Dr Lynda Shaw identifies tips to manage and alleviate stress in the workplace from both a manager and employees perspective.
Managing stress
Involve your staff in key decisions to make them feel they have a say and their opinion is respected within the company. Give time to your team and try and be open to negation or suggestions.Try and encourage all your employees to communicate openly as it helps develop key bonds which means employees are more likely to support one another when going through stressful times.If you identify subdivision or conflict at work always try and resolve this early on.
A negative workplace environment can be energy sapping and draining for all involved.Be quick to identify a problem within the team whether it be personal stress for one team member or any sort of team issues as these situations can often deteriorate into much bigger problems. If you are asking your staff to go above and beyond the normal day’s activities during a stressful time such as for a key presentation period, then praise and reward good performance and team effort.
Stress busting tips
Identify the signals early. If you are feeling deflated, unenthused and fatigued it is in your own interest to take a step back and consider what is causing this. Then take action to prevent stress from taking over. Talk to your manger and see if you can work out any problems.During a stressful work period prioritiseyour work accordingly. Don’t try and do everything at once. Concentrate on the task in hand to maintain full attention.. Spread your favourite activities throughout the day to keep you inspired.Talk to someone whether it’s a colleague, friend or family member. It’s never good to keep your emotions concerning stress locked up. Having a chat with someone can often give you a more reasoned way of looking at things and a best way forward to solve your stressful mind.Know when to take time out. Sometimes it is best to allow your mind time to recover and recuperate. Just going for a 10 minute walk outside can work wonders. Accept that there are periods of stress at work especially when you have to put in longer hours. Try not to fight it unless it is beginning to dominate your life. Life is full of ups and downs and it's up to us to ride through those.
