Keep it professional: how to not let emotions get the better of you at the workplace

Unpleasant situations can happen everywhere, and our workplace is no exception. All of us have been guilty, at one time or the other, of being emotional at work, which by itself is not an issue. But problems arise when we allow our emotions get the better of us.

In a professional environment, there are certain rules one needs to follow. Getting angry at the drop of a hat, screaming, shouting, and letting off steam may well hamper appraisals at the end of the year, and with it, your career growth. These traits also reflect on you as a person and your sense of control over situations, however provoking they may be.

Take S, for instance. She was in her first job and the newbie in her team. The others took advantage of her lack of experience and made her do all the running round. S was given only little tasks and mostly ignored when it came to the big things. After one particularly difficult meeting, she snapped at a senior team member. And lo and behold! Word passed around that she was a ‘difficult’ person and she was given the cold shoulder almost by the entire team. While S was indeed being pushed around, it would have made better sense for her to speak to the team leader and sort out things. Snapping at a colleague only made things worse.

There will be instances where feelings of anger, frustration, dislike, worry, and disappointment will creep in. But, you have to learn to deal with them without letting things go out of hand.

Let’s examine the negative emotions likely to crop up at work.

Anger

As human beings, we can always find something to be angry about. At the workplace, it could be anything from too much work, being taken for granted or not being taken seriously. Most of the time, the anger may be momentary because of irritation at what someone has done or not done. Instead of shouting or having a knee-jerk reaction, try taking a few deep breaths. Leave your workstation, spend a few minutes someone outside your department. Then, come back and analyse why these feelings cropped up. Most often, the reasons seem trivial once you think it through. But, if the matter is serious, try talking to the person who could have provoked that anger and if that doesn’t work, ask your superior for advice.

Frustration

Like anger, frustration can arise because of different reasons. It could be a project stretching beyond deadline, disorganised colleagues, files taking time to move, or having to wait for appointments, etc. In circumstances where frustration rears its head, it makes sense to deal with it in a positive manner. Remember that uncontrolled frustration leads to anger; it would work well for you to remain calm and wait for it to pass.

Worry

B arrived in office one day to hear that five of her team members had been laid off due to recession. Panic set in and so did worry. She started becoming wary of her remaining team members and would often keep talking about ‘the situation’. Always on edge, it started affecting her work-life balance. She thought putting in more hours would somehow work in her favour. What B needed to do was steer clear of everything causing her anxiety, especially the people who were spreading negative vibes. Instead of worrying about being laid off, B could think of ideas to bring in more business, thereby showing how valuable she is to the company.

Disappointment

When things don’t work out the way you want, disappointment rears its head to make you feel uncomfortable and in some cases, even worthless. These feelings will impact your productivity and hold you back from working hard and achieving your goals. This is the time to examine your mindset and realise that things don’t always go the way you want them to. You could adjust your goals to be more realistic, and feel optimistic about those. Positivity brings out the best results.

Temper tantrums, flare-ups, bouts of crying or rudeness are hardly tolerated in any organisation. So, the key to managing your emotions is to take charge of them.

Also, understand that negativity is not permanent, and situations will tide over. If they don’t and the negativity persists, you’d do well by looking at another job.

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