Most of us will have worked somewhere that was stressful. People being short with each other, seeing the worst case scenario first, tempers flaring, and a generally unpleasant feeling throughout the workplace, dragging morale down.

As well as the bad feeling part, there are huge knock-on effects for the business or organisation. People get much less done when stressed, so productivity drops. Less is achieved and it costs more in time and money to get the job done. Stress also suppresses the immune system and that, combined with people not wanting to be in the stress-box that is work, leads to increased absenteeism and sick leave, thereby adding even greater cost and pressure into the mix.

Typically, when we’re seeing the bad and worst case scenarios and feeling out of sorts, irritable, annoyed and so on, we’re less creative and less willing to pitch in and things become even more of a chore.

Management is often overwhelmed with having to spend time sorting minor disputes, chasing up the delayed work, and trying to keep on schedule as productivity drops further. It’s lose / lose for everyone at all levels of the organisation. When left to run, it often sees rapid staff turnover and difficulty retaining key people.

A lot of people think that changes to work structures are the answer, and when implemented they can sometimes help. More commonly though, a stressed workforce is having to additionally put in place new procedures which feels like just another chore or hassle.

A more successful solution is to realise that stress is a bio-chemical reaction already taking place in the brains of those under pressure. Reducing the real-world effect of stress for the people who have to implement the new ways of working, is far more successful and in fact just dialling down the stress where it is actually occurring – inside the mind – may be all that is needed.

Breaking the cycle is vital. Until that is done everything, even creating a less stressful environment is going to feel like another herculean task, more overwhelm, and make it hard for those changes to accomplish anything positive.

There are a lot of things we can do to cut stress. Once we understand the neurological and biological systems involved, we can spot and control stress to a much greater extent. A vital first step is recognising that once stress has kicked-off, it becomes easily self sustaining. The mind is on alert and looking for problems, because that is what the survival mode activated by stress is designed to do.

We are less rational, less intelligent, and less able to help ourselves when this part of the mind is active. It’s great for keeping us alive, which is what it is designed for, but it’s not motivated by happiness or success. In effect, it reduces activity and blood-flow to the part of the brain that is involved in seeing the big picture, good planning, happiness, and pattern-matching for success.

By using the skills and techniques that reduce stress at source, (i.e. in the minds which are releasing stress hormone), it becomes easier to achieve more. It also makes it much easier to bring people onboard with change for the better. Personal disputes feel less urgent and less powerful. The stubbornness that goes with seeing how things can fail rather than what can be achieved, reduces and life gets easier.

Having lived with severe stress and anxiety for decades, I know just how damaging it can be. It is damaging not just to our own careers but also in how whole organisations can be slowed to a standstill, chasing minor issues, sorting disputes, with staff feeling overwhelmed or that the effort they make is pointless. It is common to see great people quit as it’s just not worth their effort to stay in stressful positions.

Once I learned how to manage my stress, I realised that the triggers such as people, workload and so on, only have an impact when my mind created an internal response to them. Learning to reduce, control, and eliminate these reactions has multiplied my productivity, and more importantly my happiness, manifold.

Even a simple understanding of cycles of stress can create huge differences. One past client (let’s call her Alma) was having massive difficulties with a manager at work (let’s call her Jane). She needed a good assessment from this manager in order to progress to her next position. It seemed that no matter what she did, the response was always critical and negative from Jane. The whole workplace was on tenter-hooks. Everyone hated coming in to work, people quit in tears on occasion and yet, despite all that management tried, the cycle continued.

Once we had analysed the patterns and situation, Alma was able to see that the manager in question was also permanently stressed even before issues arose. On top of that, the manager was also reacting stressfully to situations that came before her, without realising she was the initial source of the pattern. Alma would come into work and do her best, but be fearful of interacting with Jane. Jane, already feeling stressed, always saw the worst case scenario and pulled everyone up on minor issues without seeing the improvements or the good work. Being stressed, Jane’s voice tone was confrontational and tense and this rubbed everyone up the wrong way too. Alma felt like a mouse waiting to be pounced on as the day went on. This pressure further reduced her productivity, increased chances of mistakes, and fed back into the chain of stress. So what could be done?

We came up with a simple strategy to change the dynamic in the relationship with Jane. Alma also learned some skills to reduce her own stress before implementing it. That strategy? The next time Jane criticised her, Alma was to react in the opposite way to normal. Rather than defensiveness and justification, she was to break the pattern by being appreciative of the effort Jane was making. Needless to say Alma wasn’t impressed. It felt like failure. Accepting the criticism would be hard and then going on to be nice to someone who was being “so completely horrible to everyone” didn’t feel easy. Yet she went in on that Monday and tried to do something different to the norm.

Sure enough Jane began to criticise several of them over how a group task was being handled. Everyone went away angry, but Alma used her techniques and then calmly went back to Jane and said; “I just wanted to say thanks for how much you care and for how hard you work to help us learn better.”

The result was astounding. Jane was shocked and completely thrown. From that point on Alma was a golden child who could do no wrong and flew through the assessment. Oddly when that eventually opened a door to move to another workplace, she was sorry to be leaving what had previously been a nightmarish post for her. The general level of stress also reduced as Jane finally felt some appreciation. The odds were that it was the first time in years anyone had said something positive to her.

Very often the person at the core of generating stress isn’t aware that they are the start of the process. Then they see others being stressed and irritable and think ‘why is everyone so difficult? Surely we all want is to get things done properly!’ and they escalate their stress in response, unaware that what they see is a reaction to their already high stress levels.

Look for where Stress might be starting in the workplace, and notice if we make any contribution to it. If we’re stressed, is that adding to the bad feeling? Is there a trigger for that stress – a person, situation, task etc. that makes us feel worse?

Also notice if we could be a trigger for someone else. It’s an uncomfortable thought, but it might put us in control. Once we see those dynamics and patterns, is there a simple change that could effect that and might make things easier? Let’s face it, doing nothing isn’t going to make anything better. What can be done to improve the situation?

I’m always happy to answer questions on how an organisation or business can increase productivity, profits, and workplace happiness. Feel free to contact me if you’d like to look at how things can improve.

Wishing you a great week.
John

www.JohnPrednergastCoaching.com
085 13 13 700