Assisnment Cuting Edge

8/6/2019 Assisnment Cuting Edge

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Q.1 in the given case what type of changes are the employees of Bank of Madurabound

to go through and how can their fears be overcome?

For organizations, the last decade has been fraught with restructurings, process

enhancements, mergers, acquisitions, and layoffsall in hopes of achieving revenue

growth and increased profitability.

While the external environment (competitive, regulatory, and so on) will continue to play

a role in an organization's ability to deliver goods and services, the internal environment

within the organization will increasingly inhibit it from delivering products required to

meet the demands of the marketplace unless it is able to adapt quickly. The major areas

of changes in a company's internal environment include:


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y Strategic: Sometimes in the course of normal business operation it is necessary formanagement to adjust the firm's strategy to achieve the goals of the company, or

even to change the mission statement of the organization in response to demands of

the external environments. Adjusting a company's strategy may involve changing

its fundamental approach to doing business: the markets it will target, the kinds of

products it will sell, how they will be sold, its overall strategic orientation, the level

of global activity, and its various partnerships and other joint-Business

arrangements.

y Structural: Organizations often find it necessary to redesign the structure of thecompany due to influences from the external environment. Structural changes

involve the hierarchy of authority, goals, structural characteristics, administrativeprocedures, and Management systems. Almost all change in how an organization is

managed falls under the category of structural change. A structural change may be

as simple as implementing a no-smoking policy, or as involved as restructuring the

company to meet the customer needs more effectively.

y Process-oriented: Organizations may need to reengineer processes to achieveoptimum workflow and productivity. Process-oriented change is often related to an

organization's production process or how the organization assembles products ordelivers services. The adoption of robotics in a manufacturing plant or of laser-

scanning checkout systems at supermarkets is examples of process-oriented

changes.

y People-centered: This type of change alters the attitudes, behaviors, skills, or performance of employees in the company. Changing people-centered processes

involves communicating, motivating, leading, and interacting within groups. This

focus may entail changing how problems are solved, the way employees learn new

skills, and even the very nature of how employees perceive themselves, their jobs,

and the organization.


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Some people-centered changes may involve only incremental changes or small

improvements in a process. For example, many organizations undergo leadership

training that teaches managers how to communicate more openly with employees.

Other programs may concentrate on team processes by teaching both managers and

employees to work together more effectively to solve problems.

Remember that strategic, structural, process-oriented, and people-centered changes

occur continuously in dynamic Business. Often, changes in one of these areas

impact changes in the other areas.

Many employees believe that a change is often reactive and nothing more than a

quick fix; then they brace themselves for more changes in the future. Management

needs to realize that serious underlying problems in organizations must be

addressed with long-term consequences in mind. Thus, when management

implements changes, careful thought must be given to ensure that the new processes

are for the long-term good of the company.


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Q.2 what kind of change management issues would ICICI face as the new parent

organization?

ADKAR Model mapped to enablers and management activities

This tutorial presents an overview of the ADKAR model for change management.


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ADKAR is a goal-oriented change management model that allows change managementteams to focus their activities on specific business results. The model was initially usedas a tool for determining if change management activities like communications andtraining were having the desired results during organizational change. The model has itsorigins in aligning traditional change management activities to a given result or goal.

For example, Awareness of the business reasons for change is a goal of earlycommunications related to a business change. Desire to engage and participate in thechange is the goal of sponsorship and resistance management. Knowledge about how tochange is the goal of training and coaching. By identifying the required outcomes orgoals of change management, ADKAR becomes a useful framework for changemanagement teams in the planning and execution of their work.

The goals or outcomes defined by ADKAR are sequential and cumulative. An individualmust obtain each element in sequence in order for a change to be implemented andsustained.

As a manager, you can use this model to identify gaps in your change managementprocess and to provide effective coaching for your employees. The ADKAR model can

be used to:

y diagnose employee resistance to changey help employees transition through the change processy create a successful action plan for personal and professional advancement during

changey develop a change management plan for your employees


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The ADKAR model has the ability to identify why changes are not working and help youtake the necessary steps to make the change successful. You will be able to break downthe change into parts, understand where the change is failing and address that impactpoint.


