How to have Better Conversations

4.8

(13 ratings)

4 Weeks

Cohort-based Course

Discover the hidden secrets of this career-critical leadership skill. Then, deliver the course to your teams and spread the benefits.

How to have Better Conversations

4.8

(13 ratings)

4 Weeks

Cohort-based Course

Discover the hidden secrets of this career-critical leadership skill. Then, deliver the course to your teams and spread the benefits.

Hosted by

Steve McCann and Judy Rees

Previously at

Course overview

Communicate more effectively with these counter-intuitive techniques

Frustrations, conflicts, and unproductive conversations at work constantly impact our productivity, innovation and happiness.

This course addresses workplace communication challenges head on, and providing simple and practical strategies that can help.

Expect the unexpected: the programme draws attention to aspects of communication that are often overlooked. It might even challenge key parts of your everyday practice.

This 6 x one-hour course has proved successful in a wide range of settings, enhancing information flows and relationships within and between teams, and with clients and service users.

NEXT LEVEL: If you're keen to introduce Clean Language to the people you work with, you can pick up and apply this tried-and-tested approach straight away. The session scripts are free for you to use under creative commons licence once you've attended the classes.

This course is for...

Agile coaches, trainers and facilitators who want to deliver the benefits of Clean Language in organisations using an off-the-shelf format

Leaders who need to have more intentional and productive conversations with colleagues, delivering richer levels of mutual understanding

Members of cross-functional teams who want genuine connections with colleagues, especially under time and budget pressure

Agile coaches, trainers and facilitators who want to deliver the benefits of Clean Language in organisations using an off-the-shelf format

Leaders who need to have more intentional and productive conversations with colleagues, delivering richer levels of mutual understanding

Members of cross-functional teams who want genuine connections with colleagues, especially under time and budget pressure

Anyone who takes a client brief in a professional context and needs to ensure that they understand what is really wanted

Social impact professionals who seek to deliver results through networks, multi-agency collaborations and with volunteer stakeholders

What you’ll get out of this course

Clarity

A clearer focus on projects and tasks, what needs to be done and how these might be achieved together

Robust solutions

Fast learning, improved ideation and innovation because we can challenge each other safely

Improved teamwork

Better collaboration and accountability to ensure things get done well

Better relationships

Team and customer relationships improve through greater understanding and respect for other people's views and experiences

Higher productivity

Simply, more stuff gets done in less time because we can cut out the time wasted due to misunderstandings

Resilience

We support people to work at their best and have the conversations that encourage reflection and development

Better conversations at home

These skills can be used beyond the workplace: think better conversations with family members, including children

Deliver this course yourself

If you have groups and teams who'd benefit, you can pick up this course right off the shelf. All session scripts are available for you to use, free of charge, under creative commons licence

This course includes

7 interactive live sessions

Lifetime access to course materials

7 in-depth lessons

Direct access to instructor

6 projects to apply learnings

Guided feedback & reflection

Private community of peers

Course certificate upon completion

Maven Satisfaction Guarantee

This course is backed by Maven’s guarantee. You can receive a full refund within 14 days after the course ends, provided you meet the completion criteria in our refund policy.

