Best Practice Tips
Often during a difficult situation, emotions may run high. When his happens, communications are poor and relationships may be damaged.
When you find emotions are running high during a difficult situation – such as in a conversation with a colleague when you are not in agreement – follow these best practices:
- Remind yourself that the other person does have good intentions although it may not seem so at the moment.
- Consider how you are contributing the problem. What are you doing that is causing emotions – your own and the other person’s – to run high?
- Take a break! Sometimes we just need a bit of time to get away from the situation to reflect (see point #2 above) so that we can continue the conversation.
- Don’t judge or blame the other person. Blaming the other person will not enable for you to collaborate effectively with him/her to resolve the situation.
To ensure that a difficult situation is resolved satisfactorily (think “win win”) for both parties involved, it is essential to manage emotions. These best practice steps will enable you to better manage yourself in a difficult situation and also manage the other individual.
