Your Guide To Becoming More Assertive At Work

Do you know what assertiveness or assertive communication means? Most people are not able to grasp the concept of assertiveness even though it is one of the most important traits to possess, especially in a workplace.

Assertiveness refers to effective communication or expressing oneself strongly, openly and tactfully. It encompasses being clear about what you feel, what you need and how it can be achieved.

Most of us are assertive in our home spaces, but when it comes to workplaces, many find it difficult to be assertive.

At Mediation Services Winnipeg, we offer several courses that can help you build your personality to become a better version of yourself. One of the workshops we offer is titled Assertive Communication, which is designed to help you understand assertiveness and improve your ability to confront constructively. By the end of the workshop, you will be able to apply your assertive communication skills effectively, especially in your workplace. To register for the workshop, click here.

Our course on assertive communication will help you learn how the objective of communication can be achieved in a way that is strong, open, tactful, effective, and also allows the other to respond. This skill is helpful in almost every walk of life as it can help you get through conflicts with your family, coworkers, friends and others.

Also Read: How Can You Benefit From The Mediation Services’ Assertive Communication Program?

Difference Between Types Of Behaviours

There are four main types of behaviours:

• Passive
• Passive-aggressive
• Aggressive
• Assertive

While passive individuals are extremely accommodating and are willing to go out of their way to understand and take care of others, passive-aggressive individuals and aggressive individuals tend to grudgingly acquiesce to others’ needs and seek to make sure their own priorities are taken care of respectively.

Assertive individuals, on the other hand, are flexible. They seek to build an understanding of what is important while respecting the rights of others as well as themselves. As a result, they come across as confident and satisfied.

Examining Your Style

To understand your behaviour style, you have to be very self-aware. However, many individuals are not self-aware, which is why they do not intentionally act the way they do. In the course mentioned above, we help you become more self-aware and mindful.

This way, you can examine your style and develop a proper strategy of becoming more assertive in your workplace. The modules in the workshop are designed to help you analyze your responses in certain situations. We also conduct certain exercises that allow you to spot behaviour styles in other individuals.

The type of behaviour you have in a workplace defines how other people perceive you. Hence, it is important to understand how you act around others.

Learn To Say No

There are three parts to assertive communication styles:

• Interest
• No
• Options

In the first part, you have to acknowledge the interest of the other party. While talking to them, you can name their interests in a polite manner such that it shows you can understand their point.

The next step is to say no despite their interests if you cannot do what they are asking. State your problems and offer other options that might help them solve the problem at hand.

At mediation services, our team of experts help you go through each step in detail to curate a proper response while you are going through a situation without having to think a lot.

We perform certain hand-on exercises with you so that you know what kind of response you should have while dealing with colleagues.

Learning Objectives

By the end of this module, you should be able to achieve the following:

• Increase your understanding of assertiveness
• Develop a greater understanding of your own individual patterns: passivity, assertiveness, or aggression
• Examine blocks to assertiveness
• Increase your ability to confront others in constructive ways
• Apply assertive communication skills
• Learn and practice tactics for “turning up the heat”
• Identify your own body language and notice the effect of body language on communication
• Examine barriers to saying “No” and develop strategies for setting boundaries

About Us

Mediation Services in Winnipeg offers training programs to help you learn mediation and leadership skills. We conduct online zoom and asynchronous webinars for different issues. Such modules will help you to improve your communication and solve family, workplace, and personal conflicts. To check out our training courses, visit this link here or contact us for further assistance.

Mediation Services was established in 1979 as a project of Mennonite Central Committee Manitoba in response to a concern both for people victimized by crime and for the high number of people being incarcerated in Canada.

We began developing a new process in 1983 to refer select pre-trial court cases to mediation. This eventually led to a youth mediation project and an increased number of referrals from the justice system.

In 1992, we amalgamated with the Community Dispute Centre to become Mediation Services: A Community Resource for Conflict Resolution, with funding from Mennonite Central Committee Manitoba.

Throughout our development, we relied on volunteers to facilitate mediations and made training and apprenticeship development a priority. We developed rigorous standards for our mediators and have maintained our grassroots approach to conflict resolution.

Today, we receive between 300 – 500 court referrals a year to our Restorative Action Centre and provide assistance to many groups, individuals and families through our Community Resolution Centre. Our training initiative Resolution Skills Centre has grown into a vibrant program recognized for its high-quality peacemaking and conflict resolution teachings locally, nationally and internationally.