Have you ever had a coworker accidentally spill coffee on your computer at work, or an employer scolded you for a minor mistake? How do you behave in such cases? Do you get angry, mess up earth and time, and then regret your actions? The fact is that many of us act the same way in such situations. Anger is one of the natural human emotions that can happen in any environment, and the Workplace is no exception. However, anger management is more critical in the Workplace than anywhere else; Because in such an environment, there should be peace so that all people can perform their duties well. In this article, we want to talk about controlling anger in the Workplace and learn how to use the energy stored in anger to benefit ourselves and others by managing this natural emotion. Stay with us.
Feeling angry is not inherently wrong.
Anger is a natural human emotion and is not inherently wrong. We should not even suppress it. Suppressing anger instead of managing it is neither good for us nor those around us. Anger protects us from pain; if we control and channel it, it can serve us.
What causes our brains to activate anger circuits is chronic stress or trauma. In other words, when we are constantly exposed to anxiety and fear, the possibility of getting angry quickly in minor situations is very high.
Anger can increase our self-confidence and sense of empowerment. Researchers have found that people who get angry reinforce the belief that they will win under any circumstances. In the United States Navy training course, troops are taught how to use the intense emotions and adrenaline of anger to gain energy in the face of danger.
Many of us have been raised to equate anger with out-of-control meltdowns; At the same time, anger shows that something is not going right and has gone wrong. Therefore, if it is effectively curbed, it can give us the power to solve the created problem.
Anger control solutions in the Workplace
As we said, we should not suppress anger; But this does not mean that we should express our anger without any control over it in such a way that we hurt others. Uncontrolled anger can have irreversible consequences. When angry, we may say unwanted words, break someone’s heart for no reason, or insult someone. These cases cause tension in the work environment, and we may even lose our jobs or make our employees dislike us if we are the employer.
If you get angry very quickly at work, try the following strategies. These strategies help understand and process emotions in difficult situations.
1. Accept your anger
First of all, accept your anger and don’t forcefully hide it. Many of us, in order not to appear upset and nervous, try to quickly get rid of our feelings of anger, while anger is normal, and if something has upset us, we have the right to be angry. Research shows that when anger is justified, it is a much healthier response than fear, leading to adverse stress effects, such as high blood pressure or stress hormone release.
One of the times we hide our anger is when we think the event that made us angry is minor, and we shouldn’t react. For example, our colleague has asked us to do something for him. Why are we mad? Because this colleague has a habit of delegating his work to others or sending unnecessary messages during non-working hours. All these have accumulated and suddenly erupted in us. However, we hide our anger; Because others may judge us.
If you pretend you’re not angry when exploding inside, you only hurt yourself. You act, But others see it. Therefore, accept your anger and apply strategies for managing and expressing it correctly.
2. Forget destruction therapy
The common belief of the past was that if someone was angry, he could vent his anger by smashing bowls and plates and breaking vases. New research has shown that there is no benefit. Psychology named Brad J. Brad J. Bushman, studying people who used punching bags to vent their anger, found that receiving destructive therapy reduced and intensified anger. In fact, “doing nothing at all” is more effective in reducing irritation than harmful therapy.
Also, venting anger by sharing it with others does not solve the problem either. This will annoy both the people listening to you and yourself. That’s because you’re just repeating the existing situation without trying to understand it or find a solution.
3. calm yourself down
The first thing to do when learning how to manage anger in the Workplace is to calm yourself down. You cannot think strategically when you are angry. Use the following techniques to regain your composure:
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Get away from the environment
Get away from the environment and create a space for yourself. Stop what you were doing and distance yourself and whatever made you angry. If your heart is racing or your fists are clenched, pause for a few minutes. Rate your anger from 1 to 10 and wait until your rating reaches 3 or 4 before doing anything.
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Use relaxation techniques
Try breathing exercises or other mindfulness activities. These techniques will calm your body after anger. If you can, spend a few minutes on it.
Stretch your legs, and take a few deep breaths. Drink some water if you feel like it. These actions spread balance throughout your mind and body and bring you back from the edge of anger.
Practice these techniques later, even when you are not angry. If you have a break at work, even if it’s just 5 minutes, take it to calm yourself down.
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Do you have a pattern? Think of him
If you admire someone, it can be beneficial to think about how they would have reacted to such a situation. For example, your father handles stressful situations and anger well. Can you imagine how he would behave if it were him? What strategy does he use? Follow him as an example.
Once you regain your composure, you can focus on identifying the cause of your anger.
4. Identify the needs behind your feelings of anger
Research shows that identifying your anger triggers can help you manage it better. If you know exactly what the market is behind your sense of anger, you can take a more objective look at the situation. It gives you emotional clarity, strengthens your self-awareness, and teaches you how to practice self-care.
When you are calm, ask yourself these questions:
- What made me angry?
