Soft Skills
THE DIFFICULT
BY BERRY WINTER
Difficult participants can be a nightmare! Let’s face it. You are about to start a new training session, you are five minutes in and someone starts talking at the back, or complaining about the subject you are about to spend all day discussing. This is going to be a long day!
So what can you do? Here are some tips for dealing with seven types of difficult participant.
The talker:
This can take the form of talking over you to their colleagues and friends in the room, or simply liking the sound of their own voice. They may wish to dominate the conversation and discussions. Tips for handling this sort of person include:
• Refer to the ground rules about timeliness
• Ask them to ensure that they have listened to other people’s opinions
• Set clear time limits on discussions
The know it all:
Some who is highly assertive and controlling who wants to do things their way. They know it all and have done it all before. This sort of person is more likely to respond to you if you:
• Know your subject well and can illustrate your points clearly
• Ask them for specific experiences to illustrate a point and then open it up to discussion with others
• Agree with the relevant parts of their discussion
• Ask questions to open up their thoughts
• Use inclusive words such as ‘we’ and ‘us’
The attention seeker:
This person wants to clown around and be disruptive. They will interrupt efforts to concentrate on a subject and try to shift the focus. This can sometimes be seen as lack of interest, but often stems from lack of understanding or fear of being seen to be lacking in knowledge. You can deal with this sort of person by:
• Referring back to the ground rules set at the beginning of the day
• Putting them in the spotlight by asking them questions and refer their answers to the rest of the group
• Rewarding them when they show some positive responses
• Helping find out what they do know being seen to be lacking in knowledge.
28 | TRAINING MAGAZINE EUROPE APRIL 2015
PARTICIPANT
26 | TRAINING MAGAZINE EUROPE FEB 2015