Conflict Management and Facilitation Skills

The National Fraud Authority The National Fraud Authority (NFA) was established in October 2008 to take forward the Government’s response to fraud. They work with private, public and third sector organisations to increase protection for the UK economy from the harm caused by fraud and to create a more hostile environment for fraudsters, both at home and abroad. The focus is now more on preventing fraud from happening in the first place.

Communicaid Communicaid is a global culture and communication skills consultancy that assists the world’s leading organisations to mitigate the risks and maximise the opportunities of working in a complex and ever-changing international environment. We work with international organisations such as the National Fraud Authority to provide a complete suite of consultancy services as well as targeted intercultural, language and communication skills training.

Helping NFA Employees to Minimise Conflict and Achieve Results The NFA hosts periodical meetings with the police, other government bodies and private stakeholders to develop a more comprehensive anti-fraud strategy. The National Fraud Authority’s Head of Human Resources commissioned Communicaid to design a training solution which would enable staff to minimise conflict during these meetings and manage frustrating and challenging situations more effectively.

Training Objectives The key requirements of the training were to: • Provide delegates with a framework for facilitating effective meetings • Raise awareness of delegates’ own style and other methods of dealing with conflict

• Provide delegates with strategies to enable them to be more assertive and manage conflict more effectively in the workplace • Enable delegates to develop strategies for controlling the flow and outcomes of meetings

Challenges The main challenges were seen as:

• Designing a sophisticated and robust programme for high-level staff, including members of the board • Providing the delegates with a practical toolkit in a short space of time so that they would immediately see improved results from their meetings • Contextualising the training to make it as practical and ‘real’ as possible

Training Approach

• Conflict Management: The following programme focused Communicaid held more on interpersonal in-depth discussions with dynamics and how to the Head of Human Resources and carried out manage difficult situations with their key a diagnostic consultancy with members stakeholders Exercises of the board, including the and activities were all CEO, who were to attend based on delegates’ own experiences and the training. This detailed examples of roundtable analysis enabled meetings. Communicaid to design a two-part training solution. The first programme provided structure and techniques for more effective facilitation of meetings and gave delegates the opportunity to role play new approaches and strategies. The second programme built on these skills providing senior delegates with high level skills and strategies for dealing with potentially challenging situations during meetings.

Our Solution • Facilitation Skills: The first programme gave delegates an understanding of how to increase their awareness of their own and others’ communication styles and focused on the key principles and process of meeting facilitation

Results The feedback was very positive where all delegates commented that they could take away a practical toolkit to use in their strategy and review meetings. Delegates in particular benefitted from being able to recognise the different styles of negotiators and knowing how to address them in their meetings.

My objectives and expectations were exceeded. There was a very useful balance of topics and substance to help provide more effective best practice. Delegate The National Fraud Authority

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