Emotions Are Important in Decision-Making Processes—Don’t Stifle Them

To work collaboratively means to appropriately manage conflict. Unfortunately, few teams are adept at engaging in productive conflict, and they tend to shy away from anything that might elicit negative emotions in their co-workers or managers. Teams will often pull back from important discussions and walk on eggshells due to the fear of how their co-workers might respond. To respond to this, the first step is to help the team develop a new way of understanding their emotions. They aren’t o