Workshop: Leading Through Support at Home Conversations  

Facilitator: Bruce Williams, Training Specialist, Consultant and Former University Lecturer

This workshop is a practical half-day workshop for aged care leaders who are feeling the real people pressure of reform and policy change. The session focuses on the conversations leaders are already having – or are about to have – about rising fees, client and family frustration, staff discomfort with conflict, and the broader uncertainty that comes with a changing economic and regulatory environment. 

Through realistic home care scenarios, short, focused activities and facilitator input, participants will practice what to say, how to say it, and how to stay steady when the stakes feel high. The session emphasises usable language, simple frameworks and confident leadership behaviours that can be applied immediately back on the floor, helping leaders guide their teams through Support at Home conversations with more calm, clarity and trust. 

Intended audience 

The session would be well suited to: 

• New and emerging leaders. 

• Midlevel leaders, coordinators and team leaders. 

• Care managers and others with frontline responsibility for supporting staff and handling client or family concerns. 

Learning outcomes 

By the end of the workshop, participants would be better able to: 

• Recognise and respond to emotional cues in challenging conversations. 

• Stay calm and clear when people are distressed, frustrated or angry. 

• Explain change in plain language without escalating tension. 

• Identify the real issue underneath the reaction, whether that is cost, fairness, uncertainty, continuity or trust. 

• Adapt their communication style to different personalities and stress responses. 

• Support staff who are uncomfortable with conflict or unsure how to respond well. 
• Set respectful boundaries and use escalation pathways when required