Here are some tips to help you navigate difficult conversations in a group setting. We recommend preparing both participants and facilitators in advance for a challenging discussion. As difficult conversations can sometimes arise unexpectedly, we’re also sharing key strategies to help you navigate them.

Prepare Participants

  • Set communication guidelines and ‘ground rules’ around how the group will engage with each other and have participants own this process by coming up with ideas.

  • Research icebreakers or group-bonding activities that might suit the group's needs prior to the discussions.

Prepare Facilitators

  • Make sure facilitators have some knowledge of the topic and are aware of potential dynamics and discussion angles that may arise during the exchange.

  • Prepare facilitators to expect strong emotions in difficult conversations and bring the group to a more constructive space.

Strategies to Manage Difficult Conversations

When group members display strong emotions it can be tempting to turn the conversation away from the contested issue and move on to less difficult topics – even though you know there can be great learning amidst all the heat.

Hold on from acting on this temptation and focus on acknowledging the emotions. Here are some strategies to drive the conversation forward from a place of conflict to mutual understanding and learning.

  • Ask good questions

    Develop questions that provoke constructive discussion, personal reflection, critical thinking and connect the discussion to the larger themes driving the discussion.

  • Summarize

    Summarize a number of key points in a discussion or after a comment, and tie them together into a coherent whole to help the group process the content, and push the conversation forward.

  • Take care of everyone in the conversation

    During conflict or heated discussion, there are a lot of emotions in even though not all of them are expressed out loud. Observe body language extra carefully, and send private messages to see how people are doing.

  • Bring focus to listening

    Focus on listening by reflecting on what you hear with active listening tools, and also reminding the group that this is a time when they need to pay active attention to listening, no matter how hard it might be. 

  • Move the conversation to personal

    The facilitator can reflect that often strong emotions stem from the topic’s importance. Acknowledging that and supporting participants in talking about why this issue is important to them can often start the inquiry process towards critical thinking and awareness.

  • Dive beneath the surface

    Foster participants’ reflection on their values, biases, assumptions, personal experiences, culture, etc. and how that impacts why they think the way they do, rather than focusing on the surface level ‘facts’ on a topic or issue.

Learn More

If you’re interested in learning more about how to manage difficult conversations and learn facilitation tools and strategies, head over to our Facilitation Training page to learn more. If you’d like to set up a workshop for your team on managing conflict and navigating difficult discussions, contact us.