Assertiveness At Work: 5 Secrets

Assertiveness at work often tends to be confused with other concepts, such as aggressiveness or hostility. But that couldn’t be further from reality, because it’s based on respect. In other words,  being assertive is knowing and defending the rights we have as individuals and citizens, without attacking others. As we see, assertiveness is on the opposite side of passivity, which is precisely leaving the decision in the hands of others.

When applied to the work environment, assertiveness has important benefits, both for the worker and for the organization in which he performs his work. Therefore, it is important to develop it and put it into practice. How can we do that?

How to apply assertiveness at work?

defend your work

On occasion, bosses take credit for the work of their employees.  This is very frustrating for subordinates, who perceive their effort as unrecognized. For example, imagine that you’ve been working on an important report for the company for weeks, but when it’s time to share it with customers, your superior doesn’t even mention it or even invite you to a presentation.

Assertiveness at work motivates us not to remain silent and to transmit our discomfort to the boss.  So, once the meeting is over, we can go talk to him and ask him to value our work. It’s not a matter of getting annoyed, nor of talking to him in a defiant tone, but of expressing our lack of motivation, which is the result of an unrecognized right.

Give your opinion without overlapping or falling behind

A meeting of the entire department in which you work is called. It’s a key piece of advice: decisions will be made regarding the future that directly affect you. Therefore, the opinion of all plant employees is requested. Faced with such a group,  most workers adopt two postures: aggressiveness or passivity.

Let’s say the question to be debated is: do you believe the company should increase the budget allocated to your department? How would you respond?

• Aggressiveness: “Of course I do. It doesn’t even fit the coffee machine.”
• Passivity: “It doesn’t matter to me. Right now, it’s not affecting me.”
• Assertiveness: “From the past year to this, we have seen large negative changes as a result of the reduced allocated budget. It would be convenient for it to be increased again to the previous levels so that it is possible to carry out the department’s own tasks with greater precision.”

As we can see, the first and the second generate conflicts. The third emphasizes that  assertiveness at work is a social skill that allows us to communicate more satisfactorily with others. With it, we express our needs, understanding the possible reluctance the other may have and trying to satisfy them, and even facilitating intermediate exits in case our requests cannot have exactly the answer we want.

value yourself

If you are already able to give your opinion assertively, be careful not to make a beginner’s mistake: devaluing your message. “I don’t know if this will work…”; “It was just an idea”; “Anyway, it’s too early…”; “It may seem silly…”. Try to avoid these catch phrases: they are not good allies. Quite the opposite. They show that you feel insecure and have little confidence in yourself.  Besides, it’s unlikely that your suggestions will be adopted if there are signs that even you don’t bet firmly on them.

use subjective communication

Subjective communication is based on manifesting in the first person what we feel or think. It is the one that  allows us to speak without blaming, judging, criticizing and looking for other people’s responsibilities.

For example, considering the results that the company is achieving with our effort and dedication, we may believe that it would be fair for us to receive a salary increase. There are two ways to communicate this to the boss: “I would like to talk about my salary” or “We need to talk about my salary”.

The first is much less aggressive than the second, which is more impersonal.  A simple detail adds respect, naturalness and importance to what you are saying.

clarity and brevity

In order to use assertiveness at work, there are two aspects that must be clarified. On the one hand, the goals you want to reach. And, on the other hand, the central idea of ​​your message.

If you know what your goal is, you can gradually move towards it. If not, putting this skill into practice will be much more difficult and, in some cases, you can even get the opposite effect. In fact,  a very common mistake of people who want to be more assertive is to start saying “no” to everything that is proposed to them. Deny only when what you are told conflicts with your rights; not because I want to look stronger.

Also, avoid talking in beatings. If you can say in one minute what you would say in five, so much the better. Do it, because if you talk a lot in beating around the bush, those who are there may not pay attention to you and what you propose will have its value diminished.

Studied through the 5-Factor Model, assertiveness is within the extraversion personality trait. Nobody is assertive by nature, but as we see it is a social skill we can practice; something that requires effort and knowledge about what this concept really means.