Effectively Managing Explosive Employees

You’re sitting in your office when the door bursts open and a direct report (well known for his or her propensity to react emotionally), races in, slams the door behind them, and proceeds to rant and rave about something. It may be over the actions of a fellow team member, something you’ve done or said, or over any one of a host of issues. You roll your eyes, think to yourself “here we go again” and prepare yourself to largely ignore them.

But did you know that those are the worst possible ways you can react? Here’s why….

Emotional invalidation or trying to ignore an emotionally escalating employee is a guarantee of wasted time and focus. At best, you’ll leave them feeling emotionally frustrated and alienated because they sense that you don’t care about what they think or feel. At worst, they’ll stay on their emotional high; unable to work efficiently, constantly distracted, and generally unproductive. This can also create disharmony and stress with the rest of the team, resulting in an overall drop in productivity as well as creating a tense and stressful work environment.

Conversely, learning how to emotionally validate an escalating team member can help them defuse and come to terms with the situations that cause them to get emotional in the first place. Learning the skills and techniques of emotional validation will go a long way towards creating a better working environment for everyone; improving team morale, and productivity, and lowering stress levels.