Do you feel obliged to say ‘Yes’ to a request even if you can’t fulfill it or don’t want to do it?
Saying ‘No’ to a request in daily life may not seem so challenging but at a workplace, it may come as a disrespectful gesture. That’s when assertiveness plays an essential role in maintaining boundaries and articulating clearly without reluctance.
Being a pivotal business skill, assertiveness saves an employee’s time and effort that they can utilize to accomplish their goals.
This intelligent skill prevents gullible employees from treacherous help advances from coworkers that could lead to stress and burnout over prolonged periods according to a study. Furthermore, experts believe, implementors can gradually learn to communicate effectively and avoid conflicts.
This blog will help readers learn the power of assertiveness in a business environment and how it can channel energy and time in the right direction without incurring conflicts.
Understanding Assertive Skills and Learning Through Real-world Examples
Assertive skills are strategies that allow individuals to respectfully communicate their thoughts and express their points of view without feeling suppressed. Additionally, practicing assertiveness is believed to help people build a confident personality and deal with personal challenges more boldly.
When we discuss assertive skills, it should be noted that these are not limited to saying ‘No’ to a request. It means being assertive even when you must request someone to do their tasks before deadlines. Let’s make it more comprehensible with a few real-world examples.
Example 1:
Your coworker asks you to help them with an urgent project that has its deadline tomorrow. Whereas you must complete a project whose deadline is in the evening.
Implementing assertive skills– Analyzing the situation, you refuse to help them politely without sounding harsh and impolite. If the scene demands more explanation, you provide reasonable explanations to make the coworker understand your situation.
Example 2:
Your manager changes the schedules and delegates a task to one of your coworkers even when they know you are best at it.
Implementing assertive skills–You start by explaining to them how you can add more value to the project by handling the task you are good at. You simply define the line and assert why you should be allocated the same task without arguing or becoming passively aggressive.
Example 3:
As a manager, you realize one of your subordinates is not working professionally and giving the same reasons again and again.
Implementing assertive skills–You organize a meeting and clearly articulate your expectations to them. It helps them recognize their key responsibilities and the company’s expectations of them. It also assists in learning the managerial role more closely.
Example 4:
One of your colleagues is lazy. He somehow manages to complete their work by asking for help from other coworkers. This time they approached you. However, you are not so occupied but you must say ‘No’ to help them identify their roles and complete them themselves.
Implementing assertive skills–Instead of accepting the request, you explain to them the correct way to complete the task but avoid the real help.
These examples illustrate real-world scenarios usually encountered at workplaces. Also, they explain how asserting your mindset and expectations builds more respect in the workplace. Another lesson to learn from these examples is that one need not be either authoritative, aggressive, or disrespectful to maintain boundaries which is opposite to the common notion developed in the society.
Practicing Assertiveness—Tips and Strategies to Follow
Communicating assertively helps in maintaining boundaries, staying focused, and helping yourself before anyone else, leading to high work efficiency and on-time deliverables. Furthermore, it nurtures healthy relations with coworkers by remaining genuinely polite and respectful throughout the process of being assertive.
Here we will unravel several tested strategies to help workers decide how to stay assertive while responding.
Politely Refusing
Helping coworkers every once in a while strengthens the bond and nurtures a sense of belonging at the workplace. Conversely, a treacherous request must not be accepted compulsively. Feel free to say ‘No’ when the request seems too much. Defining standards and enforcing boundaries firmly are the keys to saying ‘No’ at the workplace.
Conflict Resolution
Staying assertive doesn’t mean you must refuse to collaborate and work on feasible solutions. Conflict resolution is pivotal for staying professional in a competitive environment and aiming for similar goals. It is always suggested to resolve problems by acting objectively rather than personalizing feedback and interpreting a message wrongly.
Leadership vs. Bossiness
Understanding the difference between leading and dragging is vital to learning assertiveness. Where leading is all about being assertive, bossiness is about suppressing others. Avoiding repercussions while being assertive is the key trait of highly assertive people.
Effective Articulation
Articulation is the skill of communicating and clearly expressing ideas and thoughts. It removes the possibility of ambiguity while conveying the message. To summarize, being concise and straightforward without ‘emotionalizing’ the words is the key to effective communication. Accusing or blaming employees for undelivered tasks bounces back to project managers like a crooked nail. To conclude, communicating the timelines assertively is a great alternative to imposing deadlines harshly.
Active Listening
Being assertive has a lot to do with being an active listener. Listening and comprehending the situation is the preliminary step to being assertive. As a worker, assertive communication is effective when you know about the accomplishments, gaps, and necessary actions that should be taken. It also helps in overcoming resource allocation challenges and optimizing the workforce to draw maximum performance.
Use Positive Body Language
Using non-verbal cues, such as gestures and expressions conscientiously is an incredible strategy to assert one’s presence. Additionally, controlling defensive postures and responses is the key to executing assertiveness and maintaining a higher sense of calm in infuriating situations. Positive body language helps to channel optimistic energy at the workplace, therefore increasing the influential potential of an individual.
Conclusion
Assertive skills are vital to thriving professionally and competitively in a workplace while maintaining professional boundaries and communicating effectively. In a nutshell, assertiveness is similar to time management which goes a long way in life and adds substance to visions and goals. Learning how to say ‘No’ assertively takes an individual one step closer to an astute personality often portrayed by achievers and visionaries.
FAQ
How can I be more assertive as a professional?
You can start by building more confidence in yourself and make a list of possible scenarios where you subside. Practicing effective communication skills is crucial for being assertive and maintaining healthy relationships at the workplace while focusing on professional growth.
What are some benefits of being assertive?
Assertiveness helps an individual acquire more trust and confidence in oneself and make productive decisions with unwavering confidence. Furthermore, it helps them gain managerial and leadership skills, helping them in the long run.