WORKPLACE SPECIAL...... When things go wrong at work

When things go wrong at work

Tackle both emotions and problems to get over setbacks, says Devashish Chakravarty

At work, you can’t always have good times . If you are a working professional, you will face tough days, rough months and major setbacks when everything goes wrong simultaneously. A key client walks away, your boss puts you down, your presentation is a failure and your targets unravel. Are you stressed out and in the middle of a bad time? You have two ways of coping—emotion focused and problem focused. Here’s how to use both together.

Comfort routine

Emotional coping means getting your negative emotions and stress under control. The first step is to stick to your routine. This has multiple benefits. As you follow your daily timings of meals, sleep, exercise and family – you control the comfort zone of your life and recover from stress each day. Secondly, your healthy habits give you the energy to tackle problems instead of exacerbating them with physical breakdowns. Finally, at work, by turning up on time, fulfilling your daily commitments, looking out for your team’s success and your own daily goals, you limit the damage from the setback and recover your poise.

Are you serious?

Don’t take it personally. If you are angry or depressed, you see bad days as personal failures. To develop resilience, first label your emotion. Are you feeling angry, frustrated, insulted or depressed? Are you indulging in self-victimisation or self-blame? Now count to 10 and tell yourself what you are feeling. Watch your physical reactions. Slow down your breathing and unclench your muscles. Your emotions will subside, and you can later switch to solving the problem instead.

Remember the context

Once you are calmer, remind yourself of the bigger picture and the context. Find perspective by asking yourself – why are you here in your life and career? What are the big positives? Next, make an inventory of your life, successes and your work. This will help you get a grip on the fact that the current setback or bad phase does not define you. Your attitude does. Now think about the company perspective – what’s the real value that you bring to the business? Focus on that and take small positive steps daily to keep moving forward. As your perspective changes, so will your reality.

Positive people

It is easier to come out of a bad work phase when you are surrounded with positive people. You remain motivated when you believe that someone has your back. Create that space both in your work and personal life. To get the maximum benefits, add cheer to your colleagues and family members before you rant about your boss or destress with their help and presence. It doesn’t hurt to start conversations cheerfully and be genuinely interested in others.

Communication management

Coming to coping with the problem, the first step is to manage your communication. Start with controlling your anger and impulse to speak unprofessionally. Choose to walk way and cool down before you speak out. Use your anger as a tool to set boundaries of acceptable behaviour by others. If you are feeling helpless, think of alternatives that will remove you from the situation or push the situation to an extreme till it breaks down, or else learn to accept it. Finally, develop gratitude thinking, wherein you find things to be grateful for in your life and work, and acknowledge them.

Identifying the issues

To cope with the problem, identify what is causing it. Get out of judgement mode where you are either trying to blame someone else or yourself. The opposite of judgement is acceptance. Know that the most successful people are realistic optimists. Once you accept the negatives in the situation, be honest in identifying the causes.

Creative solutions

Next is the part where you believe that there is a solution available even if you haven’t found it yet. Know that different perspectives help find multiple solutions. Try different framings of the problem including seeing the problem, from another person’s perspective, considering what it means three months or 10 years later, or imagining how your hero would deal with it. Use your failure as an opportunity to be creative. To get creative juices flowing, do something different and positive with your time – meet a friend, clean up your office, mentor someone or play some music.

Change manager

Stop thinking about the future and past while you take action. Having identified the roadblocks, start making the changes required—in processes, effort, communication and approach. Change takes effort, but isn’t that better than the pain of failure that you are experiencing now?

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