‘There’s no crying in baseball’: Stress management in the workplace

You can avoid the ‘worst case scenario’ when an employee starts crying with these four tips for stress management in the workplace

Ever convene a meeting and ten minutes in somebody starts crying? It’s embarrassing for all concerned – but if your managers know how to handle it, they can avoid making things worse.

Here are four tips on workplace stress management that your managers can use during tearful moments:

1. Don’t try to soldier on. Call a break. Everyone will get a chance to reset, and the person who cried won’t feel singled out.
2. Use the incident to learn more about the person’s interactions with you and co-workers. Once the person is calmer, ask: Can you help me understand your reaction? Was it from anger, frustration, hurt or something else?
3. After that discussion, don’t refer to the incident afterward and discourage others from doing so.
4. If non-work factors appear to have contributed to the outburst, consider referring the person to an Employee Assistance Program or similar.