In Assertiveness Skills for New Managers and Supervisors, you'll learn...
- How to get your point across in a discussion without becoming angry or offensive
- What to do to maintain control when your authority is challenged
- How to clearly communicate your expectations to workers without sounding overbearing or condescending
- How to confidently confront problems and conflict head-on instead of hoping they’ll just disappear
- And much more!
Top managers know that an assertive approach is the key to accomplishing their goals and achieving success. This career-boosting workshop allows you to hone your assertiveness skills, acquire the confidence you need to use them and become more successful in your daily on-the-job situations—making requests, stating your expectations, saying “No”, giving and accepting criticism, handling disputes, counseling or disciplining poor performers and many others. These timely techniques will help you eliminate indecision and credibility-robbing behaviors and start coming across as a leader employees want to work for.
WORKSHOP AGENDA
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Molding an assertive management style+
- The 5 elements of an assertive management approach
- The 10 assertiveness skills essential to achieving managerial effectiveness
- Understanding the differences among the 3 styles of communication
- A 10-point assessment for determining your supervisory assertiveness IQ
- 3 tools for transforming negative thoughts into confidence-boosting messages
- Understanding how your beliefs about people affect your success or failure as a supervisor
How being assertive can solve the most common communication problems+
- How to give constructive feedback
- The one assertiveness skill that trumps them all: Active listening
- How to avoid an autocratic, sarcastic or condescending tone that can alienate co-workers and subordinates
- Starting to sound like a broken record? Make sure your instructions are understood and acted upon—the first time
- How to ask clarifying questions without being intrusive
- How to use “I” language to connote power, confidence and authority
- How to manage the nonverbal cues you send that could be compromising your authority
How to manage with power and authority+
- The critical difference between assertive and aggressive behavior—and how to avoid stepping over the line
- How to exert your authority without steamrolling over workers
- How to convincingly handle objections and complaints from anyone in the organization
- Tips for getting the attention—and the respect—of top management
- “The buck stops here”: How to admit your own mistakes and take the heat for the snafus of your department, yet remain respected throughout the organization
- When it’s OK to pull rank to get the results you’re after
- How to simultaneously encourage better performance and “lay it on the line” during an employee disciplinary session
- Wish your latest challenge would just go away? Find out how to tackle a problem head-on rather than avoid it
Persuasion, motivation and negotiation techniques for building win-win relationships and outcomes+
- 4 common mistakes managers and supervisors make that instantly sabotage any suggestion or request you make
- Is your door too open? How to involve employees in decision making without surrendering your authority and control
- How to avoid the key causes of “reverse” delegation
- How to keep the upper hand when you’ve delegated key tasks
- How to say “no” without offending employees, co-workers or your own supervisor
- Making a positive impact on many people at once: How to come across powerfully in meetings
- The single most credibility-robbing thing you can do when asking for information or expressing your opinion
- How to use your negotiation skills to turn conflicts into agreements
- How to get cooperation from workers by practicing a “bottom-up” credo
How to confidently handle conflict, crises and difficult people+
- How to firmly handle employees who keep going “behind your back” to your own boss
- How to keep your anger and emotions in check no matter how heated the situation
- How to put the behavior of chronically difficult people into perspective and learn to work around it
- How to respond when a worker, colleague or even your own supervisor attacks or criticizes you
- Positive, assertive actions you can take to cope with a difficult boss
- How to settle differences among workers without getting caught in the crossfire
- How to be firm yet show understanding when turning down a request for a promotion or a raise
- The keys to terminating an employee with a minimum of pain, disruption and legal trouble
- Addressing the performance problems of an employee who is your friend
- How to conduct damage control when you’ve blown up in anger at an employee
How to gain the loyalty and support of workers+
- How to go to bat for your employees over any issue and emerge with your credibility intact
- How to sell workers on new ideas and changes—even unpopular ones
- How to use your influence to keep team spirit high
- How to foster pride among those you manage by boasting about their accomplishments—without bragging
- How to pull the right strings to get other departments to cooperate with you and your staff
How to increase your influence throughout the organization+
- How to sell your ideas “up the line” in a way that gets attention and respect
- How to uncover the real sources of power in your organization—looking beyond the formal hierarchy to the informal one
- How to deal with an ambitious, eager worker who has an eye on your position
- Office politics are a fact of life—learn how to use your political clout to collect the favors you’re owed
- The importance of the “grapevine”—why you need it, how to use it and what to do if you discover employee gossip is getting out of hand
- How to resolve a conflict with another manager who refuses to budge from his or her own position
- How to compete with a rival supervisor for influence or advancement without coming across as a bully—especially if that person is the shy, silent type
