What do you do if your assertiveness is met with resistance during difficult workplace conversations?

Please take a minute and compose yourself, firstly understand that 2 people can be right at their places. When met with resistance, take a moment to collect your thoughts and see where things are going wrong. Remember that here you want to put your point across and it needs to be you who needs to put things in a manner that the person in front of you will understand

Never overcommunicate. Speak limited, what's important and never use too many negative words or phrases. I have learned over time that if you ar not being understood enough don't try to make yourself understood over and over gain. No use. Stay calm and composed, don't take it personally. Speak and learn what's mutual. Try to come up with common solutions!

First and foremost, it's essential to remain calm and composed, even when faced with resistance or pushback. Emotions can easily escalate tensions and derail productive dialogue. By maintaining a level-headed demeanor, I can better focus on addressing the issue at hand and finding a resolution.

When faced with resistance during difficult workplace conversations, it's important to remain calm, composed, and empathetic. Take a step back and try to understand the root cause of the resistance. Acknowledge the other person's perspective and validate their feelings before reasserting your own position. Practice active listening to demonstrate that you value their input and are open to finding a resolution together. Maintain a respectful tone and avoid becoming defensive or confrontational. If necessary, suggest taking a break to allow both parties to cool off before revisiting the conversation. Persistence combined with patience can often lead to a more productive dialogue and eventually, a resolution that satisfies everyone involved.

Listen actively to understand their perspective ????, then communicate your points clearly and confidently ?????. Find common ground and seek solutions together ????. Remember, assertiveness is about being firm yet respectful, keep that positive vibe flowing! ????

If you spend more time talking than listening, you are doing too much of the former and not enough of the latter. Listening is, after all, the only way to truly understand someone's perspective. Even if you disagree with their viewpoint, active listening empowers you to accumulate evidence in favor of your perspective that you can present in a nuanced, thoughtful, and empathetic way.

Listen without waiting for your turn to speak. Remain curious, and use genuine open-ended questions/phrases like, "Can you help me better understand your perspective? I'd like to learn more." You already know your answer, so digging your heels in will only heighten the other's defense and potentially damage your credibility. Active listening is not just about being quiet, it's confirming your understanding of what was said and asking insightful and genuine questions to ensure you have the full picture.

Active listening is a crucial skill in communication. When we are met with a negative response, assertiveness can be challenged. However, by listening carefully to the other person's concerns, we demonstrate respect for their perspective. It does not necessarily involve agreeing, but acknowledging their feelings and thoughts. Summarizing what we have been told not only ensures that we have understood, but also shows our engagement in the conversation. This approach can lower defenses and open the door to more constructive dialogue.

Listening actively with the intention to understand the other persons perspective is critical, we first need to stop being defensive about things, stop engaging with the sole intent to justify ones conduct. sometimes it can reveal things that might have gone unnoticed and yet could be affecting others severely. It helps to build a base for amicable resolution.

??Analyze why there is resistance - is it because you’re delivering the requests? Perhaps the person or team is resisting out of a lack of understanding, or fear of learning something new. Alternatively, the resistance may be tied to personal issues with you directly. Identifying the reason behind the resistance is the key to addressing it and resolving it!

It is true that resistance can often arise from a misunderstanding of our intentions. By being explicit about our objectives and showing that we are seeking mutual benefit, we not only reduce the possibility of being misunderstood, but also foster an atmosphere of open and honest dialogue. Assertiveness, when practiced with clarity and respect, allows both parties to feel heard and valued. This can lead to more effective solutions and stronger relationships, as it is based on trust and mutual understanding. Therefore, clarifying our intentions is a crucial step in avoiding unnecessary conflict and building bridges of understanding.

Prime - If you go into a conversation and already anticipate some resistance to what you're about to present, prime the audience by clearly letting them know your intent before you begin. This can help to alleviate some heightened emotions that may already be in the room. At the same time, if you discover your intent was misunderstood later on, stop to clarify your intent and ask insightful questions to ensure you better understand their resistance to either your words, tone, or the content. This will provide you with valuable insight on how to adjust your approach to lower defense and stay credible.

