Managing People, Minds and Conflict Certification Course

Today's people leaders need more than technical expertise—they must build positive cultures, earn trust, communicate clearly, and handle conflict well. This certification equips managers, team leaders, HR professionals, and people managers with practical tools across four modules: positive culture, trust and psychological safety, effective communication, and constructive conflict management and negotiation. The programme helps participants lead with confidence, empathy, and impact in real workplace situations.

ILO-1: Cultivate a positive team culture through appreciation, recognition, and reinforcement that boost morale and performance.
ILO-2: Establish trust and psychological safety through credible leadership and an open, accountable team environment.
ILO-3: Lead through effective communication, including active listening, constructive feedback, and adaptable messaging.
ILO-4: Manage conflict constructively by understanding triggers and styles, de-escalating tension, and facilitating resolution.
ILO-5: Negotiate fairly using principled approaches that focus on interests and strengthen relationships.

Module 1: Managing People through a Positive Culture

• Introduction to Appreciative Inquiry: Shaping organizational culture through positive change.
• Understanding the importance of appreciation in team dynamics and performance.
• Exploring the benefits of an appreciative culture, including increased engagement and motivation.
• Techniques for expressing gratitude and recognition within the team.
• Building a culture of celebration and positive reinforcement.

Module 2: Building Trust and Psychological Safety

• Understanding what trust and psychological safety mean in a team setting, and why they are essential for performance and collaboration.
• Exploring the link between trust, open communication, and employee engagement, retention, and innovation.
• Techniques for demonstrating credibility, reliability, and consistency as a people leader.
• Creating an environment where team members feel safe to speak up, share ideas, and admit mistakes without fear.
• Building practices that sustain trust over time, including accountability, transparency, and repairing trust when it is broken.

Module 3: Effective Communication for People Leaders

• Understanding the role of communication in shaping team culture, alignment, and day-to-day performance.
• Exploring common communication barriers in the workplace, including assumptions, bias, and mismatched communication styles.
• Techniques for active listening, clear messaging, and giving feedback that motivates rather than discourages.
• Adapting your communication approach to different personalities, situations, and levels of seniority within the team.
• Building habits of open dialogue, regular check-ins, and constructive two-way communication across the team.

Module 4: Constructive Conflict Management and Negotiation

• Understanding the nature of workplace conflict, including its causes, triggers, and impact on team morale and productivity.
• Exploring different conflict styles and when to compete, collaborate, compromise, avoid, or accommodate.
• Techniques for de-escalating tension, facilitating difficult conversations, and guiding team members toward resolution.
• Applying negotiation principles to reach fair, sustainable agreements that address interests rather than positions alone.
• Building a team culture that treats conflict as a normal part of collaboration and uses it to strengthen relationships and outcomes.

Students who have completed the assessments, and attended at least 80% of the course will be presented with a Certificate awarded by PolyU SPEED.

1.  Application form can be downloaded from this website.  Before completing the application form, please read carefully the "Guide for Applicants" on the form.

2.  Please submit the completed application form with a copy of your HKID card and settle the course fee by bank draft/ crossed cheque/ On-line Card Payment System for each course applied. For details of payment methods, please refer to Section 4 of the application form or this web page.

3.  Non-permanent residents of Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) holding

(i) work visa/ entry permit; OR

(ii) visa/ entry permit under the Immigration Arrangements for Non-local Graduates (IANG) (except those from Mainland, Macao and Taiwan); OR

(iii) dependent visa/ entry permit (except those from Mainland, Macao and Taiwan), issued by the Director of Immigration of HKSAR Government may enroll in short-term courses in SPEED without seeking prior approval from the Director of Immigration.

These applicants are required to attach a copy of their identity document(s) and the valid visa/ entry permit to their application.  On admission, they will be required to provide the original identity document(s) and visa/ entry permit for verification. Throughout the course of study, it is the responsibility of individual students to ensure that their identity documents and visas/ entry permits are valid. Other non-local applicants can neither be registered as students nor commence their studies on the short-term courses in SPEED.

4.  Applications should be submitted on or before the deadline for application via one of the following means -

(a) By post:

Send the following documents to
CPCE Academic Registry - Continuing Education
Room N301, 3/F, North Tower, PolyU West Kowloon Campus, 9 Hoi Ting Road, Yau Ma Tei, Kowloon, Hong Kong

• Completed application form
• A copy of your HKID Card and valid visa/ entry permit (if applicable)
• A bank draft/ crossed cheque/ payment confirmation page (for online payment)

(b) By e-mail (for application with payment settled via online system only):

Send the following documents by e-mail to ce.car@speed-polyu.edu.hk

• Completed application form
• A copy of your HKID Card and valid visa/ entry permit (if applicable)
• A bank draft/ crossed cheque/ payment confirmation page (for online payment)

Please choose either one of the following payment methods for course fee: 

(1)  Bank Draft/ Crossed Cheque

You could submit a bank draft/ crossed cheque (made payable to "The Hong Kong Polytechnic University") by post or by hand.  Please write your name, the course code and class code at the back of the bank draft/ crossed cheque.  Post-dated cheque will not be accepted.

(2)  On-line Card Payment System (by Visa/ Master/ China UnionPay card)
You could settle the course fee via On-line Card Payment System by Visa/ Master/ China UnionPay card.  For successful payment, please print the payment confirmation page for record and quote the invoice number (as shown on the payment confirmation page) on Section 4 of the application form. No separate hardcopy of the payment receipt will be issued for you.

According to the School's Refund Policy, course fees paid are normally not refundable, except cases of unsuccessful applications/ course cancellation.  Fees paid and places allocated are not transferrable.