Question

Can't we send emails when angry or hurt and be clear? Can't email reflect our emotions well? Or can we practice this to make it better? I ask because so much of what we do is electronic and virtual. As well, we live in a global age and in an age where employees work from home. Many employees are not in the office and some are not even in the country. How do we remedy such things when we're angry or upset yet still need to communicate?

Answer 1

Expressing negative emotions like anger over telecommunication and emails in dealing with a colleague, employee or even a customer of business partners, can lead to an array of negative consequences as emails serve as a permanent record of the heated brush offs in the work environment. Since those are the most common forms of office communication nowadays, people tend to feel more confident about digital communication of their feelings and write things they often wouldn't say in face to face situations. However, if we use the written word correctly, we can speak our mind, and still avoid total office conflicts, get our point across professionally and resolve the issue.

It is often the case that we may be in need of a momentary catharsis of our pent up anger such a strong when our superior rebukes us in front of others for coming to office late while sick. In such situations, When we at our angriest, it’s best to use that energy to get out our true feelings out in a written message but instead of immediately sending it across to the other person who caused the source of frustration, it is a better technique to sit and ruminate on the message and reflect on it. This puts a little distance between us and our frustration and allows us to come back to the email later when we can think rationally and make any adjustments.

Moroever, a cost benefit analysis of the situation can help us avoid any regretful communications in the workplace. Sending an email or IM poses a significant amount of risk, so we may want to ensure that we address each point and decide if the risk of saying it is worth the reward to make us feel better. Even if the immediate reward may seem desirable, perhaps it won't resolve the issue and only cause problems for us in the long run.

Any use of technology to communicate one’s intense emotions involves approaching the other person with a great deal of caution. However, This does not mean that one cannot communicates effectively at all. It is best to Try to find some compromise between the two sides so that both can walk away feeling like they have won and are ultimately able to work together in the future.