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In our previous article we introduced the concept of Assertiveness and identified some of the benefits that can follow from people in organisations becoming more assertive. In this article we move on to answer the question: ‘How do we go about training people to become more assertive?’ We home in on the assertiveness courses we've conducted: • identifying some of the areas that we cover • considering the main issues that typically arise within them. Towards the end of the article we make some points relating assertiveness training to some of the other forms of behaviour training with which the reader may be familiar.

We are writing this article and the follow up one next month as a result of our experiences in training people in organisations to become more assertive. At the same time we are drawing on our learning from working on our own personal assertiveness. In this article we describe assertion, aggression and nonassertion, and their effects on individuals. We outline how to see this relating to people in organisations. We end with comments on some of the assumptions about assertiveness and assertiveness training. In the second article we explain our approach to assertiveness training.

Imagine yourself trying to: — keep an eye on time — listen to a long and confusing but relevant contribution — bring somebody into the discussion whom you believe has an important point to make — stop a “side meeting” that’s just developed all at the same time, and whilst being observed by a number of your colleagues. This is what we expect of someone who is running a meeting. No wonder most people find it difficult to do and, in turn, no wonder many managers take a dim view of the effectiveness of meetings. (The ones they attend, of course, not the ones they run themselves!)