Because the choice is yours!

From disagreements with coworkers, stress over a tight deadline, to your boss getting on your last nerve; it’s an inevitable fact that every once in a while you will get angry at work. When it comes to your personal life, your response to similar situations might be to start shouting, or to complain out loud about it, but at work, acting this way can harm your professional image, as well as your relationship with others. While anger is a completely natural emotion, we can’t just lash out at every person or object that irritates or annoys us at work. Akhtaboot is here with a number of tips to help you better understand and cope with anger in the workplace.

Get to Know What Triggers your Anger

Keep track of what pushes your buttons at work and make a conscious choice on how you’re going to react in the future when presented with similar circumstances. If notice a pattern in the type of situations you walk yourself into, acknowledge that you might need to work on sharpening your social intelligence. Never act upon your feelings in an irrational way.

Don’t Play the Blame Game

Own up to your anger. Be responsible for your reactions and for openly expressing them. Once you do, you can look for ways to control it in a constructive way. If you feel that you crossed the line when expressing your anger, apologize. Your apology shows that your relationship with the other person is more important to you than being right.

Criticize “Actions” Rather than “People”

While it might be hard to isolate your personal feelings in the spur of the moment, you need to learn how to avoid making judgments or fixing blame on individuals rather than actions. Hostile statements such as “you are wrong” can definitely elevate the situation to another level of conflict. When expressing your feelings towards the situation, define the actions that led to it and try to suggest some solutions. Keep in mind that today’s problem is tomorrows learning experience.

Ask Questions

Get to the bottom of what triggered your anger. Ask if the other person meant to treat you disrespectfully, and if so, make it clear that you won’t tolerate such behaviors. Don’t make up your own assumptions about motives. Ask for an explanation and listen more than you talk. Consider the possibility that you might be wrong, or that you and your opponent may both be right.

Seek a Mediator

There are certain times when all involved parties get so overwhelmed with anger that outside help may be needed to resolve the issue. Having a third opinion from a trusted mediator provides neutrality when you need it most. Set up a private meeting to give all involved parties an opportunity to share sensitive information with the attendance of a third party who can add value to coming up with a solution.

Your ability to resolve conflict and manage difficult situations is critical to your job satisfaction, career success and to the organization’s productivity. Always remember; venting your anger is one thing, but taking it out on a coworker in a rude manner is another. Learning how to tame your anger and redirect it in a constructive way will help you earn the respect, treatment, and attention that you want and deserve from everyone.