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Q. 3 - Suggest the kind of Change Management approach ICICI should use in order to

win the confidence of the employees of Bank of Madura?

How to Execute a Merger

y Orientation Program: Plan a half-day management/employee meet-up withintwo weeks of the signing of the deal. A party/celebration can be included.

y New/Updated Business Plan: Any merger starts with a business plan, but asurprising number of companies dont update their plans to reflect how the dealwas actually struck. Describe specifically how youll integrate the two entities intothe new enterprise.

yHR

SWAT

T

eam:E

ven mergers that dont involve layoffs tend to generate ahoard of personnel problems. Move quickly with an HR team preordained to dothe task to smooth any rough spots.

y PR Professional: Youve got to manage how new employees, the press, andinvestors perceive the merger. A PR pro should handle inquiries, work public-relations issues, and craft message that set the appropriate expectations.

y Systems Integrators: Computers in the newly acquired firm need to communicatewith yours, and quickly. Hire or assign technical staff to work back-endconnectivity issues. Independent system integrators are also plentiful; thegranddaddies of the business are IBM and Accenture.

Set Expectations

GOAL: Ensure that employees, the press, and investors perceive the merger as

successful.

If you dont set appropriate expectations of what constitutes success and how it will bemeasured employees, investors, and the business press will make up their own metricsand then hold you accountable for them. Its entirely possible for a merger to actually besuccessful and yet not be perceived as successful, simply because the marketplace set anunrealistic expectation, says Dave Mack, CEO of Technology Business Research, ahigh-tech analyst firm. HPs acquisition of Compaq was originally viewed as a failurebecause top management failed to adequately explain that it would take half a decade tobuild true synergy.


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Once the merger is public, immediately be clear, through public announcements andbriefings, about what the merger is to accomplish and how success will be measured.This creates a sense of momentum and gives a company enough time to absorb newemployees and products, according to high-tech analyst Rob Enderle of the EnderleGroup. He contrasts HPs initial bungles with the relatively seamless way Oracle

managed its recent acquisitions of PeopleSoft and Siebel Systems. [Oracle CEO Larry]Ellison made it perfectly clear that these were long-term plays that would graduallystrengthen Oracles market position, Enderle says. As a result, the analysts have beengenerally forgiving of the fact that the companys product strategy isnt as coherent as itwas prior to the acquisitions.

Essential Ingredients

Motivational Tone.-Traditional management uses fear to motivate people, threatening tofire underperformers or referring to the competition as the enemy. Collaborativemanagers develop a shared sense of vision and talk about how the firm will change theworld.

What to do if you suspect potential culture clash? If the merging firms are at leastsomewhat compatible, you may want to keep the acquisition organizationally separate fora while until the new group can acclimate. If the firms look to be highly incompatible, amass departure of talent may be inevitable. Consider sectioning off the acquired firm asan independent business and limiting contact between the two firms.

Orient New Employees

GOAL: Quell rumors, forestall an exodus, and build enthusiasm for the new

organization.

Every day into a merger that you leave newly acquired employees in a state of limboleeches value from the deal. Work grinds to a halt while everyone, predictably, updatestheir resume. People are irrational when it comes to their perceived value to thecompany and the implications of change on their career, says Kerry Gumas, CEO ofQuestex Media Group, a B2B media services company thats grown through a series ofacquisitions from a startup to a $130 million a year business.

There are three dimensions to every change: emotional, political, and rational, addsRobert Gray, who previously headed up the strategic transactions practice for consultingfirm BearingPoint. Gray recommends a management-sponsored orientation for allemployees within two weeks of the deal close. The orientation should provide a thoroughintroduction to the new corporate entity. The political dimension will play out over time


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through internal meetings, but getting started on the right foot can answer most of therational questions that people have and help them cope with the inevitable emotionalchallenges, he says.

