There are many positive interpersonal skills that will help you succeed in the workplace, with good communication, confidence and conflict management just three that rank highly. However, today we’re going to be looking at one in particular - assertiveness and aim to help you decide how assertive you are.
What is the benefit of being an assertive communicator?
In the workplace, being assertive in your communication allows you clearly express yourself and have your views heard. So long as you’re not overly assertive as to be aggressive, it’s a part of of your personal development that’s important in earning the respect of your peers and bosses.
What is assertiveness in daily life at work?
In your day-to-day dealings with your colleagues at work, assertiveness relates to the way you interact and how much you’re willing to assert your view or position. As short courses in conflict management show, there’s a fine line to tread so you don’t cause problems within your team.
So, to clarify whether assertiveness is one of the interpersonal skills you need to work on, we’ve put together a short quiz. Of course, this is just scratching the surface of the subject, but it will hopefully give you an idea of whether it’s something you need to work on.
- Scenario #1 - Your workload is already maxed out, and your boss comes to you with more tasks with a tight deadline. Would you speak up for yourself?
[A] YES or [B] NO
- Scenario #2 - You disagree with a colleague on a topic raised in a meeting. Do you interject or let things slide?
[A] YES or [B] NO
- Scenario #3 - You’re spending time with one of the senior executives at your company, and you have some ideas to share. Would you share them or keep them to yourself?
[A] YES or [B] NO
- Scenario #4 - You’ve worked for the same company for several years, and you feel you deserve a pay rise. Do you ask for one or stay silent?
[A] YES or [B] NO
- Scenario #5 - One of your team colleagues is negatively disrupting your work and that of your peers. Would you call them out or keep your mouth shut?
[A] YES or [B] NO
Ok, here we’ve asked you to scrutinize your interpersonal skills in relation to what you would do in 5 entirely different scenarios involving different types of people. As is pretty obvious, if you chose B for most of the scenarios, you’re not very assertive and could perhaps work on being more so.
Conversely, if you primarily chose A, you’re likely in a good position in terms of assertiveness. The caveat again is being assertive without being aggressive, as that’s often worse than staying quiet. As with many things in life, it’s about striking a happy medium.
Take a look at this great Forbes article for some advice on how to strike that assertiveness/controlled balance and not end up with everyone at work disliking you!
Boost Your Interpersonal Skills With OCA Short Courses
Assertiveness is just one of many interpersonal skills that will help you be more successful in the workplace, and the great news is that it’s easy to work on them. Thanks to video-based CPD training from OCA's interpersonal skills courses; you can work on your personal development at a pace and time that suits you.
Also, coming with your own personal mentor - someone you can contact 7 days a week, our training offers a superior learning experience - as you can see by looking at our student study demo. However, if you’d like to see our entire course library that covers 20+ industries, visit our website www.onlinecoursesaustralia.edu.au where you’ll also find our flexible payment plans.
Alternatively, to speak to us directly about your learning needs, you can get in touch either by emailing us at [email protected] or calling our friendly team on 1300 611 404.
