There can be people around you at workplace who never have anything positive to say, whether at the weekly staff meeting or on day to day basis. They can suck the energy with a few comments. Their bad mood frequently puts others in one, too. Their negativity can contaminate even good news. Emotions travel from person to person like a virus.
Employees’ moods, emotions, and overall dispositions have an impact on job performance, decision making, creativity, turnover, teamwork, negotiations and leadership.
The reason being people are not isolated from emotions, they bring all along themselves to work, including their traits, moods and emotions, and their experiences and expressions influence others.
- Emotions, such as joy, anger, fear and disgust.
- Moods, which tied to a particular cause. A person is in a cheerful mood, for instance, or feeling down.
- Personality, traits, which define a person’s overall approach to life. “She’s always so cheerful,” or “He’s always looking at the negative.”
All three types of feelings can be contagious. Some people are better in controlling their emotions, that does not mean their coworkers are not picking up on their moods. One may not think you are showing emotion, but there are chances they are in your facial expression or body language. Emotions we don’t even realize we are feeling can influence our thoughts and behaviors.
How this could be handled?
1.Having Emotional intelligence
This is Understanding other persons emotional state and taking action accordingly. That is, suppose your boss is in irritating mood in the morning then you can give him time to regulate his own emotions, curb his enthusiasm and wait until the afternoon to approach him.
2. Being Positive
Positive people tend to do better in the workplace. they process more efficiently and more appropriately. If you’re in a negative mood, a fair amount of processing is going to that mood. When you’re in a positive mood, you’re more open to taking in information and handling it effectively.
3. Face to face communication
E-mails and instant messages can be misunderstood because they are devoid of facial expressions, intonation and body language may not be good enough. If something is important, and you know that the emotional context is going to be an issue, then pick up the phone; don’t just rely on e-mails. And even the phone may not be good enough. If its really important then you may just have to fly to where they are and meet them face-to-face to get the message across.