Course syllabus

Expand all modules

Week 1
Mar 5—Mar 10
Week dates are set to instructor's time zone
Events
Mar
5
Class 1: Noticing Emotional State
Class 1: Noticing Emotional State
Tue, Mar 5, 1:00 PM - 2:00 PM UTC
Mar
7
Class 2: Unconscious Assumptions
Class 2: Unconscious Assumptions
Thu, Mar 7, 1:00 PM - 2:00 PM UTC
Modules
Module 1: Noticing Emotional State
Module 1: Noticing Emotional State
2 Lessons • 1 Project
Module 2: Unconscious Assumptions
Module 2: Unconscious Assumptions
1 Lesson • 1 Project
Week 2
Mar 11—Mar 17
Week dates are set to instructor's time zone
Events
Mar
12
Class 3: The Power of Context
Class 3: The Power of Context
Tue, Mar 12, 1:00 PM - 2:00 PM UTC
Mar
14
Optional: Catch-up Class
Optional: Catch-up Class
Thu, Mar 14, 1:00 PM - 2:00 PM UTC
Modules
Module 3: The Power of Context
Module 3: The Power of Context
1 Lesson • 1 Project
Week 3
Mar 18—Mar 24
Week dates are set to instructor's time zone
Events
Mar
19
Class 4: Listening with Curiosity
Class 4: Listening with Curiosity
Tue, Mar 19, 1:00 PM - 2:00 PM UTC
Mar
21
Class 5: Giving Evidence-Based Feedback
Class 5: Giving Evidence-Based Feedback
Thu, Mar 21, 1:00 PM - 2:00 PM UTC
Modules
Module 4: Listening with Curiosity
Module 4: Listening with Curiosity
1 Lesson • 1 Project
Module 5: Giving Evidence-Based Feedback
Module 5: Giving Evidence-Based Feedback
1 Lesson • 2 Projects
Week 4
Mar 25—Mar 26
Week dates are set to instructor's time zone
Events
Mar
26
Optional: Class 6: Integrating Your Learning
Optional: Class 6: Integrating Your Learning
Tue, Mar 26, 1:00 PM - 2:00 PM UTC
Modules
Module 6: Integrating Your Learning
Module 6: Integrating Your Learning
1 Lesson

4.8

(13 ratings)

What students are saying

Course schedule

Six one-hour sessions over three weeks

Tuesdays and Thursdays during March
1 - 2 pm UK time
Please note that US clocks go forward during this period
5, 7, 12, 19, 21, 26 March 2024

What people are saying

I have to give much credit to our two facilitators for their delivery of this wonderful course. Interesting format too: all virtual, 5 one-hour classes with a sixth bonus class. Hard to tell what was scripted and what was improvised, but a very solid structure and much to consider as I navigate both personal and professional conversations.

Dr Jeffrey Sheen

Senior Innovation Manager

I highly recommend the Better Conversations course to anyone wanting to improve their interpersonal and communication abilities. The skills genuinely make a difference if put into consistent practice.

Robert Moreno

Senior advisor, BayPLS mobile healthcare

Communication is key to everything we do in healthcare. I honestly believe this has improved patient care, and I think it has also improved my conversations with my colleagues. I’ve become a bit evangelical because I think it’s brilliant!

Siobhan Aris

Advanced palliative care nurse

Very well prepared and extremely well presented course. Having it divided up into 1-hour sessions made it very manageable in my work schedule and the "stripy format" of input - interaction - input - interaction and so on was highly engaging throughout. I am taking away a very rich basket of new nuggets of knowledge and ideas.

Vicky Bevan

Agile Coach and Scrum Master

Can’t recommend this enough!! Judy’s depth of knowledge and expertise in Clean Language combined with her experience and sense of fun when working with groups or training facilitators (of any type) combine to deliver first class courses, which are INSTANTLY usable and teach a powerful set of tools and techniques.

Ray Whiting

Agile Delivery Manager

One the best trainings I have participated in. Judy, thank you wholeheartedly! I enjoyed every bit of the training.

Ayman Qwaider

Arabic Language Community Facilitator, INEE - Inter-agency Network for Education in Emergencies

Meet your trainers

Steve McCann

Steve has worked in complexity and overwhelm throughout his career. From International Peacekeeping into Project and Management Consulting, and over 20 years in the humanitarian sector.

Steve believes that when people come before process and outcomes before solutions, you can get more things done, whatever the context.

Judy Rees

Co-author of the category bestseller Clean Language: Revealing Metaphors and Opening Minds, Judy has helped to make Clean Language a "must have" skill set for advanced communicators.

She has taught hundreds of change agents worldwide including facilitators, coaches, managers and consultants, using online systems to reach beyond the limits of local.

Recent consulting, facilitation and training clients have included the NHS, WHO, NAO and the World Bank.

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