Anger control
Featured in the Using Emotional Intelligence at Work training manual
By Mike Bagshaw
Category: Emotional Intelligence
Credit price: 4 download credits (Single user)
Anger is part of a defence system to deal with threat. It can get out of control, destroy relationships and be a major problem at work. In the workplace, anger usually results from frustration. Frustration results when we feel unable to control and improve the situation. A sense of control is a basic human need. Frustration is like an emotional virus that infects everyone. Too often people feel they have only two ways of dealing with anger, either keep a lid on it or give vent to it. The problem with the first is that the anger bubbling away under the lid tends either to damage the individual (for example, by increased blood pressure); or to blow the lid off so the anger explodes. The second option results in hostility, damaged relationships and obstruction to collaborative effort. Much of an organisation’s success depends on people working well together, so people need to understand anger and to deal with it in an emotionally intelligent way. The negative energy used in anger can be transformed into positive energy for joint problem solving.
The participants’ first think about what anger is, why people get angry, and how they deal with it. They then carry out a pair-working exercise where they review situations in their life where they felt angry, and think about how they reacted. This leads into a discussion on the thoughts, feelings and behaviours associated with anger. Reflecting on their own experience, the participants discuss why people have difficulty coping with anger. They are then asked to consider how to deal with anger in an emotionally intelligent way. The next session focuses on the self-defeating thoughts that help to escalate feelings of anger. This is followed by two exercises. In the first, they practise an emergency self-calming procedure. In the second, they do an imagination exercise where they rehearse various response options to anger provoking situations. The training activity is summed up with a short presentation. After the summary, the participants are asked to state anything they will work on to deal with anger more effectively.
Who is it for: This training resource is intended for use by trainers to enable participants’ to deal with anger – their own and other people’s. Frustrations build up in the fast-changing workplace, where roles are ill-defined and the security of hierarchy has gone, leading to destructive anger.
| Resource Type: | Activity |
| Min Group Size: | 4 |
| Max Group Size: | 12 |
| Typical Duration: | 02:40:00 |
| No of Pages: | 26 |
Resources: View standard resources for Fenman training activities
Purpose: This training resource is intended for use by trainers in self-development programmes, conflict management programmes, dealing with difficult customers, and any supervisory management training which needs to deal with difficult relationships.
Download the training activity, Anger control as featured in the Fenman training manual; Using Emotional Intelligence at Work