Gumas suggests setting a tone at the orientation that reflects the flavor and essence of

what the company is all about, as well as using the event to set expectations about thecorporate relationship. For example, if the new company is less formal than the old, theorientation might include opportunities for employees to talk directly to top management,either one-on-one or in small groups. In general, its a good idea to keep the obligatoryspeeches short and end with some kind of celebration that mirrors the culture of theacquiring company. When one division of Honeywell absorbed another division someyears ago, they celebrated by handing out bottles of bulldog beer in honor of the newdivisions corporate logo, a bulldog sculpted from electronic components. Since theacquired group consisted mostly of young programmers, the gesture was quicklyconsumed and much appreciated.

Checklist

Post-Merger Employee Orientation

[ ] Strategic reasoning behind the merger

[ ] Company history, goals, and culture

[ ] Corporate challenges and goals

[ ] Expectations and measurements of success

[ ] Organizational challenges and goals

[ ] Current organizational structure

[ ] Direct reports and lines of authority

[ ] Current unknowns and what remains to be done

[ ] Likely opportunities to assist the organization

[ ] Likely opportunities for career improvement

[ ] Corporate policies and procedures


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[ ] Where to go to get questions answered

[ ] Location of the welcome to the company party

Realign andRestructure

GOAL: Quickly shed duplicate overhead and position for future growth.

Except in rare cases, a merger always results in redundancies, which mean (at best)reassigning people, and (at worst) laying off employees. Even if the acquired firm will beoperating as a separate entity and staffing is to remain at pre-merger levels, there will bechanges in reporting structure, internal operations, job roles, and probably job titles.

Its generally impossible to make such decisions without getting to know and understandthe details of whats working (and whats not) inside the existing organizations. The new

management should quickly analyze the new organization, and any other organizationthat is affected by the merger, and devise a restructuring plan that at least looks likely todeliver on the promise of the merger, says Mack of Technology Business Research.

Whats important here is speed rather than perfection, according to Willy C. Shih, seniorlecturer at the Harvard Business School and former vice president at IBM, DigitalEquipment, Silicon Graphics, Kodak, and Thomson. Any time theres a layoff, you needto put some structure around that very quickly and get it stabilized, he says. The bestway to do this is to publish an organization chart, with roles and responsibilities framedas clearly as possible even though that structure is likely to change over time. The

worst thing you can do is to restructure a little at a time, Shih says. You really need tomake your cuts, get them behind you, and then get some stability in the organization sothat it can function again.

Big Idea

Key Questions for Merger Execution

Robert Gray, formerly a global leader of strategic transactions for BearingPoint, suggeststhree areas to cover when shaping the mission and structure of a newly merged

organization:

Business Structure. What business are we in? How will we make money? How will wegenerate growth? Where are we headed as a company?

Business Systems.Whats our supply chain? Whats our sales process? Whats ourmanufacturing process? How will we bring products to market?


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Organizational Structure. How will we make those systems work? What kind of peopledo we need? What are their goals? How will they work together?

Integrate the Computing Infrastructure

GOAL: Make certain the entire organization can communicate and collaborate.

Every organization comes with technical baggage that must be adapted to fit the newcorporation. This means spending money to get the computing infrastructures workingtogether, according to former Bristol-Myers CIO Jack Cooper, who was involved innearly a dozen major acquisitions at the company. Integration can be a major hiddenexpense thats seldom included in the cost-analysis for the merger, he says. Even whenfully funded, such projects can take time, especially if they involve significant back-endprogramming and the retraining of an entire staff.

The trick to merging infrastructures is to move the project forward in logical steps,according to Cooper. Start with the email system and office automation because thatsrelatively simple and standards-based, he says. Then move to either the sales ormanufacturing automation systems, depending upon which function is the most mission-critical.

Warn employees that technical glitches may occur. Its going to take time and theresgoing to be some frustration, says Gray, formerly of BearingPoint. Dont let your ITworkers become the whipping boys for the merger by failing to fund and schedule thenecessary technical work.


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Section B

1) Your Company has decided to send you to attend a 5 day workshop for sales training to

Singapore. Prepare a well-structured Mind Map for planning this business trip. Your

Mind-Map should include the pre-trip preparations, business plans as well as the

recreational activities you plan to enjoy.