- What emotions are behind my anger? Could it be fear or helplessness?
- What makes me feel good right now?
- What can I do to feel better? By doing those things, what do I gain, and what do I sacrifice?
Can these needs be easily identified?
The reality is that it is not that easy to do. Our emotions are not always straightforward. Most of the time, these emotions are confusing and multi-layered and do not allow us to find the causes of our feelings quickly.
If you’re not sure why you get angry at work, let’s look at some examples of situations that can make anyone angry:
- A big conference is coming up at work, and all your coworkers are doing is scrolling through social media. You’ve worked day and night to make this presentation, and they don’t seem to care. It makes you angry.
- You ask them if they want to practice, and they say you’ve made it big, and everything will be fine. This issue can easily make you angry. You’ve put in much effort, and they’re not supporting you as much as they should.
- One of your team members is late as always. Your blood boils when the team members come quickly an hour late, and no one reprimands them. Now, you have to do all the preparation work by yourself.
- You are in a stressful situation, and your anger is fueled by the fact that you must make up for the mistakes of people who constantly disregard their responsibilities.
5. Think before you speak
Now that you know why you’re angry, you must talk about it. Don’t forget your voice is a powerful tool; choose your vocabulary wisely. Think about what you want to say and how it will affect others. Does it hurt anyone’s feelings? Is it constructive for your work? Is such behavior at all professional? Manage your emotions and try to talk to others clearly and without rudeness seriously about the problem.
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Explain the reason for your anger calmly
Let’s take an example:
If your coworker always puts dirty dishes in the sink and makes you feel bad, how do you tell them not to do it? Are you scolding or shouting? This time when you get angry, after you calm down, find the words to explain why you are getting angry and then politely ask him not to do it or find a constructive solution. For example, tell him: “Look, when you don’t wash the glass and put it in the sink, it gets stained, and I can’t drink tea from a stained glass.” Can you wash the glass as soon as you drink the tea so we can use it too? If not, each of us will take a separate mag.”
If this doesn’t solve the problem, you can finally talk to your employer. He may solve this problem by pointing out the person causing the discomfort.
6. Focus on finding a solution
After controlling your anger, you need to look for a solution. It doesn’t make sense to forget everything after calming down; Because this problem will reappear in another situation. In the fourth step, you were supposed to identify the cause of your anger. Once you figure out what makes you angry and what makes you feel better, you can find a solution.
You may need to talk to your colleague or even take professional action to solve the problem. You may need to tell the employer so that they can help you and provide you with constructive solutions that have not occurred to you.
7. Emotional intelligence is the key to your success
Most of us try to control our anger in the Workplace mainly because we know it will not have good consequences for us. Anger creates tension in the Workplace and negatively affects the team’s ability to work together. When we control our anger, our relationships, performance, and productivity are on the right track.
A good way is to strengthen our emotional intelligence. Emotional intelligence is a person’s ability to examine and convey emotions positively and constructively. Of course, this feature also relates to how we empathize with others and understand their feelings. The interesting point is that emotional intelligence is acquired and can be increased with practice.
Emotional intelligence does not allow anger to control us in difficult situations and harm others. Research has shown that emotional intelligence helps people make more informed decisions and enhances teamwork. Emotional intelligence can help manage stress and deal with its unhealthy levels. Since body language expresses emotions, emotional intelligence can influence your verbal and non-verbal behavior and direct it in the right direction.
Features of the work environment with employees with high emotional intelligence
The work environment in which employees have high emotional intelligence is as follows:
- When colleagues face an obstacle or make a mistake, they treat each other compassionately and have each other’s mood;
- Because of self-awareness, they can identify goals that help them improve their skills;
- They try to eat together during lunchtime;
- Work-life balance and well-being are among the main priorities in the Workplace;
- The employer provides many resources to help manage stress;
- People are comfortable expressing their feelings and sharing creative ideas;
- Conflict is resolved without shouting or insulting others and with respect.
Strengthening emotional intelligence requires empathy, will, and dedication. Of course, this does not mean that emotional intelligence does not allow you to get angry. Emotional intelligence helps you constructively channel anger to stand up for your needs by expressing your feelings appropriately without misbehaving.
final word
In this article, we talked about controlling anger in the Workplace. We said that the effects of offense in the work environment do not stay there and increase your mental and physical stress levels, which can negatively affect other aspects of your life. Increased stress can lead to increased heart rate, high blood pressure, weakened immune and ce, central nervous systems, and endanger health. Keeping negative thoughts and emotions for a long time continuously creates inappropriate thought patterns that can undermine your self-esteem and self-confidence. The strategies we mentioned in this article to control anger in the Workplace can help you direct it in the right direction without suppressing it and make positive use of the resulting energy.
Now you tell us: what things in your Workplace make you angry? How do you cope with it? If you wish, discuss this in the comments section.
