COM-BSN8900 - Achieving Success with Difficult People

Course Description

This course will teach you how to see things from others' viewpoints based on their needs, values, beliefs, experiences, skills, knowledge, and self-interests. You will learn to approach difficult situations by answering the questions: who? what? where? when? how? and why? By answering these questions, you will understand who your difficult people are, what they're like, how you react to them, and their response to your actions. You will also practice analyzing your interactions with those you share space with. By observing others closely, you will learn to read their identifying characteristics. Once you can identify which type of person you're dealing with, you will be able to choose appropriate reactions to their behaviors. By the time you finish this course, you will understand that assertiveness involves taking responsibility when meeting your needs in a way that preserves the dignity and rights of others.

Course Outline

Lesson 01 - Identifying Preferred Communication Styles

• In the first lesson, you will find out the answers to four very important questions that impact the success of your relationships with others. The answers to these questions will help you identify your preferred communication styles.

Lesson 02 - Analyzing Your Own Difficult-Person Situation

• In this lesson, you will begin to build a database about not only your difficult people—those who are different in communication style from you. You will also enhance your skills in reviewing and resolving problems with these people.

Lesson 03 - Dealing With Hostile-Aggressive Personality Types

• This lesson discusses four types of hostile people. These are people who want to control everything and everyone but have no self-control. This group is called Hostile-Aggressives.

Lesson 04 - Dealing With Difficult Passive Personality Types

• In this lesson, you will learn appropriate options for interacting well with those who are stubborn or critical—people known as Negative-Thinkers.

Lesson 05 - Dealing With Aggressive Subcategories of Difficult Intuitors

• This lesson focuses on the appropriate way to effectively deal with aggressive individuals. You will learn how to recognize these people and share space with them.

Lesson 06 - Identifying and Dealing With Relators

• In this lesson, you will take another look at another personality type called Relators. Plus, you will learn ways to effectively handle the difficult subcategories of this type.

Lesson 07 - Overcoming Your Own Difficult Characteristics

• Some of your difficult people probably also feel that you're their difficult person, but you may be totally unaware of this. Do you feel that ignorance is really bliss? You will go through some exercises in this lesson that should help you figure it out.

Lesson 08 - Developing Skills to Become More Flexible

• In this lesson, you will work toward improving your own flexibility skills: confidence, tolerance, empathy, positivity, and respect. To help, you will answer a few questions about each of your own skill sets as you move through the lesson's materials.

Lesson 09 - Exploring Resilience-Building Strategies

• In this lesson, you will learn that a certain set of characteristics is essential if you want to relate well with others. As you will find out, you must first improve your versatility skills to maintain a positive attitude, and then learn to view obstacles and problems as "opportunities."

Lesson 10 - Discovering the Importance of Assertiveness to Positive Relationships

• After finishing this lesson, you will understand what assertiveness is and what it isn't. You will begin to see why assertive behavior is so important to your success in getting along well with others. You will also carefully examine your own level of assertiveness and identify which of your skills need fine-tuning.

Lesson 11 - Changing Your Own Assertiveness Skills

• This lesson focuses on simple, yet powerful assertive-communication techniques. You will learn to use self-disclosure appropriately to share information about yourself—your thoughts, feelings, and opinions—to build relationship trust and common ground.

Lesson 12 - Learning Techniques to Improve Your Listening Abilities

• After this final lesson, you may be surprised to discover that your listening skills need improvement. Listening well is a complex process, and your own selective filtering often keeps you from real understanding.

Learner Outcomes

• Identify your preferred communication styles
• Enhance your skills in reviewing and resolving problems
• Recognize difficult people and share space with them
• Improve your own flexibility skills: confidence, tolerance, empathy, positivity, and respect

Notes

This is an asynchronous online course offered through the third party vendor ed2go. This course can be taken on either a PC or Mac. The instructional materials required for this course are included in enrollment and will be available online. There are twelve lessons in the course, and two lessons are released each week on Wednesdays and Fridays. You do not have to be present when lessons are released. You will have access to all lessons until the course ends. However, the interactive discussion area that accompanies each lesson will automatically close two weeks after the lesson is released. As such, we strongly recommend that you complete each lesson within two weeks of its release. The final exam will be released on the same day as the last lesson. Once the final exam has been released, you will have two weeks to complete all of your course work, including the final exam.