Powerful Phrases for Dealing With Difficult People

Always end your conflict resolution discussions with a positive comment about your relationship. “I value our working relationship…. Going forward I feel we'll be able to work through any problem.” “I'm glad we talked this out…. Now I'm confident we can work through any problem.” “I respect you…and know that we'll work even more closely now.” “I'm

After offering a phrase of resolution, Kate said: “I'm so glad we talked this out. I value our working relationship and wouldn't want anything to detract from that.” (reconciliation) They both left the meeting pleased with the outcome

You began your conversation with an “I” phrase and a phrase of understanding. You may or may not have felt the need to apologize. You then incorporated phrases of compromise during your discussion and, after reaching agreement, followed up with a phrase of resolution. Before ending the discussion, take one more step and say something about the valu

It's a good idea to restate the resolution just in case you misinterpreted what you and your coworker agreed

If you're not sure the solution is agreeable to everyone, voice your phrase of resolution as a question. “Are you satisfied with the solution?” “Is there anything else we need to talk about?” “Do you feel we have a better understanding of what caused the problem?” “How do you feel about the solution?” “I'm happy with our compromise. How do you feel

After finding a solution that's agreeable to all parties, add a phrase of resolution to show your appreciation that you were able to reach an agreement. “I'm happy…we could resolve this.” “I'm glad…we talked this out. We have a better understanding of what happened.” “I'm pleased…we were able to clear up the misunderstanding.” “I'm thrilled…we were

Offering a phrase of resolution is an important next step. You want to make sure that everyone truly is in agreement about the outcome and, in the event that you aren't able to garner agreement from all the involved parties, you want to make sure that everyone understands why this is the best solution.

During your discussion to resolve the problem, it's important to remain flexible so you'll want to incorporate additional phrases of compromise. “Here's how you see the issue: ________. And here's how I see it: ________. Let's see where we can come together on this.” “Since we don't agree why this happened, let's lay out the facts and come up with

When you open your conversation with an “I” phrase and offer a phrase of understanding and your colleague doesn't take responsibility, you'll want to add a phrase of compromise to continue the dialogue. “Let's talk about this. I need to know why it happened and how we can keep it from happening again.” “Can we talk about what happened?” “I feel tha