TIPS FROM A HAPPINESS CONCIERGE

Having an honest conversation about a tricky topic can be daunting. Here are some tips to help it go as smoothly as possible.

• Make time for private face- to- face conversations where possible.

• Use “I’ve noticed” to start the conversation. Sometimes simply sharing an observation in a genuinely curious way helps the other person tell you what motivated the action.

• Share the impact of the behaviour/ oversight.

• Ask for the other person’s take to open a conversation. It’s important that each person has the chance to speak and to have their thoughts and feelings heard. If we don’t know how the other person is seeing things, we can’t come up with a shared solution that we know will work.

• Agree to find a resolution.

• Remember the reasons for having an honest conversation: you care about the other person’s success or want to have a more honest relationship.

• Allow people time to reflect on how this impacts your relationship.

• Defensiveness isn’t always rejection of you or the conversation – it can take some time for the truth to sink in.