There are a number of self-management techniques you can use to manage your emotions when working with difficult people. For example, you could consider exploring thinking techniques.
INTUITIVE SELF-MANAGEMENT
here are a number of self-management techniques you can use to manage your emotions when working with difficult people. For example, you could consider exploring thinking techniques. Thinking techniques call on your brain's ability to regulate your instinctive emotions and neutralize them. By doing this, you avoid acting on raw emotions without thinking.
There are three ways you can practice thinking techniques. The first way is to change your self-talk. Self-talk is another name for your inner voice, the voice in your head which says things that you don't necessarily say out loud. Often self-talk happens without you even realizing it. However, what you say in your head can have an enormous impact on how you feel about yourself. Since self-talk can be both positive and negative, it makes sense to try to engage in better, more positive self-talk.
So try "talking back" to your negative self-talk. For example, if you're fuming about something and your self-talk tells you, "I'm going to strike back!", change direction by telling yourself, "even though I'm feeling upset, I trust that I'll deal with this effectively." This may seem simplistic, but it helps to move you into a positive emotional state rather than a negative one.
The second way to practice thinking techniques is by goal intention. Set a goal for yourself in relation to managing yourself when you're around a difficult person. Think about moving yourself in the direction of your goal using intention. Visualize the end result of reaching the goal, and take time during each day to think about that achieved goal.
The third way to practice thinking techniques is by using logic. Use logic to reframe and recalibrate negative emotions. Even if you can't "talk yourself out of it," you can neutralize the emotion. For example, imagine sliding the intensity of an emotion you're feeling down from "intense" to "neutral". Ask yourself if it makes sense to maintain your emotion at a high level and consider the logic of neutralizing it in order to better manage yourself.
Try the different techniques and see which works best for you. You can mix and match them, and choose the ones that are most suited to a particular situation. And remember, it takes time to build self-management skills. Practice makes perfect. So if it doesn't work the first time, don't give up. These are skills well worth investing in.
I have been teaching and training agents, team leaders, supervisors, managers and admins of call centers and other businesses in BPO related fields. This series, comes as a result of that experience. I have more than 4,000 modules that I plan on sharing here. This is # 001-06
