Handling Workplace Anger and Conflict

Trainer: Jolynn Chow

The workplace can provoke anger, as you work with people with different values,
beliefs, objectives, priorities and behaviours.

Anger, whether it is your own or other people’s, can work for or against you. You need
to know when anger can be beneficial, and when it is starting to become unhealthy
and destructive.

Conflict, usually (but not always) the cause of anger, has its value in a workplace
setting. If managed properly, conflict can bring people closer together and foster better working relationships.

However, if it is not well managed, resentment and anger can arise. If left to fester,
these can have a negative impact on performance results and the health of individuals.

Key Topics

What is Anger?
• The many faces of anger
• What causes anger?
• How do you express anger?
• How do you handle other people’s anger?
• The two sides of anger

Ways to Handle Anger
• Suppressing anger
• Becoming aggressive
• Withdrawing
• Being assertive
• Letting it go

Critical Points in Conflict Management
• Understanding conflict
• Must you always manage conflict?
• Obstacles that block effective conflict-handling
• Critical success factors in conflict management

Handling Conflict at Work
• Avoiding common pitfalls in conflict handling
• Using a conflict handling approach