A practical kit for conflict, feedback and pushback with peers, clients and managers. A human, no-fluff e-book plus the scripts, planners and trackers to prepare in 10 to 30 minutes and walk in calm.
Hard Talks, Good Outcomes · Bodhih Pro Kits · 14 by Bodhih Training, trainers to 2,000+ companies since 2008.
Prepare by separating facts from the story you have added, open with a shared purpose, listen until the other person feels heard, then state your view and a specific request. Hard Talks, Good Outcomes, the difficult conversations kit from Bodhih Training, gives you planners, scripts and a tracker for each step.
Want the full free guide first? Read How to Have a Difficult Conversation at Work (Without Wrecking It).
You've played it in your head a dozen times. Then you see them and say 'Morning!' too brightly, and it goes back in the drawer for another week.
When you finally speak up, months of frustration arrive at once. A label slips out, they get defensive, and you decide raising things only makes them worse.
A client adds 'one small thing', a peer asks for 'a quick favour', your manager agrees a date for you. You say yes, then deliver late or resent it quietly.
An email lands with your manager copied in. Your face goes hot, you draft a defence in four minutes, and your finger hovers over Send.
A short message reads as rude, the reply reads as ruder, and by lunchtime two people who like each other are barely speaking.
Picture next Tuesday. Instead of carrying that unresolved issue around for another week, you open the Quick Conversation Planner, write three facts a camera would have recorded, and notice how much smaller the problem looks once the story is separated out.
As you fill in your opening line and say it aloud twice, you can feel the difference. You book fifteen minutes with a light, friendly heads-up. When the moment comes, you name the topic, state what you both want, and then do the thing most people skip: you listen until they feel heard. 'Have I got that right?' And they relax.
Imagine Friday afternoon. You open the Relationship Repair Tracker, mark one row as Improving, log what was agreed, and set a follow-up date. The client who wanted free extras chose an option from your Yes, No, Yes email. The peer you apologised to is joking in the team chat again.
Whether you start with the scripts tonight or the planner tomorrow morning, you'll find that each conversation makes the next one easier. Not because you've become a different person, but because you finally have a method, the words and a place to keep track.
The e-book shows you how. The tools make it happen. Here is exactly what you download.
The guide: methods, worked examples, scripts and exercises
Keep every strained working relationship visible: issue, last conversation, next step, status, follow-up date with an automatic overdue flag, a conversation log and a readiness check.
A 30-minute, three-page fillable planner: facts versus stories, other explanations, your contribution, purpose, opening line, likely reactions and practical set-up.
A one-page, 10-minute planner for lower-stakes talks: three facts, one generous story, your purpose, your opener and your request.
Prepare sideways and upward feedback using the Situation-Behaviour-Impact model (credit: Center for Creative Leadership), plus intent, request and a positive-feedback page.
A five-minute debrief to capture agreements, what worked, what to try next time and the follow-up, so you learn from each talk instead of replaying it at 2 a.m.
Editable word-for-word lines for openings, listening, disagreeing, feedback, criticism, client pushback, saying no, apologising and escalating, each with why it works.
Fifteen ready-to-edit emails for chasing, correcting, replying to anger, moving threads to calls, saying no, pushing back, apologising and escalating cleanly.
A two-page cheat sheet of exact phrases for heated moments, words that inflame and what to say instead.
A cheat sheet with the Yes-No-Yes structure, eight ready-made nos, how to handle pushback and a pre-yes checklist.
28 common phrases that escalate tension, each with a calmer swap, the situation and why it works. Sort, filter and add your own.
Twenty-one short weekday sessions over four weeks that take you from listing avoided conversations to having two of them well. Imports into Google, Outlook or Apple Calendar.
Each chapter opens with a real situation, gives you a method and ends with something to do today, using the tools in your kit.
Why avoidance feels sensible in the moment, what it really costs, and the three-minute Speak-Up Test for deciding whether to raise something.
Separate what a camera would record from the story you have added, generate other explanations, and decide what you want for you, them and the relationship.
A four-part opener that names the topic, states a shared purpose, shows your intent and invites the other person in.
The LOOP method for making people feel heard, and why acknowledging a view is not the same as agreeing with it.
The CARE sequence and the steelman for challenging ideas, including with more senior people, without damaging relationships.
Situation-Behaviour-Impact feedback (credit: Center for Creative Leadership) for peers and managers, with permission, intent and a clear request.
The PAUSE method for receiving criticism, including the three reasons feedback stings and how to respond when it is unfair.
Yes, No, Yes: how to decline clients, peers and managers clearly while offering an alternative that keeps the relationship intact.
The OWN apology, grounded in Ohio State research on what makes apologies work, and the small repair moves that rebuild trust over time.
How directness lands across cultures, the two-reply rule for chat and email, and how to escalate openly and cleanly when you need to.
Every outcome is practised with a worked example and a tool, not just described.
People who measure before and after improve faster and can show it. AssessAll, our sister assessment platform, has AI-graded assessments that pair with this kit. Take one now, work through the kit, then re-take it.
