Assertiveness at work: 5 keys

Assertiveness at work often tends to be confused with other concepts, such as aggressiveness or hostility. But nothing could be further from the truth, because it is based on respect in respect. That is to say, To be assertive is to know and defend one’s own rights that one has as an individual and citizen, without attacking those of others. As we see, it is also the opposite of passivity, which precisely leaves the decision in the hands of others.

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

Defend your work

On certain occasions, bosses take credit for the work of their employees. This is very frustrating for subordinates, who see how their efforts are devalued. For example, imagine that you have been working on a key report for the company for weeks, but when it comes time to present it to clients, your superior does not mention us or does not even invite us to the presentation.

Assertiveness at work encourages us not to remain silent and to convey our discomfort to the boss. Thus, once the meeting was over, we could go talk to him and request that our work be valued. It is not a matter of getting angry or speaking in a challenging tone, but of expressing our lack of motivation as a result of an unrecognized right.

Give your opinion without going overboard and without falling short

A meeting of the entire department in which you work is called. It is a key meeting: important decisions will be made for the future that directly affect you. Therefore, the opinion of all plant employees is sought. Faced with such a conclave, Most workers adopt two postures: aggressiveness or passivity.

Let’s say that the question to be discussed is the following: do you think that the company should increase the budget item dedicated to your department? How would you respond?

Aggressiveness: “Of course. We don’t even have enough for the coffee machine.”Passivity: “I don’t care. At the moment it doesn’t affect me.”Assertiveness: “From last year to this year, we have noticed great negative changes as a result of the reduced budget assigned. It would be convenient for them to increase it back to previous levels so that we can successfully carry out the department’s tasks.”

As we see, the first and the second generate tension. The third states 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 that the other may have to satisfy them and even facilitating intermediate solutions in case our requests cannot find exactly the answer we want.

Put yourself in value

If you already manage to give your opinion assertively, be careful not to make a beginner’s mistake: devaluing your message. “I don’t know if it will help…”; “it was just an idea”; “maybe it’s too soon…”; “It may seem silly…” Try to avoid those taglines: they are not good allies. Quite the opposite. They denote that you feel insecurity and little confidence in yourself. Furthermore, it will be difficult for your suggestions to be adopted if you give signs that you do not even have a firm commitment to them.

Use subjective communication

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

Let’s take an example. Given the results that the company is obtaining thanks to our effort and dedication, I think it would be fair for me to increase my salary. There are two ways to communicate this to the personnel manager: “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 to clarify. On the one hand, the objectives you want to reach. And, on the other, the central idea of ​​your message.

If you know what your goal is, you can get closer to it gradually. If not, putting this social skill into practice will be much more difficult and there will be certain cases in which you even achieve the opposite effect. In fact, A very common mistake made by people who want to be more assertive is to start saying “no” to everything that is proposed to them.. Refuse when what they tell you conflicts with your rights; not because I want to seem tougher.

Also, avoid beating around the bush. If you can say in one minute what you would previously say in five, the better. Do it, because if you go around too much, those present may stop paying attention to you and the value of what you are presenting to them will decrease.

Studied through Costa and McRae’s 5-factor model, Assertiveness is found within the personality trait of extraversion. No one is assertive by nature, but, as we see, it is a social skill that can be trained; something that requires effort and knowledge of what this concept really means.

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