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Book Carole "Your presentation was intelligent, interactive and energetic – just what we needed as a closing keynote to this Forum"
Purva Hassomal, Leaders of Abu Dhabi, Family Business Forum Director
World Authority on Executive Stress, Carole Spiers
explains how workplace pressure can turn to violence
There are few workplace experiences so stressful as a sudden incident of workplace violence, even if it's not directed at you.
The sharp rise in these incidents is clearly due to the accelerating pace and pressure of business activity, where everything speeds up, and there is no time for ordinary discussion or mild protest. You have to get straight back to your screen and slot back into that emergency atmosphere. However, it's 'bad for the engine'.
If there really is no let-up in this atmosphere, then the sufferer may release all that frustration elsewhere - perhaps in response to slow service in a restaurant or a ticket-queue. So waiters and ticket-clerks have to swallow their own dignity, which builds-up a whole new reservoir of resentment and stress ...
The person whose tensions suddenly erupt into violence may not be the naturally demonstrative type at all. It may be just the opposite: the conformist who has had to restrain their feelings once too often. "Beware the fury of a patient character", someone said.
Preventive anger management
The first step in Anger Management is preventative - identifying an environment where violence is most likely to happen, and what sort of situations are liable to spark it.
Next, you need to know how to avoid signalling confrontation and challenge, however unintentionally. Then learn to adopt a positive attitude of approachability that can prevent the build-up of conflict.
This has a lot to do Active Listening, a form of questioning that sounds less like an interrogation and more like an interview. This generates valuable trust and goodwill, keeping up verbal momentum, so vital to the resolution of tense situations.
By adding Anger Management to your training agenda, you'll equip your organisation to deal with anger and 'keep a handle' on situations that can potentially turn into violent incidents.
Violence at work - Summary
- The accelerating pace of business can spark workplace violence
- In the absence of suitable outlets, normally patient people may erupt
- Anger Management can be formally studied, with impressive results
Another key insight from Carole Spiers, World Authority on Executive Stress,
Motivational Speaker and BBC Broadcaster.