This distinction is the single most useful preparation habit we teach. A fact is what a video camera would have captured: words said, actions taken, numbers, dates. A story is the meaning you have attached: motives, judgements, labels, predictions. Stories are not bad. You cannot stop making them; it is how human brains work. The trouble starts when you treat your story as a fact and open the conversation with it. "You were trying to humiliate me" invites denial and a fight about intentions. "You described the requirements as unusable in front of the team" is hard to argue with and opens a real discussion. The Harvard Negotiation Project's work on difficult conversations makes a related point well: we tend to judge ourselves by our intentions and others by their impact on us. Separating what happened from what you made it mean is how you stop that trap from running the conversation.
| Free templates and typical advice | This kit | |
|---|---|---|
| Preparation | 'Just be honest' or 'stay calm' | A planner that separates facts from stories and sets your purpose in 10 to 30 minutes |
| Words to use | Generic tips you have to translate yourself | 50 spoken scripts and 15 email templates written for real workplace moments |
| Who it's for | Manager handbooks about your direct reports | Peer-focused: sideways, upward, clients and stakeholders, no authority needed |
| Follow-through | One conversation, then nothing | A tracker with follow-up dates, overdue flags and a conversation log |
| Feedback model | The compliment sandwich | Situation-Behaviour-Impact plus intent and a specific request |
| Saying no | 'Learn to say no' with no structure | Yes, No, Yes with ready-made lines and a pushback routine |
| Cross-cultural and chat | Rarely covered | Practical habits for directness across cultures and a two-reply rule for chat |
Bodhih Training has designed and delivered corporate programmes since 2008. Bodhih Pro Kits package what works in those workshops into a guide plus the exact tools we use, so you can apply it the same day without a facilitator in the room.
Name, email and country. UPI, card or netbanking in India; international cards everywhere else. No account to create.
Your download page opens at once, with every file and a one-click ZIP. A permanent link lands in your inbox too.
Start with the quick-start chapter, then the main spreadsheet or planner. Most buyers use something from the kit the same day.
Pick the talk you've been putting off and open the Quick Conversation Planner tonight. Whether you start with the scripts or the tracker, you'll walk in with facts, a purpose and the first sentence ready.
Personal licence for the buyer's own use (and use with your own team or clients where the kit says so). Please don't share or resell the files. Team and company licences: solutions@bodhih.com.
Professional English for the global workplace.
Daily speaking practice with feedback.
250+ AI-graded assessments to measure skills and earn verified credentials.
Individual development plans that start from evidence and stay yours.
Run this topic as a live workshop for your team, in person or online.
Book a vetted coach for career, leadership or communication. Pay per session.
Certification pathways in Applied AI, Workplace English and management.
Book a short, private slot with a light heads-up, then open with four things: the topic, a shared purpose, your intent and an invitation to share their view. For example: 'Can we talk about the handover? I want to make it easier for both of us. Can I share what I've seen and then hear your side?' Chapter 3 and the scripts give you versions for peers, managers and clients.
It is written for individual contributors in any function: people who need to raise issues, give feedback and say no without formal authority. Managers will find it useful for peer and stakeholder relationships, but it is not a performance-management handbook.
Situation-Behaviour-Impact is a feedback model developed by the Center for Creative Leadership. You describe when and where, what the person did, and the effect it had, which keeps you on facts instead of labels. The kit adds asking about intent and making a clear request, with a fillable worksheet to prepare.
Say yes to the person and their goal, a clear no to the specific request, and yes to an alternative they can choose. If they push back, acknowledge, restate without adding new reasons, and return to the options. The Saying No Without Burning Bridges cheat sheet has eight ready-made versions.
Buy time first, ask for specific examples, and understand their view before deciding what is accurate. Then take the useful part and calmly clarify the rest: 'Part of that is fair and I'll fix it; part I see differently.' Chapter 7 walks through this with a worked example.
Yes. If you'd like a baseline before you begin, AssessAll offers Conflict Navigation & Resolution, Taking It Well: Receiving Feedback, and Speak-Up: Raising a Concern and Hearing One. Taking one before and after a month of practice with the kit shows you where you've grown.
Jobulary helps you build an individual development plan that starts from assessment evidence, so you can work on conflict skills with measurable goals and review dates. The kit's tracker and practice calendar slot neatly into that plan.
Yes. The tracker opens in Excel or Google Sheets with its formulas, dropdowns and flags working. The Word templates open in Word or Google Docs, the fillable PDFs work in Acrobat Reader and most PDF apps, and the calendar imports into Google, Outlook or Apple Calendar.
Then it is not a peer conversation. Follow your company's reporting policy and speak to HR, a union representative or a qualified adviser. The kit is educational and is not legal or HR advice; Chapter 10 explains when and how to escalate.
Digital kits are non-refundable once downloaded. If a file is corrupted and we can't fix it within three working days, if you were charged twice, or if delivery failed, contact us and we'll put it right.
₹449 including 18% GST for buyers in India, or $14 for buyers outside India. One-time payment, no subscription, with an automatic invoice.
Instantly. Your download page opens the moment payment succeeds, and a permanent download link is emailed to you. Download each file separately or everything in one ZIP.
Any of the usual tools: Excel or Google Sheets for spreadsheets, Word or Google Docs for templates, Adobe Acrobat Reader, Preview, Xodo or GoodNotes for the fillable PDFs, and Google, Outlook or Apple Calendar for the calendar plan.
Yes. Team and company licences, and workshops on this topic run by Bodhih Training, are available. Write to solutions@bodhih.com or call +91 99000 11601.
