ALT-1 Office Assertiveness when to say no and mean it
Assertiveness is a skill that needs to be learned nowadays if you want to be respected at your workplace. Rarely is anybody born as assertive. Assertiveness is a skill that can be learned, honed, and practiced. If you learn the skills of assertiveness, you will manage to maintain your independence and you will be looked upon with respect and admiration. Once you demonstrate your assertiveness, people will no longer walk all over you. Once you master and practice skills of assertiveness, you will be able to maintain an adequate personal distance and work in peace.
Do not tolerate psychological abuse within office setting
There are sometimes unhappy and unsatisfied people around you filled with negative energy. They can sometimes feel a need to take out their frustrations on somebody and that way they usually feel much better. This can especially be the case if that someone is in a position of power over you. This person usually thinks that they can deal with you or handle you any way they want. Do not allow yourself to become a victim of someone's frustrations and to be criticized in front of the public. Do not allow yourself to become a scapegoat for someone who wants to put all their blame and frustrations on you.
Do not take upon more work than you can handle
As you already may be familiar, there are always doers and actors in the workplace. Whoever demonstrates ability to do a good job at work, usually he or she gets awarded with more work. It is just how it goes in the workplace. While a certain healthy dosage of work is good for you, do not allow yourself to become overloaded with work. Too much work can cause you to become tired and stressed out over a long period of time which can lead you to chronic exhaustion and burnout.
Don't always go for the dirty work
Don't allow yourself to become a trashcan at work. Don't always go for all the "dirty work" that no one else wants to be doing. You should never be picky at work, but also do not let people think that they can get away with giving you all sort of nasty tasks to perform.
Whenever you decide to say no to a request you think is inappropriate and overcomes your abilities at work, make sure to do it in a polite and kind way yet with firmness. The worst thing you can do is display passive aggressive behavior as it can cause you serious difficulties down the road. Assertiveness is not about being aggressive or passive. It is about being kind and persistent at making a request and fighting for your rights because nobody else will do it for you.
