We provide a 2-day assertiveness training course in Brighton, Sussex, providing  comprehensive, hands-on tuition on increasing your assertiveness skills. This free resource provides a range of advice and information to help you as a reference guide:

“He who trims himself to suit everyone will soon whittle himself away.”
Raymond Hull

Those who have been conditioned to please may envy those who can effortlessly ask for what they want and need. Those who have no problem asking for what they want do not usually know that there are others around them bending over backwards to please them.

If you are one of those people who worry about pleasing or offending others to the detriment of your own needs it may be time to think of ways to readdress your fears, build up your confidence and learn to say what you want. It’s no good feeling resentful when others take advantage of you if you are allowing them to. They may not even be aware of your feelings if you do not express them.

What is assertiveness?

Being assertive is the art of getting understood by others by being neither aggressive nor passive, but by stating your needs clearly and effectively.

Assertiveness is:

• Being able to stand up for yourself
• Making sure your opinions and feelings are considered
• Not letting other people always get their way
• A way of communicating and behaving with others that helps people to become more confident and aware of themselves
• A skill that can be learnt

Assertiveness is not:

• Aggressiveness, you can be assertive without being forceful or rude

Almost everyone, at some time will find themselves in situations where they find it difficult to express themselves clearly. Examples might be:

• Dealing with angry people
• Communicating our true feelings to friends and family
• Dealing with unhelpful shop assistants, call centres etc.

Often situations such as these may be dealt with by holding in feelings and not expressing them, or getting angry or simply giving in whilst still holding resentment. This usually leaves a person unhappy, with a feeling of not being in control and the problem remains unresolved.

When these responses to difficult situations become a habit it can lead to a loss of confidence which compounds the problem.

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Posted by Heather Buckley in Assertiveness Training on February 7th, 2007 | 2 Comments »

Learn to Be Assertive In a Positive Way

You could break this down into four stages

1. Change the way you react to situations:

You need to change the way in which you see assertive behaviour. Work on developing a belief system which allows you to assert yourself. This may take some work. It means:

• Giving yourself permission to be angry
• Learning to say “No”
• Feeling it is OK to ask for help
• Not beating yourself up when you make mistakes

Basically it is all about building self confidence and self esteem. Learning to be assertive means working in these areas too.

2. Learn some Assertiveness Skills.

You could develop your assertiveness skills through attending our Assertiveness Training Course in Brighton, Sussex.

3. Use good communication skills

Learn to use your body language and control your feelings and reactions.

• Maintain direct eye contact
• Keep your posture open and relaxed
• Be sure your facial expression agrees with the message
• Keep a level, well-modulated tone of voice
• Select an appropriate time to be assertive

4. Practice

You won’t learn how to become a more assertive person just by reading, you will need to practice. You can practice on your friends and family, choose someone understanding and it is best to tell them what you are doing first! Ask for feedback on how you’re doing. In the long run, communicating honestly can help your relationships.

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Posted by Heather Buckley in Assertiveness Training on February 7th, 2007 | No Comments »

by Sanjay.B on Flickr

A study by american psychologists claims that simply behaving in a bold manner can make you happy. Their research supports the idea that any extrovert behaviour has a positive impact on your mood. This research is documented in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology.

You can develop your assertiveness skills  on our public assertiveness training courses in Brighton, Sussex.

“I don’t think it’s the only way to find happiness, but I do think it’s a neglected way,” said Associate Professor Will Fleeson, a psychologist at Wake Forest University led the study claims that although it is not the only answer to finding happiness it is a much neglected way of achieving a good self image and a positive feeling, saying “People too often look outside themselves for things to make them happy.”

There were 50 students involved in the study. They recorded answers to set questions on palmtops for up to 10 weeks, recording their moods and activities. Bold or outgoing activities such as singing aloud, freestyle dancing, and plucking up the courage to approach someone they found attractive boosted the mood of the student for some time after the event or action.

Professor Fleeson remarked that: “Every single student in the study was happier when he or she acted extroverted than when he or she acted introverted…Even introverts can act extroverted and become happier by changing their behaviour.”

So whether you are alone or in company making a concious effort to be more extrovert, singing in the car or shower, dancing to some music or approaching others to initiate conversation can make you feel happy. Activities such as climbing mountains or going for a brisk walk can have a positive effect. Practice being more talkative or more assertive, voice your opinion or ask more a questions.

