Assertive Communication at Work
In any workplace, people will disagree. What often makes these moments difficult is deciding what needs to be addressed, what fits your role, and how to speak clearly without overreacting, backing down, or taking on responsibility that belongs elsewhere.
In this one-day course, participants use the HOLD framework to decide whether and how to respond assertively in everyday workplace situations. Through practical scenarios and guided practice, they learn to state concerns, perspectives, requests, refusals, and boundaries using clear, concise, controlled, and credible language. Participants leave better prepared to address tension early, hold their message when challenged, and prevent avoidable friction, rework, and escalation.
- Differentiate assertive communication from passive, aggressive, passive-aggressive, and authority-based responses in everyday workplace situations.
- Apply the HOLD framework to decide whether and how to respond assertively in a tense workplace interaction.
- Develop a clear, concise, controlled, and credible response that expresses a concern, perspective, request, refusal, or boundary.
- Demonstrate how to deliver and hold an assertive response when questioned or challenged, without overexplaining, becoming defensive, or moving prematurely into negotiation.
- Evaluate AI-supported wording or reflection prompts for clarity, tone, confidentiality, and fit with the situation while retaining human judgment.
Recognizing Assertive Communication at Work
- Distinguish assertive communication from passive, aggressive, passive-aggressive, and responses that rely primarily on authority.
- Identify common workplace situations involving disagreement, unclear expectations, competing views, or boundary pressure.
- Clarify where assertive communication ends and negotiation, corrective action, or formal escalation begins.
Deciding Whether and How to Respond
- Apply the HOLD framework to clarify your intent, identify what is yours to own, and consider the context, risk, and need to keep working together.
- Decide whether to address, pause, let go, or raise the issue.
- Choose a response that fits your role without over-accommodating, overstepping, or taking on responsibility that belongs elsewhere.
Delivering and Holding an Assertive Response
- State a concern, perspective, request, refusal, or boundary using clear, concise, controlled, and credible language in both in-person and virtual interactions.
- Respond to questions or pushback without diluting the message, overexplaining, or becoming defensive.
- Continue working professionally through temporary tension or awkwardness.
- Use AI responsibly to test wording, tone, and assumptions while retaining human judgment.
This course is for professionals and people leaders who regularly face tension, disagreement, competing views, or boundary pressure at work and want to respond more clearly and deliberately.
It is also suited to those who have some experience navigating these situations but want stronger judgment about when to speak up, what fits their role, and how to hold an assertive response without overstepping or backing down.
There are no prerequisites for this course.
Open to all members of the public.
$ 595 plus tax
We are sorry.
We don't offer this workshop as an open enrollment session at the moment.