Processing something is the exact opposite of suppression. When you suppress something, you block it. Suppression means exerting force, pushing something down, as water suppresses flame. Processing means fanning the flames, fully experiencing an emotion or event, allowing the process of an experience full reign. In an organisational context, this means we must fully experience our problems in order to be able to go beyond them.
For example, the implementers of innovation and change in organisations are continually forced into dealing with "the ghosts of interventions past." If an organisation tried to implement some new technology, or some quality circles or employee involvement teams when they were the fashion five or ten years ago, and this did not work out well, the firm is now worse off than before they started.
It is likely that they now have two problems, or a larger compound problem. The original problem that the new technology or teams was supposed to solve, is still there, and the failed intervention has caused additional harm in terms of a loss of credibility or worse. Therefore, the next intervention - the one on which you are working - will be affected by these "ghosts". These ghosts will have to be addressed, and the wounds healed, before any progress can be made.
There are no simple, delineable steps to this. How you go about it depends upon the specific problem, how wide-spread it is, how serious it is, who is involved, etc.
For example, small group meetings are sometimes good formats for processing serious and wide-spread problems, as long as they are facilitated by experienced facilitators or by someone well trained in conflict resolution. Basically in these cases, you need to provide opportunities for people to discuss what has happened. People need to be able to talk and to be heard. Apologies may be necessary under certain circumstances.
Other times, when the problem is less serious, what is necessary is a clear and repeated communication, from the CEO or appropriate person, admitting that we have tried similar things in the past that have not worked, how we are doing things differently this time, why we need to do this, and why we think it will work this time. [Go to related information on what to communicate in the section on communication systems and procedures.]
In order to full experience a problem we need to get it out into the light and into the open. We need to look the problem squarely in the face, confront it and each other's roles in it. Everyone needs to admit that it is a problem and what its consequences have been and are. Also, emotional support needs to be provided. Quite frequently, emotions are involved when a problem is suppressed and we begin to process it in an organisation. If people were able to fully discuss and confront the issues in the first place, it would not have become a problem.
The
expression of emotions at work
There are many seemingly good reasons why we do not express
emotions at work. We are expected to be "nice" and to be "polite". We
are taught to keep a stiff upper lip and to maintain the facade. We think we should not
talk about or express emotions as that is a sign of weakness and instability. As children
we are told to be a brave little boy and not cry, or to be a good little girl and act like
a man. In other words, emotional expression, openness and honesty have been conditioned
out of us.
As much as we might sometimes like to express our emotions at work, this is not always possible. It is frequently not appropriate or functional to break-down crying or to start screaming at your counter-part in a negotiation, or your competitor for scarce resources, if you are upset and angry because that person has out maneuvred you. However, unless that emotional charge is processed at some point when it is more appropriate, longer-term relations between the parties, and thus the larger system will suffer, and the individual's personal health will inevitably pay some price as well.
Fortunately, there is something simple that managers can do to help foster a more functional emotional climate at work. Talk about feelings. Allow them to exist at work. Emotions are normal and their expression is actually healthy. If you can not talk about something, you can not fix it.
This is certainly not "normal" or comfortable to do at first. However, this process allows the system, whether it be an individual or organisation, to deal with the issues. It provides the only opportunity for people and organisations to "get it out of their systems". Of course, this works only with certain types of problems. Fully experiencing and discussing the fact that one of your machines has broken down, be it a computer or a lathe, will not help at all. However, processing in this sense works quite well with non-technical problems (e.g., people problems and social-system problems) such as failed innovation and change attempt in the past.
[See related information on emotions at work in the 'Background Information' on personal change.]