I have been running assertiveness workshops now for quite awhile with another one next month. Here are some of the reflections from one of my assertiveness workshops last year.
Yanley Court, Long Ashton is a beautiful venue to run a workshop in, this is a pic of the reception area. So even at the start of the workshop it seemed the participants felt like they were picking up on the relaxed atmosphere.
The objectives for the workshop were:
-To have an understanding of different communication styles & the benefits of using assertiveness
-To improve your ability to project greater self confidence when dealing with difficult situations & overcome barriers
-To develop new strategies to get the balance right between responding to other's needs whilst ensuring you meet your own.
Thinking assertively is as important as behaving assertively as often we allow our emotions to get in the way when communicating with others. In introducing ourselves we looked at what participants might want to get out of the session and reducing emotions in order to have a skilled approach in tricky discussions was key.
Interestingly enough there was a feeling in the room that people had the skill of assertiveness in many situations but if it was possible to be assertive in business life it was not always easy to use it in a personal situation and vice versa depending on the person.
Getting the balance right between being assertive and aggressive was another difficult area we discussed. It can also be an issue if we are too passive in situations where we wish to be assertive and frustrations can build up and lead to stress.
We had some fun with a quiz identifying which style we can tend to slip into, then learnt a model of assertiveness and practiced using it with some written work on an example of each partipant's choice.
We had a discussion around choice of language when giving feedback on an issue, and used alternative wording to express thoughts and feelings t.
There were some interesting discussions on overcoming barriers to being assertive such as fear of what response we get back and feelings that we might upset the other person. We considered strategies to manage these and how the pre planning element of the workshop was really helpful.
Various actions came out of the day including: 'to actively start using the model of assertiveness', 'to set my own priorities and stop dismissing them when negotiation with others' and 'to use the activity form as a template'.
The feedback was 100% in all areas on my evaluation form and I had some really lovely comments:
'Sarah was really warm and welcoming in what could have been a strained situation given that both myself and my husband were addressing the issue of assertiveness together in the same room. Simple, effective, practical solutions to what is an emotive subject';
'A great introduction to being assertive;
'A good pace, thought provoking and I enjoyed the exercise it gave me an excellent structure I really enjoyed it.
Check out the workshop page on my website www.mariposacoaching.co.uk/workshops to book and for more information or pop me an email on sarah.mariposacoaching@gmail.com. I can also provide further dates to suit and offer this workshop at a cooperate rate to businesses. Any questions welcome!
Hope to see you at a workshop soon.