Difficult Workplace Conversations
davila7/claude-code-templates
Structured approach to workplace conflicts, performance discussions, and challenging feedback using preparation-delivery-followup framework.
Prepare for and script a hard conversation — conflict, bad news, a boundary, an apology.
MITAuto-check passed
Install Difficult Conversation
$ npx skills add mohitagw15856/pm-claude-skills --skill difficult-conversation -a claude-codeProject install by default; add -g for ~/.claude/skills/.
$ gh skill install mohitagw15856/pm-claude-skills difficult-conversation --agent claude-codeProject scope by default; add --scope user for a personal install. Needs GitHub CLI 2.90.0 or later (public preview).
$ git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/mohitagw15856/pm-claude-skills.git skills-src && mkdir -p .claude/skills && cp -r skills-src/skills/difficult-conversation .claude/skills/difficult-conversation && rm -rf skills-srcUse ~/.claude/skills/ instead of .claude/skills for a personal install. The folder must contain SKILL.md.
Claude Code skills documentation · loads skills from .claude/skills/
Install the "difficult-conversation" agent skill from https://github.com/mohitagw15856/pm-claude-skills/tree/main/skills/difficult-conversation into .claude/skills/difficult-conversation/ in this project. Copy the whole folder (SKILL.md and every file beside it), keep the folder name "difficult-conversation", then confirm the skill loads.Claude Code copies the folder itself, the same result as the manual copy. Check what it changed before you commit it.
$skill-installer install https://github.com/mohitagw15856/pm-claude-skills/tree/main/skills/difficult-conversationType this inside Codex. $skill-installer <name> installs a curated skill from openai/skills. The installer writes to $CODEX_HOME/skills (default ~/.codex/skills). Restart Codex if the skill does not show up.
$ npx skills add mohitagw15856/pm-claude-skills --skill difficult-conversation -a codexProject install goes to .agents/skills/; add -g for ~/.codex/skills/.
$ gh skill install mohitagw15856/pm-claude-skills difficult-conversation --agent codexProject scope by default (.agents/skills/); add --scope user for a personal install.
$ git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/mohitagw15856/pm-claude-skills.git skills-src && mkdir -p .agents/skills && cp -r skills-src/skills/difficult-conversation .agents/skills/difficult-conversation && rm -rf skills-srcUse ~/.agents/skills/ instead of .agents/skills for a personal install.
Codex skills documentation · loads skills from .agents/skills/
Install the "difficult-conversation" agent skill from https://github.com/mohitagw15856/pm-claude-skills/tree/main/skills/difficult-conversation into .agents/skills/difficult-conversation/ in this project. Copy the whole folder (SKILL.md and every file beside it), keep the folder name "difficult-conversation", then confirm the skill loads.Codex copies the folder itself, the same result as the manual copy. Check what it changed before you commit it.
$ npx skills add mohitagw15856/pm-claude-skills --skill difficult-conversation -a cursorProject install goes to .agents/skills/; add -g for ~/.cursor/skills/.
$ gh skill install mohitagw15856/pm-claude-skills difficult-conversation --agent cursorProject scope by default (.agents/skills/); add --scope user for a personal install.
$ git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/mohitagw15856/pm-claude-skills.git skills-src && mkdir -p .cursor/skills && cp -r skills-src/skills/difficult-conversation .cursor/skills/difficult-conversation && rm -rf skills-srcUse ~/.cursor/skills/ instead of .cursor/skills for a personal install.
Cursor skills documentation · loads skills from .cursor/skills/, .agents/skills/, .claude/skills/, .codex/skills/
Install the "difficult-conversation" agent skill from https://github.com/mohitagw15856/pm-claude-skills/tree/main/skills/difficult-conversation into .cursor/skills/difficult-conversation/ in this project. Copy the whole folder (SKILL.md and every file beside it), keep the folder name "difficult-conversation", then confirm the skill loads.Cursor copies the folder itself, the same result as the manual copy. Check what it changed before you commit it.
$ gemini skills install https://github.com/mohitagw15856/pm-claude-skills.git --path skills/difficult-conversation--scope user (default) or --scope workspace; --path is the subfolder of the repo that holds the skill; --consent skips the security confirmation prompt.
$ npx skills add mohitagw15856/pm-claude-skills --skill difficult-conversation -a gemini-cliProject install goes to .agents/skills/; add -g for ~/.gemini/skills/.
$ gh skill install mohitagw15856/pm-claude-skills difficult-conversation --agent gemini-cliProject scope by default (.agents/skills/); add --scope user for a personal install.
$ git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/mohitagw15856/pm-claude-skills.git skills-src && mkdir -p .gemini/skills && cp -r skills-src/skills/difficult-conversation .gemini/skills/difficult-conversation && rm -rf skills-srcUse ~/.gemini/skills/ instead of .gemini/skills for a personal install, then run /skills reload.
