In business, it is very necessary to be analytical and logical. Each decision should boil down to one question: “Will this be good or bad for my business?”

People should handle business interactions politely to avoid confrontations. Monitoring body language and physical cues is just as important as monitoring comments that may be interpreted negatively. Tone is also important. It has been proven that communicating a certain phrase with varying tones can have negative and positive impacts on people.

Most people realize that you cannot approach your colleagues in the same fashion that you interact with your spouse or family. If family members make you happy, you can rejoice loudly at home. On the other hand, conflict at home may result in shouting or crying. Obviously, this sort of behavior is not accepted or tolerated at work.

When people sense that you are emotional, particularly in business, it weakens the position you have at the negotiation table. They can assess that you are not making strategic decisions, so they do not take you seriously. One way to control emotions at work is not to react immediately to difficult situations. Some people take a walk in order to cool down. Others comment that they go to the restroom to compose themselves when challenging situations arise.

No matter what method you select for “keeping it together” at work, you must have a remedy to control your feelings. Words like “defensive” and “aggressive” are typically used to describe people who are emotional at work. You never want these words associated with your behavior.

Sometimes emotional employees are the best performing employees so it makes it difficult to provide coaching or feedback. Their first defense is commenting on the other performance metrics related to the position. However, employers place great emphasis on all aspects of the job that impact performance. Attitude and conflict resolution are areas where employees are rated heavily.

Wearing one’s emotions on his or her sleeve is a “no-no” in business. While this behavior is accepted at home, there is no place for it at work. Learning to channel emotions is a healthy personal exercise and it improves the overall business environment.