Fleeson promotes the idea that your happiness is ultimately in your own hands, it comes from the inside not from the outside. It’s up to you to choose to become more outgoing, even if you are reserved and shy by nature you can work on this little by little by choosing to practice some of the things mentioned above. Be a little more assertive, adventurous, outgoing etc – you have the power to be happy.

A range of techniques for improving your assertiveness are covered on our 2-day Assertiveness & Confidence Building training course

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Posted by Heather Buckley in Assertiveness Training on October 9th, 2007 | 4 Comments »

To be effective in your work means doing the right things (effectiveness) in the right way (efficiency); this involves being clear about the key result areas of your job and the precise outputs required. Planning is central to time management, but it is not the first step. You must first know what it is you are planning. What is your work or, more correctly, what should your work be? If you are to plan you must plan to do the right things. Learn how to achieve key results in time management on our 1-day Time Management Course in Brighton, Sussex.

What are Key Result Areas?

These are the major overall things your organisation expects you to achieve. In other words, your purpose or why I am here. They may be reflected in your job description; they may be given to you as objectives or targets. You may have your own professional/personal result areas too.

Once you are clear on your Key Result Areas, you can go to plan your work practices more efficiently as all of your objectives should relate back to them. This means that you will never again be involved in activities that are outside the scope of your job and, therefore, a waste of your time!

Make a list of your key result areas NOW!

When you have that list you can divide it into tasks as follows:

• Active Positive Tasks
• Reactive Maintenance Tasks

Active Positive Tasks

So-called because they bring you and your long-term objectives forward. They are neither urgent nor obvious – they require justification, creativity and special effort. Planning, developing new projects or devising new procedures are examples of these tasks; if they are not performed, effects are not immediately obvious BUT their achievement will be directly in line with the achievement of your Key Result Areas.

Reactive Maintenance Tasks

These are the tasks which are probably the most visible part of your job; the day to day routine aspects of your work. Such tasks are usually urgent and quantifiable – individual steps in the process are clear. Such tasks do not require justification – they are part of normally accepted procedure. If these tasks are not done properly or on time, the effects are obvious to others. Reading your emails, doing routine reports are examples of this type of task. These tasks are called maintenance tasks because they maintain things as they are.

Effective time management is about the ability to balance and prioritise.

Make a list of your Active Positive Tasks and your Reactive Maintenance Tasks. Then review your lists:

• What percentage of your time do you spend on each?
• How happy are you with this?
• How can you bring about change in these areas?

Whilst we cannot always change the things that adversely impact upon our working day – interruptions, time wasters – we can control our own behaviour. Bringing about improvements in time management is essentially about changing our behaviour and implementing new techniques and habits.

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Posted by Faye Binfield in Time Management Training on October 26th, 2007 | No Comments »

A key area for improving time management is delegation. When you keep a time log, you may find that many activities, which are eating into your time, should not be done by you at all!

For more in-depth coverage of delegation, we can arrange Effective Delegation Skills course with content tailored to meet your requirements.

It is important that you ask three questions in relation to each of your activities.

• What am I doing that need not be done at all?
• Which of my activities could be done by somebody else as well, if not better?
• What am I doing that wastes the time of others?

Why delegate?

Many managers see delegation as the answer to all their time management worries and almost as the quick fix we are all seeking. It isn’t!!

Successful and effective delegation involves giving a task to someone else ensuring that they know what’s expected and when it’s expected. Delegation is not the dumping of an unwanted task on unsuspecting members of staff with no instruction!

The result of effective delegation should be a saving of your own time so you can reallocate that time for more developmental tasks as well as:

• a saving of other people’s time
• developing the people you manage
• developing your competencies as a manager

See delegation as an investment of time now to save time later!

Delegation skills

• Know the strengths and limitations of your people
• Delegate responsibility not accountability
• Delegate WHOLE tasks
• Delegate in a fair way even if it means taking more time with individuals to develop skills
• Always check that an individual knows what’s expected. Be sure to be clear and specific
• Give as much responsibility as you can, making sure to take into consideration who, what, why and how
• Ensure the necessary resources are available to do the task
• Indicate that you are available for support whilst also allowing people get on with the task
• Be prepared for the fact that the task may not be carried out as you would have done it
• Give the person feedback on his/her work

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Posted by Faye Binfield in Time Management Training on October 26th, 2007 | No Comments »

Time management is a combination of MACRO and MICRO strategies:

MACRO : involved, looks more complicated, involving others, needing thought and time investment, far-reaching, bringing long term success, effective (planning, delegating, prioritising and so on)

MICRO : tips and tools, immediate results, looks easier, bringing short term success, effective

Learn in greater detail how to develop you own micro-strategies on our comprehensive 1-day Time Management Course in Brighton, Sussex.

