Assertiveness and Conflict Resolution

Essential Skills for Managing Your Interactions with People

Conflict is a part of life. But well-managed conflict can produce benefits and positive changes, both in productivity and relationships. Communication skills, specifically the ability to communicate assertively, are among the best skills to acquire for dealing effectively with the demands of people in conflict with us, whether they are employees, colleagues, our managers or our clients.

In the workplace, whether we are in a position of authority or not, we need to manage our interactions with people.

We need to know what power is and how to use it: to negotiate, to express our ideas clearly so people will listen to us, even if they don’t agree with us; to stand up for our convictions, even when they are unpopular; and to deal with the emotions created by situations of conflict.

At this workshop you will practice what you learn to enable you to apply the skills more readily when you return to your workplace. You are encouraged to bring examples of situations you would like to resolve.

Learning outcomes

At the end of this workshop, you will be able to:

• Recognize the difference between assertive and aggressive behaviour
• Say “no” professionally
• Communicate assertively
• Analyze and handle interpersonal conflict more skillfully, one-on-one or in groups
• Establish an individual follow-up plan to solidify communication and management skills

Workshop topics

Skills and Techniques

• Basics of managing people
• Assertive communication
• Using positive language to influence
• Using our voice for clear and authoritative expressions
• Managing anger – your own and others’
• Questioning and listening during conflict situations
• Negotiating to win-win solutions
• Recognizing and communicating with different personality types
• Depersonalizing criticism

Managing People

• Concepts and functions of managing
• The 4 basic concepts of people management

Assertive Skills

• Discerning aggressive, passive, assertive and passive-aggressive behaviours
• Recognizing the rights of managers and employees in the workplace
• 3 specific techniques to communicate assertively

Personal Power

• Identifying the sources of your own power
• Avoid giving power away
• Sharing power and delegating authority

Communication Skills

• Using the proper tone as a means of influencing people
• Verifying perceptions
• Using positive language to express clear ideas and feelings
• Active listening for two-way understanding

Conflict Management

• Identifying sources of conflict
• Comparing positional-based and interest-based conflict resolution
• Layers of conflict
• 5 methods of managing conflict
• 5 key actions steps for resolving conflict
• Resolving real-life conflict situations
• Managing conflict in groups