Gemini CLI skills documentation · loads skills from .gemini/skills/, .agents/skills/
Install the "difficult-conversation" agent skill from https://github.com/mohitagw15856/pm-claude-skills/tree/main/skills/difficult-conversation into .gemini/skills/difficult-conversation/ in this project. Copy the whole folder (SKILL.md and every file beside it), keep the folder name "difficult-conversation", then confirm the skill loads.Gemini CLI copies the folder itself, the same result as the manual copy. Check what it changed before you commit it.
$ gh skill install mohitagw15856/pm-claude-skills difficult-conversationInstalls for Copilot at project scope by default; add --scope user for a personal install. Preview a skill first with gh skill preview. Needs GitHub CLI 2.90.0 or later (public preview).
$ npx skills add mohitagw15856/pm-claude-skills --skill difficult-conversation -a github-copilotProject install goes to .agents/skills/; add -g for ~/.copilot/skills/.
$ git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/mohitagw15856/pm-claude-skills.git skills-src && mkdir -p .github/skills && cp -r skills-src/skills/difficult-conversation .github/skills/difficult-conversation && rm -rf skills-srcUse ~/.copilot/skills/ instead of .github/skills for a personal install. Commit .github/skills so cloud agent and code review can use it.
GitHub Copilot skills documentation · loads skills from .github/skills/, .claude/skills/, .agents/skills/
Install the "difficult-conversation" agent skill from https://github.com/mohitagw15856/pm-claude-skills/tree/main/skills/difficult-conversation into .github/skills/difficult-conversation/ in this project. Copy the whole folder (SKILL.md and every file beside it), keep the folder name "difficult-conversation", then confirm the skill loads.GitHub Copilot copies the folder itself, the same result as the manual copy. Check what it changed before you commit it.
$ npx skills add mohitagw15856/pm-claude-skills --skill difficult-conversation -a opencodeOpenCode documents no install command of its own. Project install goes to .agents/skills/; add -g for ~/.config/opencode/skills/.
$ gh skill install mohitagw15856/pm-claude-skills difficult-conversation --agent opencodeProject scope by default (.agents/skills/); add --scope user for a personal install.
$ git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/mohitagw15856/pm-claude-skills.git skills-src && mkdir -p .opencode/skills && cp -r skills-src/skills/difficult-conversation .opencode/skills/difficult-conversation && rm -rf skills-srcUse ~/.config/opencode/skills/ instead of .opencode/skills for a personal install.
OpenCode skills documentation · loads skills from .opencode/skills/, .claude/skills/, .agents/skills/
Install the "difficult-conversation" agent skill from https://github.com/mohitagw15856/pm-claude-skills/tree/main/skills/difficult-conversation into .opencode/skills/difficult-conversation/ in this project. Copy the whole folder (SKILL.md and every file beside it), keep the folder name "difficult-conversation", then confirm the skill loads.OpenCode copies the folder itself, the same result as the manual copy. Check what it changed before you commit it.
Facts
- Skill name
difficult-conversation- GitHub stars
- 1.4k
- Token cost
- ~944 tokens
- SKILL.md length
- 497 words
- Files
- 1
- Skills in repo
- 1,348
- Repo updated
- First seen
- Licence
- MIT
At a glance
Prepare for and script a hard conversation — conflict, bad news, a boundary, an apology.
- Asked to prepare for a difficult conversation
- SKILL.md covers Required Inputs, Output Format, Quality Checks and Anti-Patterns, plus 2 more sections
- Instructions only: no scripts, shell commands, URLs or credentials in SKILL.md
- Address a conflict
What it does
Difficult Conversation is an agent skill from mohitagw15856/pm-claude-skills. Prepare for and script a hard conversation — conflict, bad news, a boundary, an apology. Use when asked to prepare for a difficult conversation, address a conflict, deliver bad news, confront a colleague, or have a hard talk with a manager/report/peer. Produces a prep brief — the real goal, the other side's likely view, an opening line, the key points, anticipated reactions with responses, and the outcome you want.
Its SKILL.md is about 940 tokens, which your agent loads only when the skill is triggered. It is a single SKILL.md file with no bundled scripts.
The repository describes itself as: 1255 professional Agent Skills for Claude, ChatGPT, Gemini, Cursor & Codex — PRDs, postmortems, leases, medical bills, layoffs, go-bags, new countries. Plain markdown, MIT, in… The licence is MIT.
When your agent uses it
- Asked to prepare for a difficult conversation
- Address a conflict
- Deliver bad news
- Confront a colleague
Example prompts
- “/difficult-conversation”
What it can do on your machine
Read from SKILL.md and the folder at commit 1cbf1f0. It shows what the files ask for, not the result of running them.