Mind Maps are the idea tool for managers and leaders. They can help them with thinking,

change and complexity, managing volumes of information, planning, creativity and

innovation. The Mind Maps in this section will include: business strategy, engagement,

motivation, managing people and training courses.

In just one Mind Map you can represent everything that needs to be done or analyzed,

mark relationships between tasks, the relative priorities and identify patterns. The Mind

Maps in this section will include business travel, budgeting, targeting, SWOT and otheranalysis.


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. 2 - Describe various points to be kept in mind for effective Team building? Give a real life

example, where you played a role of an effective team member or team player.

Building a good team is the single most important thing a ProjectManager can do to achieve a successful project. With the right attitude,a team will overcome almost any difficulty to succeed in its goals. Inmost projects there will be times when only the determination of theteam can overcome the difficulties and carry the initiative through tosuccess. Even when there is no pressure, the team's spirit andenthusiasm will be reflected in the quality of the solution and the extentto which other people buy-in to it.

There is a whole area of academic study and practical experience about building good teams. Business psychologists present many theoriesconcerning the way in which people interact. A world-class Project


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Manager needs to be an amateur psychologist and a manipulator ofhuman behavior. Here are some of the factors which generally lead

a good team:

To achieve this collaborative team style, the Project Manager usuallyneeds to behave as one of the team - collaborative, supportive, friendly,etc. The Project Manager should be the best of friends with each teammember to the extent that each participant would go to great lengths tohelp the project succeed.

It is interesting to compare this project management style with thetraditional view of the Project Manager. Often the best recognisedProject Managers are those who make a lot of noise, bang the table,make snap judgements, are tough with their people, "crack the whip"

and generally drive people to perform through the exercise of power.These behaviours are very visible and it is common to find managerswith this personal style do get recognised and promoted.

A regime of terror can only succeed so far and for so long. Therecomes a point where the participants give up trying and no amount ofpressure can persuade them to increase their contribution. Beyond that point, people will leave and the project will fail. Conversely, in acollaborative team the participants feel that the team's success is theirown personal mission. They will respond ever more determinedly as

the pressure rises.

The Project Manager who has created an excellent team will find theteam performing optimally with very little intervention. Herein lies thedilemma for a career-minded Project Manager. In good projects theProject Manager does not need to (and should not) exhibit dramatic, powerful, personal characteristics, but the organisation's leadershipmay be more likely to recognise the talents of a manager who creates alot of noise.

The reality is that a sensible balance achieves the best results:


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reward vs punishment

pleasure vs pain

opportunity vs threat

encouragement vs coercion

The classic analogy is the donkey, motivated by the promise of a carrotand the threat of a beating with the stick. Most psychologists believethat the positive experience of the carrot is much more successful thanthe negative threat of the stick. They would argue that the stick shouldbe applied only on rare occasions with good cause - or, maybe, never atall. The carrot should be offered as a constant reward for performance.

A similar balance should be achieved between the stimulus generated

by the availability of opportunities versus the instinctive survivalreaction to threats.

The best compromise can sometimes be achieved by people taking ondifferent "good guy" and "bad guy" roles. Think about the "headteachersanction". In a school class, children should be exposed for most oftheir time to a friendly, helpful, collaborative teacher. If they behave


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badly, it is unwise to damage the teacher-student relationship so thethreat of pain and punishment takes the form of a trip to theheadteacher. If you apply this logic to a hierarchical structure, theconclusion is that each person more than one level from the bottomneeds to be a friendly, collaborative, supportive mentor to their

immediate subordinates, but a tough, demanding figure in the eyes ofthose below. Each manager needs to be able to play both roles.

Human behaviour is driven by a combination of many factors - somecontrollable, some not. The inherent nature of each individual issomething the Project Manager can do little about. The wayparticipants are assigned to roles and sub-teams can be controlled. Inan extreme case, the Project Manager might choose not to use a givenindividual if their character would not fit in. Look for a good balanceof personalities as well as skills when building the sub-teams and the

working relationships within the Project Team. This is an area whereconsiderable psychological research has been performed - manypublications and training programmes are available.

