no personal attacks."

She suggests asking the counterpart for their most basic rules, and writing all of them down. This creates accountability on both sides. She also provides guidelines on having the conversation itself: "Get permission, explain the situation and context, frame the conversation gracefully, state your issue, ask for their perspective, arrive at a mutual understanding, arrive at a resolution. What you do is share, tell, and ask. How you do it is by talking and encouraging."

Those interested in learning how to have difficult conversations or any of the other training options offered by The Strategic Edge are encouraged to visit the company website. For more details on Meredith Gardner's expertise, those interested can visit http://linkedin.com/in/meredithgardnerphd.