Tool permissions
Pre-approves nothing: there is no allowed-tools line, so your agent's usual permission prompts apply.
From allowed-tools in the SKILL.md frontmatter.
Runs code
No scripts in the folder and no shell commands in SKILL.md.
From the folder's file list and the shell code blocks in SKILL.md.
Network
No URLs in SKILL.md.
From URLs in SKILL.md, links to its own repository left out.
Credentials
Names no API keys, tokens, secrets or passwords.
From names ending in _API_KEY, _TOKEN, _SECRET, _KEY or _PASSWORD in SKILL.md.
Context cost
Difficult Conversation loads about 944 tokens when it runs. Until then it costs about 110 tokens; SKILL.md has 497 words of instructions outside code blocks.
Estimates: characters ÷ 4, the usual rule of thumb; real counts depend on the model's tokenizer. Scripts and assets cost tokens only if the agent reads them.
Safety
Auto-check passed
The automated check found no risky patterns in SKILL.md.
Automated static check — not a guarantee. Review scripts before installing. It scans the text of SKILL.md for risky patterns (piping downloads into a shell, reading credential files, hidden Unicode, destructive commands); files beside SKILL.md are not scanned.
SKILL.md
The full file from mohitagw15856/pm-claude-skills at commit 1cbf1f0, republished under its MIT licence (© mohitagw15856). 497 words, ~944 tokens.
Download SKILL.mdSave it as
.claude/skills/difficult-conversation/SKILL.md (or your agent's skills folder).- name
- difficult-conversation
- description
- Prepare for and script a hard conversation — conflict, bad news, a boundary, an apology. Use when asked to prepare for a difficult conversation, address a conflict, deliver bad news, confront a colleague, or have a hard talk with a manager/report/peer. Produces a prep brief — the real goal, the other side's likely view, an opening line, the key points, anticipated reactions with responses, and the outcome you want.
Difficult Conversation Skill
The conversations we avoid are usually the ones that matter most — and we botch them by winging it or over-rehearsing into a script that shatters on first contact. This skill preps the hard talk the way the research says works: get clear on the actual goal, understand the other person's story, open without triggering defensiveness, and plan for their reactions — so you go in calm and come out with the relationship intact.
Required Inputs
Ask for these only if they aren't already provided:
- The situation — what's happened, with whom, and the relationship (manager, report, peer, client).
- What you want — the real outcome (often a changed behaviour or a restored relationship, not "to be right").
- Their likely view — how they probably see it, and what they care about.
- The stakes & history — what makes it hard, and anything that's been tried.
Output Format
Difficult Conversation: [topic] with [who]
1. Your real goal — name it plainly (and the un-goal — e.g. "not to win, but to change X"). Conversations go wrong when the unspoken goal is to be proven right.
2. Their story — how they likely see it and what they need to feel (heard, respected, safe). You can't move someone you haven't understood.
3. Open — a specific opening line that states the issue from the facts + your impact, not blame ("When the deadline slipped, I was left explaining it to the client" — not "You always miss deadlines"). The first 30 seconds set the tone.
4. Key points — the 2–3 things you must convey, each separating observation from story/judgement.
5. Likely reactions → your response — defensiveness, deflection, emotion, counterattack — and a calm, non-escalating reply prepared for each.
| If they… | You respond… |
|---|
6. Land it — the ask or agreement you want, and how to close on a concrete next step.
Stance note — stay curious, not certain; aim for a shared understanding, not a verdict.
Show full SKILL.md (186 more words)Show less
Quality Checks
- The real goal is named (and separated from the ego-goal of "being right")
- The other person's perspective is genuinely represented, not strawmanned
- The opening uses facts + impact, not blame or character judgement
- Observation is separated from interpretation throughout
- Likely reactions each have a prepared, non-escalating response
- It closes on a concrete next step or agreement
Anti-Patterns
- Do not open with blame or "you always/never" — it triggers defensiveness and ends learning
- Do not confuse your story with the facts — "the deadline slipped" is fact; "you don't care" is a story
- Do not over-script — plan the open and the points, then stay responsive; a rigid script breaks
- Do not aim to win — if the goal is to be right, the relationship loses even if you "win"
- Do not avoid the actual ask — name the change or agreement you need, kindly and clearly
Based On
Crucial Conversations (Patterson et al.) and Difficult Conversations (Stone, Patton, Heen) — facts vs. story, the third story, safety.
Example Trigger Phrases
- "Prepare for a difficult conversation."
- "Address a conflict."
- "Deliver bad news."
- "Confront a colleague."
- "Have a hard talk with a manager/report/peer."
