We all get emotional from time to time. So much can happen to make us angry, upset, happy, confused, hopeful... the boundless variety of human feeling can come to us at any time, and have an impact on how we behave and approach our circumstances. So, should we try and leave emotion impartially at the office door?

Not entirely. Of course, no-one can give free rein to their personal feelings throughout their time at work and expect not to see some consequences. But trying to remove all traces of natural, human emotion is impossible - we're none of us robots, and expecting anyone to act as such can only lead to disquiet within the workplace and a lack of productivity overall.

Plus, of course, emotional questions aren't limited solely to staff-management relations. What about negotiations with another business or organisation? Or dealing with customers and clients? Even if you set yourself to keep a calm and unemotional office, you can't influence how others outside will act. Instead, you'll need to adapt, to learn to cope with the emotional situations you encounter and turn them to your advantage wherever possible.

To adapt to and gain from any new or different circumstance requires a thorough understanding of the situation faced. If you're going to be dealing with changing or unforeseen emotions, you'll have to have a clear picture of where these emotions are coming from, what impact they're having, and what alternative scenarios could develop from them (and could be turned to your organisation's benefit). It's worth considering, then, into what situations individuals might be expected to bring certain emotions, the better to be prepared for them (and our instructors with experience training soft skill courses are here to help!).


Strong feelings among your staff

The emotional issues of your staff can be divided into two categories - those that grow from events outside work, and those that come only from the work situation. The focus in the former has to be on the employee's well being, particularly if the emotions are negative; it should go without saying that the company's interests are best served by helping workers to be comfortable and untroubled when they come into work. A sympathetic, flexible approach, enabling and helping the employee to find their own solution to the issues that they face may cause minor disruption in the short-run, but can help to promote in the medium- to long-term a happier and more productive working environment, and a greater sense of being part of a team.

But what if the issues relate to the workplace itself? This may be a more complicated matter to deal with - particularly as you can't expect that you'll get a knock on your door every time that a concern arises. It's important, therefore, to maintain a rapport with your staff, to get to know them, so that you can pick up on the unspoken signs of how people are feeling.

They may be disquieted by changes in the work they do (or expectation of potential changes); by the way they are treated by management; by relationships with colleagues; by their working environment; or simply by concerns over pay, benefits or job security. Of course, these can't always be addressed directly - you can't pay more to everyone who's a little disappointed by their financial circumstances. But a good rapport with staff, and anticipating emotional issues before they grow, can be vital in maintaining a calm and productive working environment.

High emotions in negotiations

In a negotiation, the benefits of being able to turn an emotional situation to your advantage are a lot clearer and more direct. You're negotiating in order to gain something for your organisation. However, if you're looking for a deal with a regular client or partner, you'll need to consider the impact of the process on the other party. For example, a supplier may need you to pay more. But you have to look after your own side of the deal, and will have tight limits to work within. In order to promote a healthy trading relationship for the future, it's important to address not just the financial demands but also the emotional issues, and thus create an impression of trust in a dependable bipartisan relationship.

Alternatively, consider an extractive enterprise negotiating with a local authority over plans for a new opencast mine. This will always be an emotive issue, and the councillors are obliged to represent the (understandably strong) feelings of local residents about the disruption and environmental impact of the development; indeed, it's likely that at least one of the councillors involved will be a local resident themselves.

It's worth planning in advance to deal with, and hopefully defuse, any emotional considerations that are likely to arise (https://www.stl-training.co.uk/article/manage.php?id=748. Again, you want to present yourself and your business as trustworthy negotiating partners; few negotiations can provide exactly what both sides want, but by salving the other party's feelings, you can help develop the impression that you and they are both working towards a positive deal for all.

Helping emotional customers and clients

There's no avoiding emotionally charged situations with customers and clients entirely. There will always be occasions when you are faced with dissatisfied individuals; perhaps from a concern over the quality of your product or service, perhaps they believe that they've not been treated as they would have hoped to be by your employees; or perhaps they have a general objection to your organisation (as many banks are discovering today). How you address these situations can have a critical impact upon the development of your business, through either enhancing or inhibiting customer loyalty, and influencing whether word-of-mouth about your organisation is positive or negative.

It's important, once again, to expect the situation before it arrives. You'll need to avoid being confrontational and to try to assuage their concerns. It may be impossible to convince them that the perceived wrong ought not to have upset or angered them, but it should always be possible to convince the customer or client that you sympathise, want to help them and are looking to maintain a good relationship. No-one expects your business to be perfect - but they would expect you to care when things go awry. If you can show them that you are working with them, not against them, the word-of-mouth reputation of your organisation can only grow for the better.

Emotional intelligence

It should be clear, then, that you'll need to be able to face and deal with a range of emotional situations if your business is to succeed. How can you guarantee that you will be able to do so? How can you put yourself - and other members of your staff - in a position where you can always utilise the feelings displayed for the good of your organisation?

Preparation is key. A short training course will help you to develop your understanding of and reaction to the emotional developments you may come across; after that, it is up to you to study each situation before it arises, to understand and predict what challenges may come your way. It pays to be prepared, and your business cannot fail to benefit from a smooth sailing through what could otherwise be very choppy waters.