Building a collaborative team

But who said teams need to be hierarchical? Within a team you will

find a mixture of different people with different assignments - but thatdoes not necessarily require a hierarchy. The best team culturesdevelop where team members recognise that everyone else also hasimportant value to contribute.

For each issue someone needs to be the recognised leader; someonehas to believe it is their responsibility to drive an issue otherwise itmay become forgotten. For each issue there will be a sub-set of peoplemost appropriate to make contributions. "Appropriate", here, means acombination of capability, resource scheduling/availability, and the

need to build a good team.

The team structure that develops (either formally or informally) will beflexible such that the right people work together for any given topic. Italso means that a leader for one issue might be only a contributor foranother - and vice versa. A can be B's "boss" in some aspects of theteamwork, but B might be A's boss in others.


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In this example, see how the Applications Development Team Leaderis an important contributor to the Solutions Architecture Team and alsoto the overall project leadership team. In fact, all the leaders can be aleader in one context but a contributor in others.

If we expand this thinking, it is possible to generate a highlycollaborative team where every member has at least one issue to leadupon. In this table, we see how the Project Manager has assigned staffto the various issues. Even the most junior team member, Pat Sapphire,has a team leader role to play - Pat is responsible for organising theteam's social events.

Notice how Jude Jade, the Change Management leader, works for JoGreen as part of the Solutions Architecture Team, but Jo defers to Judewhen dealing with Change Management issues. By respecting the

specialist skills, roles and responsibilities of other team members, astrong, collaborative team spirit can be created - each personrecognising the value of others and the value of working as a team.

It is a good idea to give everyone responsibility for some aspect, majoror minor, of the overall success of the project.

Planning for a first-class team

You might be able to build a good, effective team based on your owninstinct and personality. If, however, you apply your wisdom you willrealise you need to plan your approach in advance of building the team.Team-building considerations will impact your decisions on suchthings as:

budget, team structure, reward mechanisms (bonuses, payments, other incentives) assignments and usage of specific individuals, mobilisation of resources, communications strategy, planned activities - events and regular meetings.

The project's sponsors should also understand the importance of building a good team. Make sure they support the measures andapproaches you plan. For example, if you feel it would help to allow


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the team to wear jeans, work from home and have free drinks everyFriday - you could get in a lot of trouble unless the senior leadershipunderstand and agree.

Routine activities and special events should be included in the overall

high-level planning for the project and in the detailed plan for eachphase.

Mobilising the team

You should begin to build an effective team culture as (or even before)the individuals join the project. This is a combination of attitude andspecific actions. All people in leadership roles should make each

individual feel a valued part of a team with a clear and importantmission.

Key message to convey to all team members are:

the objective of the project what the end result should look like why it is of value to the organisation what approach the project will take (focus areas, workstreams,

timing, technology, techniques, etc)

the style and culture the project team is expected to adopt why each individual's co-operation is vital and of great value.

There will also be a large number of specific things the team membersneed to understand, eg:

where they work, eat, get coffee, go to the toilet, park the car,run to when there is a fire, etc

who they report to and how, what they have to do, where they find information, documentation, advice etc how they fill in timesheets, how they report issues, problems, bugs etc, what behavioural norms are expected (eg clothes, language,

timekeeping, personal use of telephone, internet and otherequipment or technology, etc)

how to use specific software, hardware and other equipment.


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Some of this can be conveyed to individuals personally as they arrive.To handle the bulk of the information you should prepare:

welcome packs containing information about the project and itsmodus operandi,

team briefing sessions for batches of team members as theyarrive,

training sessions for any specific technologies being used - bothfor the project work or for the administration and control of theproject.

Remember that the emphasis is to build a good team. The right attitudecan be promoted throughout all these activities. In addition, you shouldplan appropriate formal and informal activities that build the desiredattitudes and behaviours. In most cases, some form of team social

event should be held early in the project. Informal social activities canalso be planned - even where they are intended to look unplanned.

