The last thing anyone wants right now is that you or your teammates blow up in anger. A UK study found that 50% of employees regularly burst in anger and 64% have office rage. This was before Covid. During Covid anger and tension at work increased and this can cause a huge impact on people and businesses.
Case For Dealing With Anger
You might say why should I care. I even heard a CEO say the emotions of my employees is their business, not mine. Yet anger causes people to
Get hurt people, could be the ones you love
Best people can leave your company
Could cause you to lose your career due to a mistake
Cost you time and money in absenteeism, sick leave and fights.
So, anger is our business, whether for yourself, a manager or a business owner. Unless problems are dealt with early, they have a tendency to fester, grow and explode.
Where Anger Comes From
The bigger problem is that when people show anger regularly, most of the time, the problem is not anger. I was in a retail outlet, and an old lady gave a Christmas gift to the cashier. The cashier burst out said This lady is more intelligent than my manager. At least she appreciates, my manager doesn’t.
Here, anger was a call for appreciation. Another employee told me that even though he was going through hardship, the fact that his manager told him 'thank you' on a daily basis, made it the work bearable at least.
What Can We Do?
When anger comes up, we can ask ourselves ‘What do we need?’ ‘Why is anger coming up?’ ‘What is the underlying feeling that I have?’ Is it support, care, recognition or love that I need?’ Likewise, we can give space to listen to others so that it:
Allows people to release their anger
Acknowledges their work
Find out what they need
This allows us not only to reduce conflict and chances people leave, but it builds a healthier relationship at work that can make things simpler and more enjoyable.