FOR TEAMS AFTER CONFLICT
Stop avoiding the conversation. Get better at having it.
Courageous Conversations is a practical workshop for managers and teams who are putting off the hard conversations and paying the price for it. We teach a simple prep checklist and opening script, run live drills on real cases from your team, and coach people through the moments they normally duck. You leave with scripts you'll use the same day and visibly more composure under pressure.
Download the session outline
A 30-minute call, no slides, no pitch. We'll talk through what's going on and whether Courageous Conversations fits.
Does any of this sound familiar?
If the team has a few conversations that need to happen and aren't, one or two of these probably resonate.
The underperformance conversation is three months overdue.
Everyone knows what the issue is. The manager knows. The person probably knows. Somehow, the words haven't been said, and the performance keeps being carried by everyone else.
Feedback has become an event.
It only happens in reviews, and by then it's either too late to be useful or too vague to be actionable. Day-to-day feedback has stopped happening without anyone deciding to stop it.
The same incident keeps getting replayed.
Instead of raising something directly, they escalate, drop hints, or ask HR to have the conversation for them. The avoidance costs more than the conversation ever would.
The team is conflict-allergic.
Disagreement feels uncomfortable enough that people pre-emptively soften it, agree publicly and disagree privately, and end up with decisions nobody owns.
If a few of those landed, Courageous Conversations was built for this exact moment.
What we'll do together in the session
Courageous Conversations is a skills workshop, usually a full day, with an option to run it as a programme across two or three shorter sessions so the practice has time to stick. It works for management populations and for whole teams who want to raise the average quality of the hard conversations they have.
The workshop is built around three jobs. First, we give people a simple, memorable prep approach and an opening script they can actually use, because most bad conversations go wrong in the first 60 seconds. Second, we run live drills using the real cases people are carrying, with coaching and feedback, because reading about hard conversations and having them are different skills. Third, we cover the techniques that keep you steady when the conversation gets hot, including handling defensiveness, tears, anger, and status gaps.
What you'll walk out with
Three practical outputs people can use the same day.
Output 1
Personal scripts for the conversations you're avoiding.
Each participant leaves with drafted openings for their own live cases. Written in their own voice, tested in the room, critiqued, and adjusted. Not a template they'll never read again.
Output 2
A prep and debrief toolkit.
A short, reusable checklist for prepping any difficult conversation, and a structured way to review it afterwards so the learning compounds. Based on the material we use with our clients; small enough to fit on a single page.
Output 3
Visibly more composure under pressure.
Harder to measure, easy to notice. The drills do the work. People leave the session having already done the hard bit once in a safer setting, and that shifts what's possible in the real one.
What the session actually covers
The content flexes around what people are actually bringing into the room, but most workshops follow a version of the below.
A simple, memorable approach to preparing for any difficult conversation. What are we trying to achieve? What do we know, and what are we assuming? What's the opening line that doesn't make the other person defensive? Most failed conversations fail in the prep, or the absence of it.
Prep: the part most people skip.
Participants bring real conversations they need to have. We coach them through the first three minutes of each, with feedback from the room. We've seen more change come from one real drill than from a day of theory. Drawing on the work of Susan Scott, Stone, Patton and Heen, and Kim Scott where it helps.
Live drills on real cases.
Defensiveness. Counter-accusations. Emotional responses. Status gaps where the other person has positional power. We work through techniques for staying in the conversation rather than retreating, escalating, or collapsing.
The moments when it gets hot.
We bring the structure, the material, and the coaching. You bring the real cases. Between us, people leave having practised the thing they've been avoiding, and usually go and have the real conversation within the week.
Who Courageous Conversations is for
This workshop works best for managers and team leaders, or for whole teams who want to raise the quality of their internal conversations. Groups of 8 to 16 work well; much bigger than that and the drill time gets thin.
Who it's for
• Managers carrying underperformance, behaviour, or expectation conversations they haven't had yet
• Teams where feedback has stopped happening and the quality of work is drifting as a result
• Leadership teams where disagreement is being dressed up or avoided, and decisions are suffering
• New managers who need the skills before they've had to wing it for a year
Probably not the right fit if…
— You want a theory session on difficult conversations. This is a practice workshop.
— The group won't bring real cases or engage in drills. The drill is the session.
— There's a specific, serious incident you need to address. That's a Rebuilding Trust or one-to-one coaching conversation, not a workshop.
We keep the pricing transparent because most people we work with need to justify the spend internally. If your situation doesn't fit one of these, we'll tell you and adapt.
Formats and investment
We strongly recommend the follow-up or programme formats for management populations. Skill uplift on hard conversations needs reinforcement.
FORMAT
WHAT’S INCLUDED
INVESTMENT
Half-day session
3.5 hours, up to 12 participants, shortened drills and toolkit
From £1,685+ VAT
Full-day workshop
6 hours, up to 15 participants, full drills and coaching
From £2,950+ VAT
Full-day plus follow-up
Full-day workshop and a 90-minute reinforcement session at 4 to 6 weeks
From £4,250+ VAT
Management programme
Two or three sessions across 6 to 10 weeks, with coaching between
From £6,500 + VAT
Prices exclude travel and materials. Scope agreed in writing before booking.
Future Proof Learning has supported leaders and teams across the public sector, third sector, and private sector SMEs. Most of the teams we work with are navigating something meaningful, and the patterns we see look remarkably similar in every sector we've worked with.
Our wider track record
Personal effectiveness and leadership development programmes for national bodies including Public Health Scotland and the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh.
PUBLIC SECTOR
Team and leadership work with Scottish charities, often at executive and trustee level, including strategy and charter design for Edinburgh Dog and Cat Home.
THIRD SECTOR
Leadership and team development for SMEs across professional services, energy, and technology sectors, with a focus on owner-led and founder-stage businesses.
PRIVATE SECTOR
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Frequently asked questions
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That's a sign the room isn't safe yet, and we handle it. We'll start with lighter cases, demo the approach, and work up. If somebody genuinely doesn't want to share a live situation, we can use one of our composite cases.
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Yes. Some of the hardest conversations now happen in writing, and the same principles apply with some adjustments.
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It works well for managers, and it also works well for whole teams. Peer-to-peer difficult conversations are often trickier than manager-to-report.
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Yes. Drills actually work well virtually because participants can prepare in their own space.
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Two to three weeks ideally, plus a short briefing call to understand the population and the cases they'll be bringing.
We don't do hard sells. A discovery call is 30 minutes, no slides, no pressure. We'll talk through what's going on for your team, what you're hoping to move, and whether Change Compass is genuinely the right tool for the job. If it isn't, we'll tell you, and we'll usually suggest something else that fits better. That's probably a healthier way to start a relationship than a pitch deck.
Not sure if it's the right fit? Let's have a conversation.
Or email us directly at info@futureprooflearning.co.uk and we'll come back to you within one working day.
Download the session outline as a PDF