What was the speaker’s main message?

Presenters Shawn Suzuki and Diane Spencer shared a step-by-step playbook for how to script and conduct a difficult conversation with a staff member. This strategy was called assertive intervention and was one of the biggest takeaways my team had from the entire conference. With no training in college or prep programs for navigating personnel concerns, this session provided numerous takeaways we can implement immediately in our building to ensure we are preserving the culture of our school for both our students and staff.

What was the best quote? 

“Having a difficult conversation makes or breaks careers. It’s important for us to have them because kids’ lives depend on it.”

What were the top ideas from the session? 

When you notice a behavior or action that should not be ignored:

1. Write a script to guide your meeting and stick to it. 
2. This gives you space to take notes during the meeting and serves as documentation. Then, follow up with a summary of the conference using your script and notes for guidance. 
3. Clear is kind. 

What is one strategy that you will implement immediately? 

The presenters listed a seven-step guide for writing a script when a difficult conversation is needed.  The script should include:

1. Behavior to be eliminated;
2. Explicit description of the behavior;
3. Your feelings about the behavior;
4. Explanation of how the behavior impacts the employee;
5. Your personal contribution to the continuance of the behavior;
6. Your desire to resolve the issue; and
7. Your invitation for the employee to respond.

What is one strategy that will help you with instructional leadership? 

One strategy I am working to improve on is addressing the behavior and this script will be an asset to the conversation. When others’ actions or lack of action negatively impacts students or the culture of the building, difficult conversations must happen.  Not addressing poor performance or bad behavior speaks as loudly to your staff as addressing it.

What is one idea that you want to learn more about? 

I believe having difficult discussion is a crucial topic that goes undiscussed in most prep programs. This life skill is crucial for running and maintaining a healthy school building. I would like to learn more about ways to alter this script for conversations with parents and students. My team discussed using this for discipline conversations with students as well has hard conversations with parents.

What are resources you will check out? 

I will read more about assertive intervention strategies.

I can’t wait to tell my teachers about this idea: 

This script could be altered and shared as a professional development session with staff to help navigate difficult conversations with parents. Many new age teachers have anxiety or shy away from having difficult conversations with parents, but using a script and being properly prepared would boost teachers’ confidence and ability to navigate the conversation in a productive manner.

What are some interesting takeaways you learned?

The presenters shared some great sentence starters to aid in keeping the conversation productive and being viewed as a partner and not punitive:

• Never mention that the reason you haven’t addressed the behavior before is because you were too busy or didn’t have time.
• Be transparent and share that the concern could result in disciplinary action. “Without consequences, it’s arbitrary and sounds invitational.”
• Always follow up: “What gets monitored gets done. If you don’t monitor it, it probably doesn’t improve.”

Anna Claire Parker is principal of Horn Lake Intermediate School in Horn Lake, Mississippi.

Read more session notes in the NAESP Conference Blog.