Team-building and social events

Most Project Managers view activities involving alcohol as the easiestway to win over the hearts of the team members. Remember to begenerous! There are many other options. You need to give careful

thought to the desired team culture, the norms of the organisation, andthe background of all team members. Please remember that justbecause you think a good fun night out involves a large amount of beerand loud dance music, it does not follow that all your team memberswould enjoy it. Avoid activities that only appeal to a sub-set of theteam, eg go-kart racing, paint-ball battles, golf, opera, wine tasting, etc.If you organise such activities, make sure the next event appeals to awholly different group. Be particularly careful to avoid developing ateam culture where you socialise with a group of friends who regularlyenjoy all your social activities but you find there are other people whonever want to join in. What you are doing is dividing the team intoyour friends versus the people who do not share your interests.


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Example - I was an effective Team Player-

I was working in Kotak Mahindra Bank, Where I Build a team for Achieve Some Organization

goals-

shared belief in the value and achievability of the team's goals, awareness of the value of the individual's own role and contribution, recognition of the value of other team members (whether they are key specialists

or just non-specialist, junior assistants), desire to work collaboratively, sharing thoughts, ideas, concerns, etc, friendship - enjoying working together with a common purpose, supporting each other in recognition that the team's success requires all members

to be successful, coaching junior members rather than bossing them, listening to ideas and advice from other team members, making time to communicate with other team members, celebrating successes, Rewarding good team behaviour in financial and non-financial ways. shared belief

in the value and achievability of the team's goals, awareness of the value of the individual's own role and contribution, recognition of the value of other team members (whether they are key specialists

or just non-specialist, junior assistants), desire to work collaboratively, sharing thoughts, ideas, concerns, etc, friendship - enjoying working together with a common purpose, supporting each other in recognition that the team's success requires all members

to be successful, coaching junior members rather than bossing them, listening to ideas and advice from other team members, making time to communicate with other team members, celebrating successes, rewarding good team behaviour in financial and non-financial ways.


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Q3) Define Assertive Communication. What are the characteristics of assertive

behavior? Explain how assertiveness can be depicted through behavior, verbal cues and

body language.

Assertive communication

What IS assertive communication?

Assertive communication is the ability to express positive and negative ideas and feelings

in an open, honest and direct way. It recognises our rights whilst still respecting the rights

of others. It allows us to take responsibility for ourselves and our actions without judging

or blaming other people. And it allows us to constructively confront and find a mutually

satisfying solution where conflict exists.

So why use assertive communication?

All of us use assertive behaviour at times... quite often when we feel vulnerable or unsure

of ourselves we may resort to submissive, manipulative or aggressive behaviour.

Yet being trained in assertive communication actually increases the appropriate use of

this sort of behaviour. It enables us to swap old behaviour patterns for a more positive

approach to life. I've found that changing my response to others (be they work

colleagues, clients or even my own family) can be exciting and stimulating.

The advantages of assertive communication

There are many advantages of assertive communication, most notably these:

y It helps us feel good about ourselves and othersy It leads to the development of mutual respect with othersy It increases our self-esteem


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y It helps us achieve our goalsy It minimises hurting and alienating other peopley It reduces anxietyy It protects us from being taken advantage of by othersy It enables us to make decisions and free choices in lifey It enables us to express, both verbally and non-verbally, a wide range of feelings

and thoughts, both positive and negative

There are, of course, disadvantages...

Disadvantages of assertive communication

Others may not approve of this style of communication, or may not approve of the views

you express. Also, having a healthy regard for another person's rights means that you

won't always get what YOU want. You may also find out that you were wrong about a

viewpoint that you held. But most importantly, as mentioned earlier, it involves the risk

that others may not understand and therefore not accept this style of communication.

What assertive communication is not...

Assertive communication is definately NOT a lifestyle! It's NOT a guarantee that you

will get what you want. It's definately NOT an acceptable style of communication with

everyone, but at least it's NOT being aggressive.

