Let’s Talk About It: Turning Confrontation into Collaboration at Work

CHAPTER 11

CONVERSATION ROAD MAP

Conversations are journeys with lots of opportunities to get sidetracked and lost. In the immortal words of Yogi Berra, “If you don’t know where you are going, you might wind up someplace else.” And, when it comes to relationships and critical conversations, you may easily end up at an undesirable destination. So, just as with planning a trip, map out your route from the beginning to the end. While you cannot perfectly script a conversation, particularly one that is likely to evoke some emotion, this chapter provides a general framework for keeping your discussions on track and maximally productive. (See Appendix B for several scripted conversations.)

Decide Whether to Engage or Disengage

While most of the time ...