Here are 10 ways to keep our cool at work without turning into workspace monsters.

Have an empathetic mindset.

Empathy gives us the ability to put ourselves in other people’s shoes so we can see and feel from their perspective. 

• Listening: Hear how your colleague explains what they are thinking and feeling.
• Appreciation: Show sincere appreciation of others’ contributions.
• Self-Awareness: Part of feeling what others feel is also about understanding your own biases and limiting beliefs.
• Judgment: When people seek advice or share a problem, they are not looking for your criticism. Acknowledging what they’ve said is the best first step.
• Presence: Before meetings, take a moment to think about who you’ll be with and what they are dealing with at work – and in life. 

Improve your emotional intelligence

Emotional intelligence is about building self-awareness, self-management, social awareness, and relationship management. 

Effective Communication

Communication works at both ends. While communicating, practice active listening, and consider the following principles.

• Intention: Know what you want to say and be clear about your objective.
• Organization: Spend some time to organize your thoughts
• Framing: Frame the sentences to deliver your correct emotions and intention.
• Affirmation: Ask people if they understand what you were trying to tell.

Have a growth mindset

A growth mindset embraces it as a necessary part of progress. Allowing for calculated risk-taking is essential for new product development and innovative solutions.  

Curiosity and instigation

Curiosity is the desire to learn and grow, whereas, instigation is to start on a journey to get better with every challenge we come across.

Start by embracing discomfort and the unknown, allow space for dissonant ideas, diverging opinions, and seemingly improbable outcomes. 

Strategic analysis and analytical thinking

Strategic analysis helps to identify complex problems while analytical thinking enables people to look logically at evidence-based research and tests. For any successful product development process a mix of both of these is required.

Complex problem-solving abilities

Complex problem solving is most effective when members of a team look at a project brief with the eyes of a strategist. In order to get into problem-solving mode, you need to understand the true problem at hand, identify challenges in the way, resist simple solutions, identify constraints and pathways to feasibility, and, above all, make sure you’re open to experimentation.

Conflict Resolution

Conflicts are bound to arise in teams but allowing conflict to fester can be hugely detrimental to morale and productivity. To resolve conflicts, master deep listening, mediation, and facilitation. Giving people the benefit of the doubt and leading with curiosity are also powerful tools.

Negotiation and Persuasion

Being able to negotiate and persuade others into listening to us would help us in entrepreneurial work in the future.