Keep Calm and Carry on - 8 Ways to Manage Workplace Stress
Stress in the workplace can affect anyone - whether you're a manager, salesperson or team member. Any number of circumstances can contribute to the creation of stress in the workplace: business change, increased workloads, unfamiliarity with a new job or environment, conflict between teams or employees, performance issues, the list goes on. Regardless of the cause, if workplace stress isn't recognised and dealt with promptly and effectively it can adversely affect morale, productivity and wellbeing.
Maguire Training's invaluable 'Managing Pressure and Stress at Work' offers a wealth of techniques and strategies to enable professionals to identify the causes and impact of workplace stress in a variety of situations, equipping delegates with the knowledge they need to remedy and prevent stress before it becomes a major cause for concern.
Whilst changes in personal factors such as diet, sleeping habits and exercise can all facilitate stress reduction, sometimes a 'quick fix' is required when pressure mounts in the workplace. Here, Maguire Training shares with you their 8 tips for effectively managing stressful situations in the workplace for yourself and your team.
1) Accentuate the positive
Even when it feels as though nothing is going your way, pause for a moment and make a mental list, or write down, all of the good things about your life. Think about your health, the fact that you have a job, a home, a loving family, an income, maybe a forthcoming holiday and so on. You may be surprised at just how much the positives outweigh the negatives and give you the boost you need to overcome your current challenges.
2) Delegate wherever practicable
Managing your workload is key to keeping workplace stress under control. Nobody can be expected to do everything, so if there are options to delegate lower-priority tasks to others, don't miss the opportunity.
3) Step out to the kitchen occasionally
Take a break, make yourself a hot drink and head for somewhere quiet and relaxing for a little while. If you're fortunate enough to be able to see trees or countryside from your window, focus upon this and clear your mind of work thoughts whilst you re-energise. If not, simply standing at the drinks machine and passing the time of day with colleagues can be enough to lower stress levels.
4) De-clutter and organise your workspace
Mountains of paperwork, empty coffee cups and items of stationery randomly strewn around your workspace are unlikely to improve your state of mind. Spend half an hour tidying up, filing unneeded papers and junking stuff you don't need, and blitz or archive your email, purging spam and old messages. A clean and clear workspace in which everything you need may be easily found restores a sense of being in control.
5) Create a prioritised to-do list
Establishing some kind of logical and sensible order to your workload is a huge step toward managing and reducing workplace stress. Break large projects down into individual tasks and create a list, ordered by priority, of exactly what needs to be done. The simple act of ticking off each completed task and watching the to-do list gradually diminish can provide an immense feeling of personal satisfaction.
6) Breathe
When the work pressure is mounting and levels of anxiety are rising, close your eyes, inhale deeply and exhale slowly for five minutes. Focus on the sound of your breathing to the exclusion of all external distractions. To release muscle tension, shrug your shoulders as high as you possibly can and hold them in a raised position for fifteen seconds before gradually lowering them. Repeat as necessary.
7) Learn how to support a stressed team
Whether its day to day stress or stress related to a recent change at work, learning as managers to support a stressed team is an essential aspect of a manager's role. Depending on the size of your team, creating a hospitable, welcoming and communicative environment whereby team members can freely voice concerns and support one another establishes a secure network to unveil concerns.
8) Help workers become more self-aware
Stress isn't always related to work. Sometimes it can be exacerbated by external factors. Helping workers to identify their soft spots, pressure gauges and tolerance levels is a great way to teach them self-awareness. Being able to step forward and say, 'I can't cope right now' takes a lot of bravery and courage but is an important dialogue to open to ensure that stress doesn't turn into an uncontained monster.
How can we help?
If the prospect of taking time away from a busy workplace to attend classroom-based training just increases your stress levels, don't panic - Maguire Training has the perfect solution. Using our versatile and innovative E-learning system, delegates have the facility to benefit from our 30-minute Managing Stress eLearning module in whichever environment and at whichever time of day is most convenient for them.
