A gripping event series for anyone who has to deal with conflict at work
What happens when a workplace conflict lands on your desk and every option carries a risk? Welcome to The Manager's Dilemma, an interactive event series that takes you to the heart of the toughest people problems faced by managers, HR professionals and workplace leaders.
The concept
Inspired by the classic Hypotheticals format
Each session presents a fictional but very realistic workplace conflict. The situation unfolds in stages, just as it does in real life. Nobody hands you the full story up front. New information arrives at awkward moments. People change their accounts. Deadlines and emotions collide. And someone is looking to you to sort it out.
How it works
Dr Samantha Hardy guides you through the scenario as it unfolds, pausing at critical decision points to ask:
- What matters most here?
- What would you want to know before you act?
- What would you do next, and why?
- What might each option cost the people involved, the organisation, and you?
You will hear how others in the room would handle the same moment. Sometimes the group agrees. Often it doesn't. That is where the learning happens.
There is no role play and nobody is put on the spot. You can contribute as much or as little as you like, through discussion and live polls.
Why attend?
- Test your judgment on hard cases before a real one lands on your desk.
- Hear how experienced HR practitioners, managers and conflict specialists read the same situation in different ways.
- Spot the legal, ethical and relationship tripwires before you step on them.
- Build a set of practical questions to ask yourself whenever conflict arrives.
- Connect with other people doing this difficult work and enjoy a learning format that feels more like entertainment than training.
Who should attend?
HR and People and Culture professionals. Line managers and team leaders. HR business partners, workplace health and safety advisers, in-house lawyers, union delegates, and anyone else who gets the call when things go wrong between people at work. Whether you are handling your first complaint or your five hundredth, these dilemmas will give you plenty to chew on.
Session details
Sessions run live online for 90 minutes. A recording is available afterwards for registered participants.
Want to go further?
The Manager's Dilemma will sharpen your instincts. If you want to build the skills that sit behind good instincts, the Conflict Management Academy offers practical, evidence-based training in conflict management, conflict coaching and mediation, including AMDRAS-accredited programs.
Upcoming Dilemmas:
Performance, or Payback? When a performance process triggers a bullying complaint. (February 17)
Just Being Direct. When one person’s feedback style is another person’s bullying. (April 15)
The Adjustment Request. When supporting one team member starts a fight about fairness. (June 17)
Investigate or Mediate? When a complaint lands and someone has to choose the process. (August 18)
In Confidence. When an employee discloses harassment and asks you to do nothing. (October 21)
The Group Chat. When the bullying happened off the clock, on personal phones. (December 14)