Difficult people exist in all walks of life; they can be people with behaviour or attitude problems, time wasters or people who do not like change. It is useful to learn a few techniques to help you manage them with confidence and avoid being manipulated.

Difficult, who me? Start out by examining yourself. Are you difficult? Are you sure that the other person is really the problem and that you're not overreacting? Do you regularly experience difficulty with the same type of person or actions? Do you recognize that you have hot buttons that are easily pushed? You are not alone. We all do, the key is to acknowledge them as bear traps and learn to manage them.

Using an assertive style of behaviour will help to reduce the potential for conflict around you

In The Fifth Discipline Fieldbook Peter Senge describes a learning organization as one that is engaged in "the continuous testing of experience, and the transformation of that experience into knowledge that is accessible to the whole organisation and relevant to its core purpose".

In other words, an organisation where experience matters and feeds into a genuine commitment towards improving how the organisation delivers its core business. It is an organisation where learning from mistakes is used constructively to inform future work practice. In a learning organisation the culture is less about blame and more about understanding and improving.

• Do you continuously test and challenge the way your organisation does things?
• Are you increasing the capacity of the organisation to respond to change and developing current knowledge and skills sufficiently?
• Is the learning relevant to your organisation's business?
• Is new knowledge accessible and do staff know where to look for it?

• Read - as much as you can around your subject area
• Think - take a thoughtful approach to your work
• Feel - understand your emotional responses
• Watch - be sensitive to what is happening around you
• Talk - to others about aspects of your work
• Ask - other people about their practice

Successful change management requires thoughtful planning and sensitive implementation, and above all, consultation with, and involvement of, the people affected by the changes.

A desire to see change implemented quickly can often lead to insufficient consultation with those who will be most affected by the change and staff issues can arise preventing successful change from taking place.

The following tips will help you to ensure that your change initiatives achieve their objectives

Sustainable change should be realistic, achievable and measurable. Before starting organisational change, ask yourself the following questions:

Don't allow obstacles to block the vision and don't underestimate the power of vision. But remember it will need to be regularly and appropriately communicated.

Before the change process can occur, there must be a 'felt need for change" by key leaders in the organisation to stir the organisation out of complacency. Ensure key managers are with you on the change message and that they accept responsibility for leading cultural change within their units and for maintaining momentum for the change.

During periods of change communication needs to function to a very high standard. Consider the extent to which you are communicating with the wider organisation?

Think about how you can help people to understand how the change will affect them personally. (If you don't help with this process, people will make up their own stories, usually more negative than the truth.) Treat people with humanity and respect and they will reciprocate

Do not sell change to people as a way of accelerating 'agreement' and implementation. 'Selling' change to people is not a sustainable strategy for success. Instead, change needs to be understood and managed in a way that people can cope effectively with it. Be mindful that the chief insecurity of most staff is change itself. Senior managers and directors responsible for managing organisational change do not, as a rule, fear change - they generally thrive on it. So remember that staff may not relish change, they may find it threatening and fear a loss of status, influence or autonomy.

Encourage feedback. Create forums where staff can ask questions and discuss their concerns. It is better to have concerns out in the open than festering away and building passive resistance.

Communicate consistently, frequently, and through multiple channels, including speaking, writing, video, training, focus groups, bulletin boards, Intranets, and more about the change. Think about the informal opportunities to communicate that arise during the day and make use of them to share ideas and get feedback.

Ensure all sensitive aspects of organizational change management are conducted face-to-face. Encourage your managers to communicate face-to-face with their people too. Don't rely on email and written notices, they are extremely weak at conveying and developing understanding and are open to misinterpretation.

For organisational change that entails new actions, objectives and processes for a group or team of people, use workshops to achieve understanding, involvement, plans, measurable aims, actions and commitment.

Publicly acknowledge when people make changes in behaviour and attitude that leads to the success of the change initiative. Make the connections between their behaviour and the changes. Celebrate each small win publicly.

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Get some honest feedback about your presentation skills; how influential and persuasive are you? Do people listen and take heed of what you have to say?

Get used to change by challenging your self with changes that place you outside your comfort zone.

See mistakes as a learning opportunity, and ensure that learning informs your future work practice.

Learn to think on your feet. Here are some ideas to help you.

Find a mentor. Being mentored:

Use the skills of an Executive Coach as part of your development. It will increase your confidence and generally improve your performance.

Support and develop your staff. A confident and effective team can only reflect well on you.

Start by accepting that your opinions and needs are important and you have the right to express them.

Use an assertive style of behaviour - Standing up for your own rights without violating those of others. Expressing your own needs, wants, feelings and beliefs in a direct, honest and appropriate way.

Assertive behaviour is based on the belief that:

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