Handling anger in the workplace
When you mix heavy workloads, little downtime and many different personalities, conflicts are bound to occur in the workplace. The occasional flare-up is one thing, but a workplace that is seething is quite another.
Like coping with stress, it is how we deal with anger and frustrations that determines whether they are destructive. They can often be channeled into creativity, focus and drive.
As a manager, helping staff handle anger and channel it into forward momentum will keep the workplace safe and productive.
- Though it is tempting, do not ignore it. No problem is going to go away simply because you ignore it.
- Acknowledge the anger – the feelings may be legitimate. Often the anger is about a real difficulty at work that can be remedied.
- Attempt to see the employee’s point of view.
After the issue is out in the open, choose a time to discuss what happened and what sorts of strategies can address the problems. Waiting until the crisis has passed is better than trying to solve it while in the middle of the fire. Allowing some time to pass will help the person to calm down and regain the ability to reason and think clearly.
- Develop an action plan with specific steps for behavior modification or system change.
- Seek out a third party, such as the human resource department, to intervene to help resolve the situation, if necessary
Source: HealthDay