Having a solution driven approach helps for sure, It shows one is engaged and is invested in the relationship at the same time. Making it a collaborative effort, soliciting ideas makes it participative and bring people closer. Objective assessment followed by clear strategic direction helps improve solutions and its effectiveness.

A valuable lesson I learned as a manager in the service industry in my early career is that customers/people are never interested in what you can't do - only what you can do. Basically, give them options. Let them know what can be done. Also, involve them in the solution - once you present what you can do, then ask them for their input. "Did I understand your request accurately? Will this solution work for you?" Taking a collaborative approach rather than a resistive approach will not only give you valuable experience in how to frame and present options in the future, but will also quickly defuse a potentially reputation damaging interaction.

Joseph Greeny et al (Crucial Conversations) has a great tool for this - the path to action. We first see/hear a situation, we then tell ourselves a story about what saw/heard, we then have emotions based on the story we told ourselves, which then informs our behavior/how we act in the situation. Having this keen understanding of how our behavior is originated by the story we tell ourselves and the emotions that generates has the potential to create greater empathy toward others. Be curious, ask genuine, insightful questions, and ensure you understand their perspective. What they saw/heard may be very different than how you perceived the situation.

The opinion highlights the importance of empathy and understanding in difficult conversations. By identifying the cause of resistance, whether it is fear or lack of information, it can be addressed more effectively. Open-ended questions are key to revealing underlying concerns and, with this information, the approach can be adjusted to facilitate more effective communication. Understanding the other party does not imply giving up one's own position, but is a strategy for overcoming obstacles while maintaining assertiveness. It is a reminder that empathy is a powerful tool for resolving conflict and strengthening relationships.

It is important to explain that there are certain tasks that need to be solved. These tasks may be demanded by the supervisor or requested by customers. It is also crucial to emphasize that successes can only be achieved as a team. The focus should be on solving the task rather than on who is right or wrong. Therefore, it is essential to objectively examine the situation together and explain why things should be done in a certain way. Explanation is key to making the situation understandable.

Retreat to common ground and common goals. People dislike assertiveness when it is directed towards them. They like it better when it is done for them. If your assertiveness is only a powerplay move on your part, then resistance is perhaps an appropriate response. It is easy for meetings among multiple A-types [Alpha, Type A or A-hole] it is easy to devolve into a pissing contest. Try to rise above it all by getting their small yes about what success looks like. Then you can channel that assertiveness into alignment.

Back off. Truly back away and identify what's broken in your ability to connect, communicate and convince. Active thinking proceeds and follows active listening. But be aware that you need to own the problem and solution. This is a great leadership test -- where you need to learn how to lead by example.

Communication cannot be one dimensional, however you cannot compromise on one's values to kowtow for the sake of acquiescence. One has to find different ways to get the message across just like in presenting, you have those that want the big picture, those that want the detail and those that want things kinesthetically. Timing, tonality and tenaciousness are key ingredients for success in this area.

In my experience, age is a major factor in this case. When I was younger, I used to be quite brash, abrupt and short tempered. This obviously rubbed people the wrong way. Now as a 45 year old, I'm quite different. Listening is an art. There will always be dissenting views and polarising perspectives. The real trick is navigating all of this and managing to put your point across diplomatically. This is easier said than done. Ultimately, we all want a harmonius work environment, we may never reach an ideal consensus, but as long we celebrate a diversity of opinions and perspectives, we can all go far together.

I've spent a lot of time not making people happy; as an advocate, it can be wild. I thought a man was going to hop over a table and strangle me once and the stories are endless. My biggest takeaway and advice? Go in with facts. Emotional debates can be compelling, but they leave room for a lot of emotional perspectives and rhetoric. They also draw you in emotionally which affects your ability to stay rational. If you want to assert something effectively, corner them with hard data and facts that are clear and straight. If they attempt to draw you in elsewhere, reiterate the fact and hold them there. If you don't have rational and data for what you assert, you may need to relook at your own debate and ask yourself if it makes sense.