Difficult Conversations in the Workplace: How to Plan, Conduct and Manage Conversations for Better Supervision and Service to Clients

~~An MIE Webinar with Kimberly P. Jordan
Associate Clinical Professor of Law
Moritz College of Law, The Ohio State University
June 8, 2016
2:00 EDT

Everyone in legal aid has faced difficult conversations, often as the bearer of bad news to a client. Legal supervisors and managers must develop skills and strategies to both train supervisees in the art of difficult conversations as well as effectively plan and conduct such difficult conversations with employees. In order to achieve positive effects for our supervisees and our clients, supervisors need to conduct these conversations in a way that the receiver can hear and understand the message and know what is expected going forward.

This 60 minute webinar, presented by Kim Jordan, will examine how to approach difficult conversations in the workplace. 

The session will present:
• What we mean by difficult conversations and why they are necessary;
• An understanding of supervisory situations that require a more strategic approach to be successful;
• A framework for planning and preparing the conversation;
• Ground rules for conducting the conversation;
• Knowing when you have done enough for one day;
• Negotiation techniques to manage a conversation that goes awry;
• Strategic considerations for when, where, how and with whom to hold the conversation;
• Consideration of who in your organization can best have this conversation; and,
• Specific tools and strategies for having productive and problem-solving conversations. 

Participants will be asked to provide examples of upcoming difficult conversation at registration. Kim will use the submissions as examples and organize them into categories with suggestions for strategies and tactics to use in different situations and circumstances.

Kimberly P. Jordan is the Director of the Justice for Children Project and an Associate Clinical Professor of Law at the Moritz College of Law, The Ohio State University. She teaches in the Justice for Children Clinic representing juveniles in delinquency, child welfare, and immigration matters. She also supervises the Greif Fellowship in Juvenile Human Trafficking. Kim is a member of the Ohio State Bar Association, the Ohio Juvenile Justice Coalition, a board member of the Central Ohio Association of Juvenile Lawyers, and a certified trainer for the National Juvenile Defender Center Project “Juvenile Training Immersion Program.”

Prior to joining Moritz, Kim was a Senior Attorney at the Legal Aid Society of Southwest Ohio, LLC, where she specialized in family law and the representation of children. Early in her career, she served in the Jesuit Volunteer Corps and was a licensed substance abuse counselor. Kim is a graduate of the Loyola University Chicago of Law, where she was a ChildLaw Fellow, and Xavier University.

Registration for this webinar is:
$75 for MIE subscribers
$100 for non-subscribers
With your registration for this webinar, you may gather multiple staff to view the presentation around one computer.  Multiple computers and/or multiple offices require separate individual registrations. 

This link will take you to registration information via Go to Webinar:
https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/4339777167205890817

Gene King is the former director of the Ohio Poverty Law Center and a career legal aid lawyer and manager. He is now consulting on staff development, executive recruitment and policy advocacy with legal aid programs and nonprofit advocacy groups.  Gene will facilitate this webinar.