Conflict Management and Emotional Intelligence Training Course

Duration 5 days 10 modules · 33 contact hours
Level Intermediate Certificate on completion
Who attends People Managers, Project Managers and others
Fee from USD 1,100 KSh 95,000 for Kenyan organisations
Where 52 cities + online See dates by city
Next start 16 Nov 2026 Course code SD-IS-026

Before you join: Participants should have experience working with colleagues, clients, suppliers or stakeholders in a professional setting.

Dates & prices

Two start dates a month in every city, and live online on weekdays or weekends. Fees are per participant; classroom fees include tuition, materials, lunch and refreshments, and the certificate.

Suggest a date or city

Showing the next six months. Later dates, other cities and private deliveries for your team are available on request.

Course overview

Conflict is costly when it remains unspoken, becomes personal or is handled through avoidance. It can delay decisions, create defensive email exchanges, reduce cooperation between functions and lead to formal complaints after informal resolution has failed. Managers and professionals need more than composure in these moments. They need a repeatable way to identify the source of disagreement, regulate emotional responses, understand competing interests and address difficult issues without weakening accountability.

This course develops practical conflict management and emotional intelligence skills for workplace conversations, negotiations and team disagreements. Participants learn to distinguish facts from assumptions, recognise personal triggers, select an appropriate Thomas-Kilmann conflict response, listen for interests and needs, and communicate concerns using structured methods. The course covers emotional self-management, empathy, assertive communication, difficult conversations, interest-based negotiation, group conflict and culturally aware communication. Participants also learn when a matter requires manager, HR, mediation, safeguarding or legal referral.

Teaching combines concise instructor briefings with realistic cases, facilitated group work, communication simulations and structured reflection. Cases can be adapted for public-sector services, financial institutions, NGOs, corporate functions and operational teams. Participants work with their own recurring workplace situations and build a documented approach for handling them. They leave with practical conversation plans, self-regulation tools, conflict analysis templates and a 30-day development plan. The five-day instructor-led programme runs from 08:30 to 16:30 each day, providing approximately 32.5 contact hours. Participants receive a certificate of completion.

The course suits professionals who already work with colleagues, clients, suppliers or stakeholders and want greater control over emotionally charged interactions. It is particularly useful for people managers, project leaders and specialists whose work depends on cooperation across reporting lines, functions or organisational boundaries.

What you will be able to do

  • Diagnose workplace conflict using stakeholder, interest, trigger and escalation analysis
  • Regulate emotional responses using STOP, reappraisal and personal recovery techniques
  • Apply active listening and empathy methods during difficult interpersonal exchanges
  • Conduct assertive conversations using Nonviolent Communication, SBI and DESC structures
  • Deliver difficult feedback while maintaining clarity, respect and accountability
  • Prepare interest-based negotiations using BATNA, objective criteria and conditional proposals
  • Facilitate team conflict discussions using ground rules, structured dissent and repair methods
  • Produce a 30-day conflict management and emotional intelligence application plan

Benefits of attending

For you

  • Greater control over emotional reactions during criticism, pressure and disagreement
  • Clearer preparation for difficult feedback and accountability conversations
  • Stronger ability to separate assumptions from observable facts
  • More credible negotiation of priorities, deadlines and shared resources
  • A documented plan for improving recurring conflict patterns

For your organisation

  • Earlier resolution of disagreements before they affect delivery or retention
  • More constructive challenge during decisions, reviews and cross-functional work
  • Reduced rework caused by unclear expectations and unresolved tensions
  • Better manager capability for handling performance and behaviour concerns
  • Clearer escalation decisions for HR, mediation, safeguarding and legal matters

Course modules

10 modules over 5 days

Participants can identify emotional patterns that shape their behaviour during workplace conflict.

  • Emotional intelligence domains: self-awareness, self-management, social awareness and relationship management
  • Trigger mapping links events, interpretations, body cues, emotions and impulses
  • Separate observable facts from assumptions using the Ladder of Inference
  • Name emotional states precisely using an emotion granularity vocabulary
  • Stress physiology, amygdala hijack and recovery choices during disagreement
  • Personal escalation signatures documented through antecedent-behaviour-consequence analysis and reflective journaling

Participants can analyse the source, stakeholders and risks of a workplace conflict.

