How Can Your Emotions Impact Your Work?

For a long time, emotions were perceived as a 'bad thing' in the workplace. It's true that sometimes we have to be emotionally intelligent and keep them in check, but they can also act as a fuel or a positive side of our character - it all depends on how we recognise, use and control them. Here are some tips on how you can improve your emotional intelligence in the workplace:

Recognise the source of your emotions

This may sound a little unbelievable but sometimes you have to stop and think about where a certain feeling is coming from to realise how much it can impact your work. For example, if your partner drove you to work in the morning and you had a particularly nasty argument, this may well impact you for the rest of the day: you might be tetchy with your colleagues, you might be more impatient or upset more easily, or you may snap out at people in the same fashion you were doing in the morning car ride.

Recognising and "owning" your emotions is all part and parcel of becoming more intelligent about them. Bringing your personal life to work and vice versa is one of the most common ways in that we just "feel" rather than think about how our emotions are affecting other areas of our life.

Perceptions and beliefs

Another way in which you can use emotional intelligence at work is if you can channel them in a positive way when it comes to thinking about yourself - in other words, using emotion to help your self esteem and interactions with others.

If you perceive yourself in a certain way, for example "I'm awful at presentations", then you become a self-fulfilling prophecy and presentations will never be a happy time for you. Don't believe your own hype when it comes to negative emotions - they also play a part in your interactions with others, because people tend to pick up on the way you perceive yourself.

For example, if you think you can't contribute much, are shy, and have behaviours that reflect this such as shying away from brainstorms, never volunteering your opinion, or having withdrawn body language, and then guess what - people will believe this perception because it's the only cue you have to go on. It can backfire, of course - people who are overconfident and cocky are generally not all that well liked if they can't behave in a way that backs it up.

A good medium can be reached with emotional assertiveness, of being emotionally secure but also flexible to the needs of others.

It's ok to be emotive at the right time

Emotions can be a positive force at work, too - we've all seen the person who delivers a pitch or a presentation without any passion or enthusiasm at all, which can make them look fake or disinterested.

If you have passion and positive emotions in the face of stress or adversity, too - such as remaining calm under pressure and keeping team morale up - then this is a good example of emotional intelligence creating something positive. It's all right to feel, you've just got to choose the right, time and scenario. Armed with these tips, you should have a better self-awareness of your emotions and analyse how best they can serve you in the workplace.