Emotions in the workplace

[Guest2]

I thought I would post this is in Careers instead of general GD as I may get more intelligent answers!

Do you think it's a good thing to show emotions, specifically crying in the workplace?

I have only ever seen a handful of people crying in the workplace one man and the rest women. A couple were due to family berievement which I can fully understand but the others were not.

One woman in a meeting started crying when she had some poor feedback on a project, the feedback was true - the project was not going well but she started crying, went silent and quickly walked out. To me this shows huge weakness in a person. I've had my fair share of bad feedback, but have taken it on board and like to think i've corrected things to improve. It's just general living, not only the workplace.

Another person started crying when talking about working at the company, what it meant to her and how she has been supported by the company. This time not crying because of bad feedback, but I still found it quite strange to let this emotion show in front of her colleagues.

Usually people tend to cry and get angry, unable to talk or close down and go silent. All in my opinion are quite bad things to happen in a professional environment.

I've been in numerous meetings now where things have got heated, people havent slept for almost 24 hours, are at breaking point but still need to work through problems and issues. Emotions in these times of crisis run high, but crying doesnt solve problems and makes others feel uncomfortable.

Thoughts?

 

[Guest2]

This sounds very unhealthy. You can't just leave it like this, change is needed. Maybe some people just can't work together. Maybe there's too much workload on too few people. Maybe you need to bring in a neutral observer to help figure it out.

Edit:
There's also an underlying theme that too much importance is placed on career. i.e. work-to-live vs live-to-work. Particularly hard on women who naturally should be popping out sprogs but society is telling them to have careers.

In times of crisis, workload is very high on everyone. Some people cope, others don't cope as well. I guess these are the most testing times which can make or break people careers, it certainly was with me.
Emotions are always going to be high in hard times but i'm still not sure crying helps matters. Yes, I almost cried at work but just told myself to suck it up and get on with the job (or I may not have one in days/weeks to come!) Had I cried and ran out I may not have come back

 

[Guest2]

How people are perceived i.e. image can be everything to some people at work, so getting called out in front of others can be shattering as it's a huge dent to their ego.

Constructive criticism is fine as long as it's done in the appropriate setting. If feedback is particularly bad and others on the team don't need to hear it then a 1-1 setting is usually the way to go.

I don't think it's any surprise that women are far more likely to show their emotions. It's sexist but I know I'd be far more judgemental if a man cried at work than a woman (over a work-related issue), perhaps because I've only ever seen women do it.

One of the biggest issues is companies that are run or managed by manchildren. Some of the things I've seen owners, directors and managers complain or have a go at people about is pathetic, literally school-level stuff.

However an even bigger dent to ones ego would be getting some bad feedback or shouted at and then crying.

A few years back, my manager was having a very stressful day and shouted at me in front of colleagues. Had I have cried as I can imagine some people would have, my colleagues would have either laughed at me and/or not said anything and just thought I was weak.
The other alternative is answerig back which I almost did but didnt as it would have made matters worse

Instread I went and sat down and he came over an appologised a few hours later stating about the stress he was under and shouldnt have done so in front of the whole team. I came off the good guy in the end