From Avoidance to Alignment: Preparing for Difficult Stakeholder Conversations
From Avoidance to Alignment: Preparing for Difficult Stakeholder Conversations
Even strong project plans stall when difficult conversations are delayed or handled reactively. This session gives project professionals a practical way to prepare for high-stakes stakeholder conversations — clarifying purpose, separating facts from assumptions, identifying what matters on both sides, and making clear requests without escalating tension. Participants leave with a simple structure they can apply immediately to a real conversation they’ve been avoiding.
Speaker
Felix Vallieres is a Management Consultant with Bellrock based in Victoria, BC. He specializes in self-leadership, communication, and change in high-accountability environments. Felix works with managers and project leaders to navigate resistance, strengthen stakeholder communication, and translate strategy into aligned action. He has delivered workshops across public and private sectors and supported cross-department change initiatives, including enterprise software implementations. Felix holds a Master’s in Change Management from the University of Sherbrooke and is a Certified Trainer in Nonviolent Communication (NVC).
Photo and Video Consent
All participants hereby consent to the use of their likeness, including but not limited to photographs and videos, taken during the conference. Participants understand and agree that these photographs and videos may be used by the conference organizers for promotional and marketing purposes, including but not limited to website content, social media posts, brochures, and other promotional materials.
Participants further acknowledge that they will not receive any compensation or royalty for the use of their likenesses in the photographs and videos.
If participants wish to refrain from being photographed or filmed during the conference, it is their responsibility to inform the conference organizers in writing prior to the start of the conference. The conference organizers will make reasonable efforts to accommodate such requests, but cannot guarantee that all photographs or videos will be excluded.
Participants release the conference organizers, volunteers, and any third parties acting under their authority, from any claims, damages, or liability arising out of or related to the use of their likeness in the photographs and videos.