These are the quick fix ideas that make day-to-day time management more organised and effective. You will already be using some systems. Which techniques work well for you?

Remember the three’s:

• PEOPLE
• PAPER
• PLANNING

Get these three under control and you are well on your way to being organised (and saving time).

People

Others:

• Don’t have an open door policy but let people know when you will be available
• Keep interruptions short.
• Always let colleagues know where you are – ensure you have an efficient tracking system
• Only involve those in meetings who really need to be there and only for those items which involve them
• At start of meetings state objectives and time constraints clearly
• Make sure minutes of meetings record decisions, actions agreed and completed and actions outstanding.
• Use effective listening skills to summarise points made at meetings, face-to-face discussions or on phone calls.

Self:

• Don’t procrastinate – given the choice of doing it now or later do it now – time is cheaper now (when you have a choice) than later (when you don’t).
• Be clear what you want, do you really want to say “no” – say it.
• Reward yourself for doing things you don’t like doing

Papers

• Handle each piece just once reply to it, file it or destroy it
• Deal with emails at a given time each day
• Skim read to see if something is worth reading.
• Pieces of paper that you don’t need to do anything with, file in the waste paper basket.
• Destroy paper once it has reached the end of its useful life.
• Take fewer and better notes.
• Log your time on the phone, – see how long you spend.
• Limit the time you spend answering emails.
• Organise your papers; for example, different coloured folders for different projects

Planning

• Take quiet time to review your day at the start and at the end of the day.
• Work from a clear and tidy desk
• Set yourself achievable goals and monitor them.
• Do one single job at a time: don’t break off or give in to interruptions.
• Plan your telephone calls and your email reading – do all in one period of the day
• Make regular and frequent backups of your own computer data.
• Eliminate multiple copies of files from you discs – keep your computer files well-organised
• Use directory structures or folders on your PC.
• Record all actions – what is to be done, when by whom
• Start meetings strictly on time
• Limit time strictly – stick to your time commitment
• Circulate minutes of meetings as soon as possible after the end of the meeting. Write first draft within 24 hours – at least.
• Write to do lists
• Have a time plan on your wall so you can see immediately your commitments for the next month

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Posted by Faye Binfield in Time Management Training on October 26th, 2007 | No Comments »

We offer a complete range of Six Sigma Management Training Courses in Brighton, Sussex.

The benefits of the Six Sigma Management system are:

• process flows are improved
• defects are reduced
• communication is Improved as the whole organisation works towards common goals
• cycle times are reduced
• customer satisfaction improved
• employee satisfaction improved
• productivity is increased
• capacity and output are improved
• quality is improved
• reliability of products and processes are improved
• unit costs decreased
• designs improved
• time to market is quicker
• better delivery time

Six Sigma enables organisations to become more effective and efficient. Organisations using the Six Sigma Management System improve their processes, efficiency, products, services and customer experience.

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Posted by Aaron Charlie in Six Sigma Training on June 26th, 2008 | No Comments »

We offer a comprehensive range of Six Sigma Courses in Brighton, Sussex.

Roles in a Six Sigma Organisation

The success of the Six Sigma management process is dependant on senior executives, master black belts, black belts, and Six Sigma green belts working towards the same goals and understanding and implementing the process throughout the organisation.

A senior executive should bring the whole organisation into alignment and instigate changes necessary for Six Sigma’s ultimate success. The most successful Six Sigma projects all share in common clear, and committed leadership from top management. Six Sigma processes initiated at lower levels may show benefits but not dramatic and sustainable changes.

Managers who have been trained as Six Sigma Champions have a vital role to play in conducting and implementing Six Sigma projects. Champions will work closely with the executive committee including the assigned Six Sigma black belt and the master black belt.

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Posted by Aaron Charlie in Six Sigma Training on October 12th, 2007 | No Comments »