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Case Study - Difficult Conversations & Influencing Effectively

Over the years RPfT we have been fortunate to develop strong relationships with many Blue-Chip companies. One such long standing collaborator, a major global company has always shown a passion for innovative and dynamic training within the business. Their training sessions are for employees from every part of the business – from factory floor to head office and sales – giving everyone an opportunity to understand the challenges of different environments. Having worked with the company for over two decades, RPfT have delivered several training programmes in training areas such as ‘How to Have Difficult Conversations’ and ‘Influencing Effectively’.

We work in small groups and use both pre-written and bespoke role-plays providing the delegates with valuable authentic skills practice. These bespoke sessions are highly interactive and often springboard from a particularly challenging real life work-based situation. Within a completely safe and confidential environment, the participants provide details of a real person and situation that they are struggling with and our business actors can then play the characters within scenarios that have real relevance to the participants.

Our actor/facilitators are all fully trained in business acting with a great deal of experience and an understanding of behavioural theory and feedback models. This enables them to keep the training not only focussed on the goals, but they are also able to give immediate and pertinent feedback to the delegates that they can then act upon immediately within the workshop.

Of course, like most of our training over the last 12 months, we have had to move most of our programmes with this company onto a virtual footing. We have been delighted that the feedback from all the companies we support in delivering this training, was that this transition went very smoothly.

To make sure this was the case, time was given in advance of the session to organise the ‘housekeeping’ for the training, such as organising breakout rooms and educating participants on the etiquette of cameras and mute buttons. The feedback was that this online delivery in fact offered many advantages. For instance, because we didn’t have to literally move delegates from room to room for breakout time, or one to one sessions, the timing of the programme was better than ever.

We are now accustomed to the online experience and have found advantages to working virtually while we have been unable to work face to face. Both ways have advantages and we are pleased that learning objectives can remain the same and can be equally ambitious with either method, and outcomes can be just as successful.

Of course, the proof of the pudding is in the eating, and we have been thrilled with the feedback we have received not only from management, but also from participants at every level. Before the sessions they often reported feeling apprehensive, however post sessions the feedback was predominantly of feeling more motivated, more valued and better understood. They also reported on recognising their own ability to change tack towards more successful outcomes mid sessions with the aid of the training and the facilitator feedback.

The subject of this case study have always shown a dedicated and substantial commitment for behavioural training programmes that lift up their teams and create the most professional and communicative environments to achieve within. They have always been a delight to work with and we look forward to many more years of successful collaboration.