Difficult Behaviours That Disrupt Work
Every workplace has behaviour that wears on people. Only some of it slows work down: meetings where people stop speaking up, handoffs that get missed, decisions that stall while a team silently works around one person. Most advice on how to deal with difficult people at work moves straight to what to say. This workshop starts a step earlier, with judgment: which work standard is being strained, what the pattern is costing, and whether this is yours to name, to raise, or to pause on.
Designed for individual contributors and managers alike, it gives you a decision framework and tested language for resetting expectations without labelling anyone or overstepping your role. You leave able to tell disruption from discomfort, and able to say something clear about it.
- Distinguish behaviour that is disrupting the work from behaviour that is uncomfortable or useful disagreement.
- Identify the work standard being strained and describe the impact without labelling the person or assuming intent.
- Clarify role boundaries, including what can be addressed directly, raised with the right person, or paused for consultation.
- Apply PMC Training’s SCOPE framework to choose a response that fits the behaviour, impact, role, and level of risk without minimizing the issue or overstepping.
- Use clear, fair language, pressure-tested with AI where helpful, to reset expectations, reduce workarounds, and keep the work moving.
Recognizing Difficult Behaviour at Work
- Separate difficult behaviour, useful disagreement or pushback, disruptive patterns, and unclear situations.
- Identify when behaviour is repeated, observable, and affecting the work.
- Recognize how workarounds, lowered expectations, and delayed decisions can become normalized.
Deciding What Response Fits Your Role
- Apply the SCOPE framework to assess the standard being strained, the cost of the behaviour continuing, the role best positioned to respond, the response weight, and the level of risk.
- Clarify what is within your role to name, request, decide, raise, or consult on.
- Choose a response that is strong enough to protect the work without minimizing, overcorrecting, or overstepping.
Resetting Expectations and Following Through
- Build a first conversation using clear behaviour, work impact, context, and reset.
- Hold the standard when the response is deflection, defence, or disclosure.
- Follow up when a pattern continues and decide whether another conversation, a raised concern, or a different pathway is needed.
This course is for anyone who needs to respond to difficult behaviour that affects shared work, participation, follow-through, service, or progress.
It is especially relevant for those who:
- Are unsure whether a situation is simply frustrating, useful disagreement, or a disruptive pattern that needs a response.
- Want to clarify what is within their role to address directly, raise with the right person, or pause and consult on.
- Experience side conversations, missed handoffs, interruptions, sarcasm, or process bypassing that affects the work.
There are no prerequisites for this course.
FAQ
Yes. The course is built for a mixed room, and one part of the framework, Orbit, is made for exactly this: working out what a concern is yours to raise, what belongs to someone with more authority, and what to pause and consult on first. You leave clear on where your line is and how to raise something without overstepping.
SCOPE is PMC Training’s five-part decision aid for responding to difficult behaviour at work. Before acting, it helps participants weigh the work standard being missed, what the behaviour is costing, whether the concern is theirs to handle, what response fits, and whether anything makes it too risky to handle informally.
This course stops where HR starts and knowing that line is part of what you practice. You work on spotting a pattern, describing it against a work standard, and having the conversation. When it involves safety, harassment, or a formal complaint, the course points you to pause and consult first.
You’ll bring one to mind and practice on it privately in the final activity. Everywhere else, you’ll work from prepared scenarios rather than live cases, so no one has to expose a real situation in front of others. The scenarios are built from patterns people actually bring, so what you practice still transfers to your own work.
Open to all members of the public.
$ 595 plus tax
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