© mohitagw15856, MIT. Rendered from Markdown: HTML in the file is shown as text, images as links, and headings moved down two levels. Raw file
Files
Just SKILL.md in skills/difficult-conversation of mohitagw15856/pm-claude-skills.
Open the folder on GitHubat commit 1cbf1f0
Compare with similar skills
Difficult Conversation next to the 5 skills that share the most tags, products or categories with it. Stars are the repository's; “used in” counts other GitHub owners with a copy.
| Skill | Stars | Used in | Tokens | Auto-check | Licence | Repo updated |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Difficult Conversation this skillmohitagw15856/pm-claude-skills | 1.4k | — | ~944 | Automated safety check: Pass | MIT | |
| Difficult Workplace Conversationsdavila7/claude-code-templates | 32k | 2 repos | ~1.8k | Automated safety check: Pass | MIT | |
| Modeling Conversion MetricsPostHog/posthog | 40k | — | ~1.4k | Automated safety check: Pass | Custom licence | |
| Hard Conversationsmenkesu/awesome-pm-skills | 433 | — | ~4.7k | Automated safety check: Pass | Custom licence | |
| Audit Preparationsickn33/agentic-awesome-skills | 47k | 1 repos | ~5.3k | Automated safety check: Pass | MIT | |
| Competitor News MonitorNousResearch/hermes-agent | 252k | — | ~1.2k | Automated safety check: Pass | MIT |
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Questions about Difficult Conversation
What does Difficult Conversation do?
Prepare for and script a hard conversation — conflict, bad news, a boundary, an apology. Difficult Conversation is an agent skill from mohitagw15856/pm-claude-skills. Prepare for and script a hard conversation — conflict, bad news, a boundary, an apology.
When should I use Difficult Conversation?
Difficult Conversation fits situations like: asked to prepare for a difficult conversation; address a conflict; deliver bad news; confront a colleague.
How do I install Difficult Conversation in Claude Code?
Run `npx skills add mohitagw15856/pm-claude-skills --skill difficult-conversation -a claude-code`. Or copy the skill folder (skills/difficult-conversation in mohitagw15856/pm-claude-skills) into .claude/skills/difficult-conversation in your project. Claude Code loads it when a task matches its description.
How do I install Difficult Conversation in Codex?
Run `npx skills add mohitagw15856/pm-claude-skills --skill difficult-conversation -a codex`. Or copy the skill folder (skills/difficult-conversation in mohitagw15856/pm-claude-skills) into .agents/skills/difficult-conversation in your project. Codex loads it when a task matches its description.
Can I use Difficult Conversation in Cursor, Gemini CLI or GitHub Copilot?
Cursor, Gemini CLI, GitHub Copilot and OpenCode also load SKILL.md folders. With the skills CLI, run `npx skills add mohitagw15856/pm-claude-skills --skill difficult-conversation -a cursor` (or -a gemini-cli, github-copilot or opencode for the others). To copy it by hand, put the folder in .cursor/skills/difficult-conversation, .gemini/skills/difficult-conversation, .github/skills/difficult-conversation and .opencode/skills/difficult-conversation in your project.
What does Difficult Conversation need to run?
SKILL.md names no scripts, command-line tools or credentials: Difficult Conversation is instructions for the agent only.
Does Difficult Conversation access the network?
SKILL.md contains no URLs. Any network use would come from the scripts or tools the agent runs. This is read from the text; nothing was executed.
Is Difficult Conversation safe to install?
Our automated static check of SKILL.md found no risky patterns, such as piping downloads into a shell, reading credential files or hidden Unicode. It is not a guarantee. Review the folder before installing.
What licence does Difficult Conversation use?
Difficult Conversation is published under the MIT licence (the repository's licence). It allows redistribution, so the full SKILL.md is shown on this page.
How many tokens does Difficult Conversation use?
About 944 tokens (SKILL.md is roughly 3.8k characters). Agents keep only the skill's name and description in context until a task matches; then they load SKILL.md in full.
What are the alternatives to Difficult Conversation?
Skills that share tags, products or a category with Difficult Conversation: Difficult Workplace Conversations (davila7/claude-code-templates, 32k stars), Modeling Conversion Metrics (PostHog/posthog, 40k stars), Hard Conversations (menkesu/awesome-pm-skills, 433 stars) and Audit Preparation (sickn33/agentic-awesome-skills, 47k stars). The comparison table on this page puts their stars, adoption, token cost, safety result and licence side by side.
Who maintains Difficult Conversation?
mohitagw15856 (a GitHub user) maintains it in mohitagw15856/pm-claude-skills, which has 1,433 GitHub stars. The repository holds 1,348 skills in this directory. The repository was last updated on October 8, 2026.
Source: mohitagw15856/pm-claude-skills on GitHub. Facts on this page come from the repository at the commit we read; the author's words are quoted as theirs.