May 8 , 2008 “I'm sorry” just isn't good enough ACT designs new course on apologizing at work “Apology is a lovely perfume; it can transform the clumsiest moment into a gracious gift.” Margaret Lee Runbeck Broken promises, a missed deadline, making a mistake, forgetting something important, being late, rude or unprofessional, offensive behavior, misunderstanding or broken communication – do you recognize yourself or your co-workers? Have your feelings ever been hurt, your trust betrayed, relationships destroyed? People spend 8-10 or even more hours at work, which leads to plenty of opportunities for difficult situations and complicated problems to arise. And at work, apologizing can be tricky. To help improve communication and decrease conflict at work, we have developed a new short course on the 5 types of apology and how to use them well at work. The common statement “We are all human, we all make mistakes” or casual and careless phrase “Just live with it (forget about it)” could make the situation or conflict worse and would never help to restore and rebuild trust. We need to do more because when an apology is poorly delivered, it can make a bad situation worse. In some cases hurt people might feel that instead of healing their feelings you are just rubbing salt in their wound. A bad apology is a second insult.... the other person doesn’t want to be compensated because they have been wronged; they want to be healed because they have been hurt. What insulted or offended people expect and accept is a sincere, honest and thoughtful apology delivered on time. But it’s not easy and that’s where this new course can help. “Today in business, strong communication skills are essential to personal and organizational success,” says ACT Ltd. President Janet Dean. “Most of have mastered it when times are good. This course will give you the skills to help when times aren’t so easy too.” Parents teach their children to say please and thank you and even “I’m sorry” very early on. The children are unknowingly learning to say I’m sorry to please their mum or dad and not actually mean the apology. We carry this strategy into our adult lives. “Learning the correct actions and words to apologize are not enough. It greatly helps your understanding and success if you learn what not to do as well so you can avoid the apologizing mistakes so many of us make over and over again”, says Nina Telepouskai, Apology Trainer. “For me, the non-apology apology” is the worst says an anonymous employee. “When my boss says “I am sorry IF I….. I feel the non-apology apology coming and immediately tune out. People like my boss need to learn how to apologize properly – this course would be great for them.” Mark Schenkle, an Administrative Manager says, “ if only my staff knew how to apologize, we could let go of the issue and move on. Instead, they blame each other, hand me those non-apology apologies and in some cases just give me the “I’m sorry” I am sure they used on their mom and dad.” This new course is designed to help everyone get better at communicating their apology and regret. The ACT Apology course is available as a 1 hour lunch and learn of a half day workshop. Topics include the 5 languages of apology, identifying and removing barriers to apology, where and when not to apologize as well as sample scripts and letters to help you apologize more effectively. "An apology is the superglue of life. It can repair just about anything." Lynn Johnston For more about the power of apology, the five languages of apology, how to write apology letters and how to forgive, consider bringing the new ACT course “Apology in the work place” into your organization. For more information, call 604.521.5473 or email events@actraining.com.
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