Powerful Phrases for Dealing with Workplace Conflict

If you are working on a classic car, your best friend is a Haynes manual (Chilton’s people—I’ll fight you!), but if you’re trying to deal with workplace conflict, Powerful Phrases by Karin Hurt & David Dye is your best friend. That’s exactly what this book is: a repair manual for broken workplace relationships.The first few chapters lay out some basic theoretical groundwork, some of the hows and whys for understanding workplace conflict: why people get into conflicts, the parameters that govern conflicts, and the authors’ twelve GOAT phrases for managing conflict. This is like the introductory chapters in a repair manual, where they lay out all the regular maintenance you need to keep your car running in top shape. And just like those maintenance steps, if you read and master these first chapters, you’ll be able to cruise your way happily through most workplace conflicts until something serious breaks.When you’ve got a workplace conflict that you’re having trouble resolving, it’s time to flip to the later chapters of the book, which are dedicated to specific conflicts like “When your team can’t get along,” or “When your boss takes credit for your ideas,” or “How to deal with lazy coworkers.” What I love about these chapters is how they start with a detailed description of what’s likely driving the conflict from the perspective of each person involved. It’s like an exploded-view parts diagram, and it really gives you a good idea of what’s gone wrong in each interaction. Then the chapter gets into the powerful phrases that you can use to work your way through the conflict to restore your relationships to good working order.Of course, there are a few differences between Powerful Phrases and a repair manual. The biggest difference is that Powerful Phrases is full of humor and heart—they don’t stick too many jokes in a repair manual. This makes this book an enjoyable read straight through, even though it’s not intended for you to approach it that way.The second major difference is that Powerful Phrases is full of insights from dozens of additional experts, who help add some nuance, philosophical background, or a slightly different approach from the main authors.I have seen the positive difference that these authors’ work can make when deployed in the workplace. I feel that this book will make a similar dynamic impact, improving the lives of workers at all levels in organizations of all sizes. Heck, I bet that you’ll find yourself using some of these phrases to navigate conflict in your personal life, too, and—spoiler alert!—they work there, too.

This book was an easy read with reviews of the phrases that would be easy to use. Highly recommend. Bought it for my entire team to empower them.

All of us face workplace conflict from time to time. This book will be your bible for resolving any conflict you may face. It features great tips and phrases from Karin Hurt and David Dye and is refreshingly candid. Additionally, they include expert insights from a variety of sources. I have never read a better book to help me with conflict than this one. No library should be without this book.

Bought this book and had an immediate use for the concepts included. They do a great job providing simple practical advice and tools to deal with a variety of issues when dealing with conflict in the workplace. Well organized, to the point and best of all practical. I will be having all the staff read it!

I don’t usually review this kind of book as it is outside my area of expertise.  However, I recently endured nine years of a job with extremely poor management.  This amazing book would have helped me immensely in dealing with that situation.   Powerful Phrases contains an array of verbal strategies for handling a wide variety of difficult situations in the work place.  The book is well-organized and easy to navigate. My favorite parts of Powerful Phrases include the Expert Insights, the 12 GOATS (you gotta get the book to understand), Chapter 5 (Harnessing the Power of Body Language and Tone for More Productive Conflict), Chapter 8 (What to Say When You Need To Say No (Even to the Boss)), and Chapter 24 (What to Do if Your Boss Thinks You’re Too Negative).  This book would be a valuable addition to anyone’s library!

Helpful guide for more intentional communication in the workplace. This really got me thinking about how I can change my language to elicit more effective responses from my team and increase overall efficiency. I love the sections broken down into various types of employees/ co- workers and how to communicate with each.Definitely a valuable read.

The expanse of conflict possible in the workplace has never been greater, so the need for this fantastic resource of a book from Hurt and Dye has never been greater. Whether you’ve got to sit down with the boss or have a tough talk with a co-worker, over 200 proven, powerful phrases stand ready to help. Hurt and Dye infuse the guide with their trademark abundance of clear examples, explanations, and research to back it all up. The writing is punchy and memorable, with content presented in a way that makes it “stick,” like the GOAT phrases for dealing with conflict. I can’t wait to share a few choice phrases with a few dysfunctional teams I know of, and with a few friends that are ready to strangle their less than “go-get-em energy” co-workers. Whatever your conflict is, you now have a conversation guide to help you. The copy you buy WILL be dog-eared and marked with post-it notes in short order.

Sometimes just a few words make all the difference in navigating difficult situations. David and Karin masterfully give you solutions for many situations so you can bring ease & grace when needed.

Conflicts at work can be so damaging to team spirit, ethos and performance. David Dye and Karin Hurt’s excellent book is full of helpful and straightforward advice based on their years of experience and an understanding of the literature. Written with warmth and good humour I found it to be of great value.