How to have difficult conversations at work

A cartoon figure holding a laptop with thought bubbles of different tasks.
A cartoon figure holding a laptop with thought bubbles of different tasks.
Date
10 Feb 2025, 10:00-11:30
Location
Online
Price
Free
Application deadline
27 Jan 2025
Career stages
Early, Experienced, Expert
Industries
Unscripted TV, Children's TV
Funding
ScreenSkills funded

This course targets professionals in unscripted TV and children's TV, with session content varying based on the date:

  • Unscripted TV and Children's TV - Monday 10th February - 10:00-11:30

As part of the Your life at work strand, we're offering training aimed at sharing workplace best practice as well as how you and your teams can stay healthy, happy, and productive at work. 

A great conversation at work can help you get things done, can generate ideas or can share vital information – amongst many other things. But what makes some conversations more effective than others?  This 90 minute session will consider how to approach those conversations that just feel more ‘difficult’.  It will explore what gets in the way of you having great conversations and introduce tools and techniques to help you overcome those challenges. The session will also consider how you can be a better listener and ask great questions. There will be some practice in pairs/small groups during this session so please be ready to join in! 

Run by Fiona Dolton, a chartered occupational psychologist and expert in management development who’s worked with professionals in the broadcasting and media sectors

Who it's for

Anyone in unscripted TV or children's TV (dependant on date), who would like to be more effective and more confident in having difficult conversations at work.

The majority of the USF online short course offering is for those at early career stage and above. As a result, we generally require applicants to have at least 3 credits (unless working in a traditionally uncredited role). If you strongly feel you would still benefit from the training, please email USF@screenskills.com so we can assess if an exception should be made.

We are committed to ensuring all our courses are accessible to everyone. This course is designed to be as interactive as possible. Please email the above address if you have any access requirements and we will be delighted to help, be that clarifying the form such interaction is likely to take or discussing reasonable adjustments.

Speaker

Fiona Dolton is a chartered occupational psychologist with expertise in leadership and management development. But above all else she’s a passionate believer in the positive impact we can all have at work regardless of our role or seniority.  

Across her 17 year career she has plenty of experience working with journalists and production teams, as well as lawyers, scientists and marketeers to name just a few.  

Her focus is on helping you have better conversations at work, to be conscious about the approach you choose, and to give you practical steps you can put into practice immediately.

How to apply

This session will take place online via Zoom. Click ‘apply now’ at the top of the page and follow the instructions to apply for your place: you must login or register before you are able to complete your application.

If you need additional support to complete your application or require the application form in an alternative format please contact USF@screenskills.com

Places on these free online courses are limited and applications are often highly competitive. To stand the best chance of securing a place, please be sure to consider the following:

  • When asked to list your three most recent credits, please include the programme title and your job role.
  • When asked what you hope to gain from the course, please be concise but ensure you cover the specific elements of the topic you would like to gain knowledge of and what gaps in your skillset you believe the course may address. A rewording of the course title or a general comment on career progression does not tell us much about how this course would benefit you.

If you are no longer able to attend, we ask you to please use the “decline ticket” function on the right hand side of the page so that we can release your place. Our sessions are often oversubscribed, so we’d like to give other freelancers the opportunity to fill available spots. Thank you for your consideration.

This session is supported by the ScreenSkills Unscripted TV Skills Fund and Children's TV Skills Fund which invests in training for the unscripted workforce thanks to contributions from broadcasters, SVoDs and production companies.

This course would normally cost participants to attend, but thanks to this support, we are able to offer it to you for free. If you fail to attend, we reserve the right to request reimbursement of costs, unless your place can be taken by someone else.

ScreenSkills

ScreenSkills

ScreenSkills develops skills and talent to support the UK's screen industries.

More from ScreenSkills