But it IS about choice


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Four behavioural choices

There are, as I see it, four choices you can make about which style of communication you

can employ. These types are:

direct aggression: bossy, arrogant, bulldozing, intolerant, opinionated, and overbearing

indirect aggression: sarcastic, deceiving, ambiguous, insinuating, manipulative, and

guilt-inducing

submissive: wailing, moaning, helpless, passive, indecisive, and apologetic

assertive: direct, honest, accepting, responsible, and spontaneous

Characteristics of assertive communication

There are six main characteristics of assertive communication. These are:

y eye contact: demonstrates interest, shows sincerityy body posture: congruent body language will improve the significance of the

message

y gestures: appropriate gestures help to add emphasisy voice: a level, well modulated tone is more convincing and acceptable, and is not

intimidating

y timing: use your judgement to maximise receptivity and impacty content: how, where and when you choose to comment is probably more important

than WHAT you say

The importance of "I" statements

Part of being assertive involves the ability to appropriately express your needs and

feelings. You can accomplish this by using "I" statements. These indicate ownership, do


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not attribute blame, focuses on behaviour, identifies the effect of behaviour, is direcdt and

honest, and contributes to the growth of your relationship with each other.

Strong "I" statements have three specific elements:

y Behavioury Feelingy Tangible effect (consequence to you)Example: "I feel frustrated when you are late for meetings. I don't like having to repeat

information."

Six techniques for assertive communication

There are six assertive techniques - let's look at each of them in turn.

1. Behaviour Rehearsal: which is literally practising how you want to look and sound. It

is a very useful technique when you first want to use "I" statements, as it helps dissipate

any emotion associated with an experience and allows you to accurately identify the

behaviour you wish to confront.

2. Repeated Assertion (the 'broken record'): this technique allows you to feel

comfortable by ignoring manipulative verbal side traps, argumentative baiting and

irrelevant logic while sticking to your point. To most effectively use this technique use

calm repetition, and say what you want and stay focused on the issue. You'll find that

there is no need to rehearse this technique, and no need to 'hype yourself up' to deal with

others.

Example:

"I would like to show you some of our products

"

"No thank you, I'm not interested


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"

"I really have a great range to offer you

"

"That may be true, but I'm not interested at the moment"

"Is there someone else here who would be interested?

"

"I don't want any of these products

"

"Okay, would you take this brochure and think about it?"

"Yes, I will take a brochure

"

"Thank you"

"You're welcome"

3. Fogging: this technique allows you to receive criticism comfortably, without getting

anxious or defensive, and without rewarding manipulative criticism. To do this you need

to acknowledge the criticism, agree that there may be some truth to what they say, but

remain the judge of your choice of action. An example of this could be, "I agree that there

are probably times when I don't give you answers to your questions

.

4. Negative enquiry: this technique seeks out criticism about yourself in close

relationships by prompting the expression of honest, negative feelings to improve

communication. To use if effectively you need to listen for critical comments, clarify

your understanding of those criticisms, use the information if it will be helpful or ignorethe information if it is manipulative. An example of this technique would be, "So you

think/believe that I am not interested?"

5. Negative assertion: this technique lets you look more comfortably at negatives in your

own behaviour or personality without feeling defensive or anxious, this also reduces your


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critics' hostility. You should accept your errors or faults, but not apologise. Instead,

tentatively and sympathetically agree with hostile criticism of your negative qualities. An

example would be, "Yes, you're right. I don't always listen closely to what you have to

say."

6. Workable compromise: when you feel that your self-respect is not in question,

consider a workable compromise with the other person. You can always bargain for your

material goals unless the compromise affects your personal feelings of self-respect.

However, if the end goal involves a matter of your self-worth and self-respect, THERE

CAN BE NO COMPROMISE. An example of this technique would be, "I understand

that you have a need to talk and I need to finish what I'm doing. So what about meeting in

half an hour?"

Conclusion

Assertiveness is a useful communication tool. It's application is contextual and it's not

appropriate to be assertive in all situations. Remember, your sudden use of assertiveness

may be perceived as an act of aggression by others.

There's also no guarantee of success, even when you use assertive communication styles

appropriately.

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Assisnment Cuting Edge