  • Conflict sources distinguished: task, process, relationship, values and status
  • Map stakeholder interests, positions, power and interdependencies before difficult conversations
  • Thomas-Kilmann modes matched to stakes, relationships and time constraints
  • Assess conflict temperature through language, behaviour, history and audience effects
  • Separate constructive disagreement from harassment, discrimination, bullying and retaliation
  • Conflict cost analysis identifies delay, rework, absenteeism and turnover risks

Participants can use practical regulation techniques before and during difficult exchanges.

  • Recognise early flooding cues before judgement, speech and listening deteriorate
  • Use STOP: Stop, Take breath, Observe, Proceed during charged exchanges
  • Reappraisal questions test interpretations and reduce hostile attribution bias
  • Grounding and paced breathing restore attention under interpersonal pressure
  • Choose time-outs that preserve accountability, safety and return commitments
  • Create personal regulation plans for recurrent workplace triggers and situations

Participants can listen for emotions, needs and interests without abandoning their own position.

  • Active listening combines attending, paraphrasing, summarising and emotion labelling
  • Ask open, diagnostic questions without leading, fixing or cross-examining
  • Reflect feelings and needs without endorsing another person's conclusions
  • Empathy distinguishes perspective-taking from agreement, rescue and concession
  • Silence, pace and nonverbal signals managed during tense conversations
  • Listening blocks identified: defensiveness, selective attention, rehearsing and advice-giving

Participants can state concerns, needs and boundaries using clear structured communication.

  • Nonviolent Communication separates observations, feelings, needs and actionable requests
  • Use SBI feedback: Situation, Behaviour, Impact, then invite dialogue
  • DESC scripts structure Describe, Express, Specify and Consequences statements
  • Frame concerns around observable behaviour, impact and shared standards
  • Calibrate directness for hierarchy, culture, role and relationship history
  • Convert accusations into requests with clear ownership and deadlines

Participants can prepare and conduct difficult conversations while maintaining respect and clarity.

  • Prepare conversations using purpose, outcomes, facts, interests and BATNA
  • Opening statements establish intent, psychological safety and discussion boundaries
  • Address defensiveness through acknowledgement, inquiry and specific evidence
  • Name power differences without abandoning respect, clarity or accountability
  • Respond to tears, anger, silence and counterattacks without escalation
  • Close agreements with actions, owners, dates and review points

Participants can negotiate workable agreements where interests and priorities conflict.

  • Interest-based negotiation separates people, problems, interests, options and criteria
  • Generate mutual-gains options before bargaining over positions and concessions
  • Use objective criteria to test fairness, feasibility and precedent
  • BATNA and reservation points set credible negotiation boundaries
  • Trade low-priority items for high-value interests using conditional proposals
  • Document agreements, contingencies and escalation routes after settlement

Participants can intervene constructively when conflict affects team performance and trust.

  • Identify coalition dynamics, informal influence and audience effects in teams
  • Facilitate ground rules for respectful challenge and equal participation
  • Surface dissent using structured rounds, anonymous input and summarisation
  • Interrupt unproductive patterns: blaming, triangulation, stonewalling and side conversations
  • Repair trust through acknowledgement, apology, restitution and reliable follow-through
  • Escalate appropriately when conduct breaches policy, safety or legal duties

Participants can adapt conflict communication while recognising formal conduct boundaries.

  • Distinguish cultural preference from stereotype, personality and role expectations
  • Adapt conflict communication across directness, hierarchy, face and time orientations
  • Clarify meaning when idiom, tone or silence produces ambiguity
  • Recognise bias, microaggressions and exclusionary patterns during disagreement
  • Apply cultural humility through curiosity, checking and respectful repair
  • Refer discrimination, harassment and safeguarding concerns through formal channels

Participants can create a practical plan for managing a current or anticipated conflict.

