1
person runs this conversation
10 min
The shortest conversation
Two teams, one deadline, and somebody on the other side of the table who has decided this is your fault.
What actually happens
One of them is usually the real reason. What sits underneath it is what actually gets scored.
/01
“Ten minutes in, you are still on what happened in March.”
Whose fault the last two weeks were is the conversation everybody wants to have and the one that fixes nothing. The move is forward, and making it early is the whole skill.
/02
“You defend every single point, including the fair ones.”
There always is one. Naming it unprompted is what buys you the right to disagree with the rest.
/03
“You start defending your team rather than solving the block.”
Your team is blocked is a fact; your team is careless is an accusation. Answering the second as though it were the first is how this goes wrong.
/04
“It ends warmly and nothing is different on Monday.”
One thing, one owner, one date. A conversation that ends in mutual understanding and no action is a conversation you will have again in a fortnight.
Bring the real thing: the job description, the date on the letter, the words the school used. Everyone who runs conflict with a colleague will work from what you actually walked in with.
How a first conversation worksWho you will be talking to
In whichever order helps. The first 5 minutes with a free partner cost nothing, so you can talk to two of them before you choose.
5 min freeConflict with a colleagueWhat it costs
A harder conversation simply runs longer. The shortest way to rehearse conflict with a colleague is 10 min.
You pay for the seconds you talk, and the minutes come off a balance you already hold. Nothing renews, and you are never sent a bill. Plans and refunds.
B2 · confident
12 min
is how long a conversation at this difficulty runs
A peer from another team, cold rather than angry, with nine days of being blocked behind him.
At $50 an hour, rounded up to the 60-minute booking nobody will sell you less than.
Your first 5 minutes
01
Bring the details of something actually happening. It changes what you say under pressure.
The terms, in full
02
The transcript marks every return to the history, and there are usually more than you think.
Paid for out of your free minutes
Questions
Nearby
The rest of Work first, then everything else at the same difficulty.
All the situations
B1 · workingB2 · confidentC1 · advancedThe number, said once, without apologising for it or explaining it away.2 peoplefrom 10 minHard feedbackB1 · workingB2 · confidentYour manager has a specific example. What you say in the next ten seconds is the whole thing.1 personfrom 10 minUnhappy client
C1 · advancedNative paceHe rang you, he is already angry, and he will not let you finish a sentence.1 personfrom 10 min