Give people the skills they need to handle anything their job throws at them - confidently, professionally and calmly. When you're asking people to deal face to face with the public, there can be risks to them and to your organisation.
The learning and skills development from this powerful pack provide extra safety, greater security and more confidence for your staff. Each activity is targeted on getting the best possible outcomes from even the worst case scenarios.
All the activities focus on developing individual and organisational effectiveness in dealing with difficult and aggressive behaviour - whatever the source.
Using these activities you'll be able to:
- Show people some exceptionally important tactics - give them the practice they need in a safe environment.
- Knock down the barriers to dealing effectively with difficult situations.
- Help your people become superbly equipped, more confident and ready with effective and highly professional rapid responses
List of Activities:
1. Introductions and expectations
You and your course participants will get to know each other and establish the climate for the rest of the programme. You may introduce the optional Learning Log, for participants to record what happened, what they have learned and what they want to do differently next time.
2. Difficult and aggressive behaviour - definitions
Participants will start to define difficult and aggressive behaviour, and to place behaviours along a continuum - not too difficult/very difficult. This activity also provides an opportunity for participants to share their experiences of difficult and aggressive behaviour and to 'off-load'.
3. Phases of an incident
You introduce a model that describes the phases of an incident to help participants make sense of those they have already experienced and for use when faced with future incidents. Using the model will help participants to remain in control.
4. Triggers which may provoke an incident
Participants identify triggers - behaviours which may provoke difficult or aggressive responses, and from this move on to identify behaviours to avoid.
5. Responses to the phases of an incident
Participants consider responses to incidents they have had in the past, placing these into helpful and unhelpful categories and planning how to promote helpful responses.
6. Tactics for defusing difficult situations
Using case studies, participants identify tactics to use to defuse difficult situations and learn how to avoid a situation escalating. They will examine principles for action and techniques for defusing such situations.
7. Dealing with difficult and aggressive behaviour from colleagues and those senior to you
Using scenarios, participants consider possible responses to difficult and aggressive behaviour from colleagues and those more senior. They examine power and politics in the workplace and plan optimum responses, including signalling non-aggression and how to prevent situations arising.
8. Negotiating to minimise differences
A lively exercise to identify factors for successful negotiating, and to practise negotiation techniques throughout the exercise.
9. Dealing with conflict - possible outcomes
Participants are introduced to a range of possible options for dealing with conflict: collaborating, competing, accommodating, avoiding and compromising. It is an opportunity for participants to assess how they have dealt with conflicts in the past and to plan how to deal with conflict in the future, to get a win-win situation.
10. Non-verbal behaviour
Participants play a body language game to note the impact of non-verbal behaviour on communication. They then move on to consider their learning about body language and strategies to use to ensure that their body language is congruent with what they are saying.
11. Games and how to avoid them
This activity introduces the concept of 'games', based on the drama triangle. Participants then plot a game they have observed or played and explore options to move out of the game with a view to staying adult.
12. Unhelpful messages - breaking the pattern
We all carry unhelpful messages in our heads - 'I must try harder' for example. This activity is a chance to reframe unhelpful messages regarding dealing with difficult and aggressive behaviour. This will help break the pattern for individual participants, so that they remain effective when dealing with difficult behaviour.
13. Positive relationships - building rapport
Participants may be experiencing difficult and aggressive behaviour as a response to communication breakdowns. This activity helps participants to build rapport, introducing the key skills of matching, pacing and leading and providing an opportunity to practise them.
14. Skills for responding to difficult and aggressive behaviour
One effective way to respond to difficult and aggressive behaviour can be to challenge it. Participants consider what challenging is, and is not, and then move on to practise the skills.
15. Exploring and managing blocks to dealing with difficult and aggressive behaviour
Participants use visual images to identify their personal blocks to remaining effective in dealing with difficult and aggressive behaviour and then move on to plan how to manage and minimise them.
16. Action and responsibilities during an incident
Participants use given scenarios to plan action and to identify responsibilities during an incident. This activity is an opportunity to think hard about what to do if faced with a difficult or aggressive incident.
17. Action and responsibilities after an incident
Participants consider the needs of the person on the receiving end of an incident and how best to meet those needs after it has occurred. They plan for debriefing, including how, when and with whom they would want to debrief, when necessary.
18. Organisational issues
Participants identify what resources (equipment, policies and procedures) are available now, within their organisations, to minimise the risk of, and/or to cope with, difficult and aggressive behaviour; to consider what they need and to plan how to get it.
19. Personal development planning
Participants now plan their next steps, implementing learning/planning for change as a result of what they have learned. If you have been using Learning Logs, participants will refer back to these to assist in their plans.
