by Kenneth Andrews

Created on: August 18, 2010

Physical aggression in the workplace should not happen. It has no place in a professional environment. But we do not live in an ideal world, so workplace aggression is something that you may well need to learn how to deal with.

The best way to deal with workplace aggression is to work out what is causing it. People become aggressive for all sorts of reasons, but most often in the workplace it is related to some sort of job-related insecurity. A colleague who has a personal or professional issue may become aggressive if they feel that their position is threatened.

Once you understand the problem, you need to deal with workplace aggression immediately. First, take steps to defuse the situation, in order to prevent aggression escalating into serious confrontation or even violence. Step well away from the person acting in an aggressive manner to give them plenty of personal space, and speak to them calmly and at your normal speaking volume. Never be tempted to raise your voice to match the volume of an aggressive colleague, this is only likely to lead to a shouting match.

Not only should you aim to give your colleague personal space, you should encourage others around you to keep their distance as well. Make sure there are plenty of people around, if you are on your own with someone behaving aggressively, then move immediately into a busier part of the workplace where there are plenty of witnesses. If your aggressive colleague decides to lash out, or if you ultimately need to restrain them physically in order to prevent them harming themselves or others, things are likely to get very legal, and you need all the witnesses you can lay your hands on.

When a person is given physical space, and no one is reacting to their aggressive behaviour, they should quickly start to calm down - unless their aggression has been caused by alcohol or drugs. As soon as they stop shouting you should ask them to leave the workplace to cool off, get them out of the immediate area that has caused this confrontation and behaviour.

Once they are out of the way, and the immediate physical danger has been averted, you then need to follow the incident up as your particular workplace demands. It is strongly advisable to write down a complete record of the incident as soon as possible. Forward it on to your managers, your HR people, and keep a copy in case you need to send it to the police for a particularly nasty episode.

The best way to deal with workplace aggression is to adopt an attitude of zero tolerance. People should never feel they have the right to intimidate colleagues either verbally or physically, and if someone is displaying aggression in the workplace, they need to be disciplined on a charge of gross misconduct - perhaps offered one stern warning, but then dismissed instantly for a repeat offence.

In summary, then, the best way to deal with workplace aggression is to make the situation safe, calm the perpetrator down, get them out of the immediate area, and then report the incident to the relevant departments so the individual can either be fired, or receive the strongest warning imaginable.

Learn more about this author, Kenneth Andrews.
Click here to send this author comments or questions.