What to Say When: Haunted by the Ghost of Your Predecessor

As a manager to a new team, you may find the ghost of your predecessor impedes your ability to manage your team. They may think, for example, a plan you created won’t work because the last manager tried something similar and failed. So what do you say? Responding with anger or being irritated may only make the situation worse. Your team may still feel some loyalty to their last manager, and many of the things he or she did were probably effective. So how do you address a situation like this? This course demonstrates a method to help you show respect for your predecessor, while making your own improvements. The video also provides a communication strategy for dealing with resistance to your new ideas.

This course is part of the What To Say When series on workplace communication. These short vignettes present common communication dilemmas in the workplace. Human Resource expert Hugh Murray shares communication strategies and tactics for navigating these situations.

Each vignette features narrative examples for employees to see the wrong and right way to handle a problem, and ends with a short assessment to measure learner comprehension. Each course also includes a leader guide, so you can use this course in a group setting, and a downloadable “key points” document to help you remember the communication strategy. These courses make for great training on their own, or used as a series.

   This course is in the Video On Demand format, to read about Video On Demand features click here.

Managers taking over a new work group or team

• Haunted by the Ghost of Your Predecessor

• Communication Skills: What Would You Say?
• Effective Communication - Avoid the 6 Common Mistakes
• Writing Effective Emails