Kickoff Workshop: Crucial Conversations for HR

Join Flint Hills SHRM for our monthly chapter meeting and program. 

Launching Our Crucial Conversations Book Club

High-stakes conversations are part of everyday people management—performance issues, employee complaints, policy enforcement, and difficult decisions. How we handle those moments shapes trust, reduces risk, and defines our impact.

This 60-minute kickoff workshop introduces the Crucial Conversations framework through real workplace scenarios and practical tools you can use immediately. The session sets a shared foundation for our upcoming Crucial Conversations book club, where we’ll dive deeper into the concepts, language, and skills that make tough conversations more productive and respectful.

Here is a link on Amazon, and Manhattan Public Library has several copies. 

Crucial Conversations: Tools for Talking When Stakes are High, Third Edition https://a.co/d/3Mz8tqX 

In this kickoff session, you will:

1. Identify Crucial Conversations
   • Recognize common scenarios where stakes are high and emotions run strong (discipline, complaints, accommodations, terminations)
   • Understand the risks of avoidance or poor handling (escalation, grievances, liability)

• Silence of aggression

1. Understand Psychological Safety
   • Introduction to the concepts of Mutual Purpose and Mutual Respect
2. Distinguish Facts from Stories
   • Separate observable facts from interpretations and assumptions

Whether you’re addressing sensitive employee issues or coaching leaders through difficult discussions, this workshop will help you approach conversations with greater clarity and confidence—while setting the stage for meaningful learning together in the book club.

Join us to start the conversation—before it becomes a crucial one.

Take the Next Step: Join the Crucial Conversations Book Club