  • Diagnose a live conflict using stakeholder, interest and trigger maps
  • Select regulation, communication and negotiation responses for each conflict stage
  • Draft a difficult-conversation plan with opening, questions and requests
  • Set behavioural indicators for emotional intelligence development and feedback
  • Build a 30-day application plan with accountability partners and review dates
  • Identify situations requiring manager, HR, mediation or legal referral

Exercises and examples are adapted to each cohort's sectors and roles.

What you take back to work

  1. Conflict diagnosis template
  2. Personal trigger and regulation plan
  3. Difficult conversation preparation canvas
  4. SBI and DESC communication scripts
  5. Interest-based negotiation planning sheet
  6. 30-day emotional intelligence development plan

Who should attend

  • People Managers — they must address performance, behaviour and team disagreements directly
  • Project Managers — they coordinate competing priorities without full line authority
  • Team Leaders — they need to prevent recurring friction from affecting delivery
  • HR and People Partners — they support early resolution before issues become formal cases
  • Client-Facing Professionals — they manage complaints, expectations and emotionally charged relationships
  • Technical and Functional Specialists — they need influence skills across functions and seniority levels

Skills and tools covered

Conflict diagnosisEmotional self-regulationActive listeningAssertive communicationInterest-based negotiationTeam conflict facilitation

Tools and standards

Thomas-Kilmann Conflict Mode Instrument, Nonviolent Communication, SBI feedback model, DESC script

How the course runs

Training methodology

The programme uses short instructor briefings to introduce models, followed by cases, paired practice, group analysis and facilitated simulations. Participants analyse realistic conflict scenarios, prepare difficult conversations, test listening and assertion techniques, and receive structured feedback from peers and the instructor. Emotional regulation methods are practised before communication methods so participants can apply them under pressure. Individual reflection and application planning connect course methods to current workplace relationships, team issues and stakeholder conversations.

Requirements and prerequisites

Participants should have experience working with colleagues, clients, suppliers or stakeholders in a professional setting. They should be familiar with routine workplace communication, including meetings, email and one-to-one discussions, and be willing to reflect on their own reactions during conflict. No formal psychology, counselling, mediation, HR or negotiation qualification is required. The course does not assume responsibility for formal employee relations investigations or disciplinary decisions. Participants may bring examples of non-confidential workplace situations they want to handle more effectively.

A typical training day

08:30 – 10:30First session
10:30 – 10:45Refreshment break
10:45 – 12:30Second session
12:30 – 13:30Lunch and networking
13:30 – 15:00Third session
15:00 – 15:15Refreshment break
15:15 – 16:30Workshop and daily review

Live online deliveries follow the same structure in East Africa Time, with shorter screen blocks and longer breaks.

What the fee includes

  • Instruction by a practitioner facilitator
  • Full course workbook and materials
  • Exercise files, templates and case studies
  • Refreshments and lunch on classroom deliveries
  • Certificate of completion
  • Post-course application plan

Frequently asked questions

Participants should have experience of workplace communication and collaboration. No formal training in psychology, mediation, HR or negotiation is required.

Bring examples of non-confidential workplace situations involving disagreement, feedback or difficult stakeholder conversations. Participants should not bring sensitive case files, personal employee records or confidential investigation material.

The course is designed for managers, project leaders, HR professionals, client-facing staff and specialists who work across teams. It is most valuable for people who need to address difficult issues rather than avoid them.

Negotiation courses focus primarily on reaching agreements over interests, terms and resources. This course includes negotiation but places equal emphasis on emotional regulation, listening, feedback, difficult conversations and team conflict.

Participants leave with preparation templates for a current conversation, conflict analysis tools and personal regulation techniques. They can use these methods in one-to-ones, project disagreements, performance discussions and stakeholder meetings.

Each day runs from 08:30 to 16:30 and provides about 6.5 contact hours. Time is divided between instructor input, case analysis, group work, communication simulations, feedback and individual application planning.

Questions about this course?

Ask about dates, fees, group bookings or running it for your team. Our training team replies by email.

Ask on WhatsApp info@skillsetdevelopment.com

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