| Assertiveness and Conflict Resolution |
Course Options
This page gives details for our two day on site Assertiveness & Conflict Resolution Course.
For details of our one day course please click here
Overview
The work environment is generally fast paced and demanding and some times tempers get frayed and relationships damaged.
Understanding how to behave and react to others helps us to work through these experiences in a way that is productive to both the individuals and the business.
This two day course will help you learn how to :
- Get your message across without offending others.
- Say “No” when you need to
- Manage conflict effectively
This course is approved by the independent Institute of Leadership & Management (ILM). The ILM is the UK’s leading awarding body for management and leadership training. Delegates will receive an ILM award certificate after completing this course.
We provide this course either as in-company course or a public course.
Course Structure
This two day workshop is full of examples and provides opportunities for you to discuss and practise how to deal with potentially difficult situations.
We ask attendees to bring details of real life situations and conflicts where assertiveness skills might have a role to play.
During the course we will provide you with :
- A copy of all the course slides
- An action based workbook which after the course can be used as a reference book on what you have learned.
- An assertiveness “checklist”
- A framework to develop your own action plan for use after the course.
All delegates are also entitled to six months telephone and email support at no additional charge.
Course Aims
By the end of the course you will be able to
- Recognise passive, aggressive and assertive behaviour in yourself and others
- Use a range of methods for managing different types of behaviour
- You will learn:
- The difference between confidence, assertiveness and aggression
- How to cope assertively when others behave aggressively
- What level of assertive response to use according to the situation
- How to listen and question effectively
- How to use body language and tone of voice effectively
- How to say “No”
- How to handle provocation, intimidation or conflict constructively
- When and how to compromise on key issues
- How to work with groups of people
- The skills to negotiate and thus achieve “win-win” solutions
List of course sessions
The course is divided into 14 sessions :
Introduction
Important skills
Using your assertiveness skills
- 6 : Making and Refusing Requests
- 7 : Giving and receiving praise
- 8 : Handling criticism assertively
- 9 : The art of saying “No”
- 10 : Handling difficult people
Special situations
- 11 : Working with groups
- 12 : Negotiation
Bringing it all together
Read on for more details on each session...
Detailed Course Schedule
Session 1: What is assertiveness?
Different people understand the word “assertive” in very different ways.
This section will help you to:
- Recognise assertive behaviour
- Distinguish between assertiveness, aggression and non-assertiveness
Section 2: How can assertiveness skills help you?
Assertiveness skills can help in a wide range of situations
This section will help you to:
- Assess your behaviour in a range of situations
- Decide which situations would benefit from more assertive behaviour.
Section 3: Communication styles
This session introduces the different ways that we all communicate.
We each have a particular way of viewing things and this affects how we act and communicate.
Take for instance, Health & Safety rules. Some people may need to understand why Health & Safety rules have been devised in a certain way. Others are more practical and may simply want to know what the rules say so they can follow them.
We use the term “communication style” to summarise:
- The way we view things
- The way we act
- The way we communicate
To communicate assertively, it helps if you can recognise the communication style of the person you are talking to.
To get your message across, it is important to adopt his or her style, not yours
This is harder than it might appear ! - as all of us tend to communicate in a way that suits our style, rather than that of the other person.
This section will help you :
- Understand your own style using self-assessment questionnaires we provide in the course
- Adapt your style to that of the person who you are communicating with
Session 4 : Verbal and non verbal communication
Language is a powerful tool for conveying messages - the ones we intend and those that we do not!
In this session we look at the phrases, words and clichés that people use when conveying a message.
This session will help you to:
- Use language and tone of voice to the best effect
- Use appropriate body language, or non-verbal communication
- Listen actively
Session 5 : Transactional Analysis
If you have not been made aware of Transactional Analysis (“TA” for short), it might sound rather academic or technical.
In fact it is a very practical approach to human relationships. From your early years you learn to communicate at different times in one of three main ways - “adult” mode, “parent” mode or “child” mode. By choosing the way you communicate with others you can :
- Understand more about yourself and the way you communicate
- Act assertively with more success
- Communicate more successfully
The trainers delivering this course are trained in Transactional Analysis. They will help you learn more about the choices you have in the way you communicate.
Session 6 : Making and Refusing Requests
In every day life we all need to ask others to do something, or find that people ask us to do things.
In classroom discussion and exercises we explore :
- What gives us the right to ask others to take a certain action ?:
- Do we have ‘formal’ authority, perhaps as the person’s manager ?
- Have we earned the right through past actions ?
- · What gives us the right to decline a request ?
If we understand the answers to these questions we can make requests and also decline them more confidently.
Session 7 : Giving and receiving praise
Most of us are not very good at giving and receiving praise. Yet it can help so much, particularly in difficult and tense situations.
In this session you will learn :
- The importance of genuine praise and how best to deliver it.
- How to react to praise you receive.
Session 8 : Handling criticism assertively
This section will help you to:
- Notice and accept your own feelings
- Cope with criticism and move on to solving problems.
Session 9 : The art of saying "No"
We will help you see ways of saying “no” to requests that do not cause offence.
Session 10 : Handling difficult people
You may be attending this course so you can improve working relationships with people you find “difficult”.
In this session we will help you see ways to :
- Build rapport
- Question your assumptions about the other person
- Handle conflict
- Handle aggressive behaviour
- Handle people who are not sufficiently assertive
- Use the techniques covered in this course
Session 11 : Working with groups
Being assertive when working with several people at once can be an extra challenge :
- How do you best influence a single person who is ‘disruptive’ ?
- How do you intervene if two people are involved in an ‘argument’ ?
- How do you help group members with low assertive skills ?
In this session you will learn :
- How to tackle issues the above issues.
- How a group changes as people get to know each other more.
Session 12 : Negotiation
Negotiations usually involve situations where one or more people have something to “offer” and something they want to gain.
Negotiations can include the seemingly minor :
- “If you do this photocopying, I’ll get you a coffee”
Or they can be much more significant…
- “If you offer a pay rise, we’ll call off the strike”
Assertiveness skills can be crucial in situations like these
This session will help you :
- Recognise situations in which you may need to negotiate
- Set yourself an achievable aim in the negotiation process
- Arrive at a “win-win” result, acceptable to all who are involved
Section 13 : Practising assertive techniques
This section will help you to further practise the skills you have developed in the course.
Session 14 : Your assertiveness action plan
We provide a an outline plan that you complete as the course progresses. This becomes your action plan after you leave the course.
On-going support
All delegates are also entitled to six months telephone and email support.
