There are many myths and misconceptions about stress, so I thought that I would write a summary for you.
Q: Is stress is good for me? A: No! Pressure is good for you but stress is not.
Q: What is the difference between pressure and stress? A: Pressure motivates and is within your control and you can usually manage it. Stress is the adverse reaction people have to excessive pressure or other types of demands placed upon them.
Q: What causes stress? A: Fundamentally, it is the way that we think about a
situation rather than the situation itself, that causes stress.
Q: What is a stress 'carrier'? A: People who exhibit stress-producing behaviour but are unaware of the impact of their conduct upon others.
Q: What are some of the physical reactions to stress? A: Dry mouth, anxiety, rapid breathing, moist palms.
Q: What are some of the symptoms of prolonged stress? A: Sleep problems, headaches, anger, indigestion.
Q: What are some of the causes of workplace stress? A: Long working hours, lack of autonomy, excessive expectations, uncertainty, work under-load / overload
Q: What are some of the effects of workplace stress? A: Poor performance and productivity, low morale, reduced commitment and increased absenteeism
Q: What can the organisation do to manage stress? A: Introduce Best Practice with primary, secondary and tertiary levels of intervention.
Q: What is the primary level intervention? A: The primary level deals with the assessment of risk and its prevention by introducing appropriate interventions, reviewing the needs of the organisation and implementing an anti-stress policy.
Q: I am the CEO of a pharmaceutical company and want to assess the risk of stress in my organisation. How can I do this? A: You will need to ensure that:
a) Demands upon employees are realistic.
b) Change is managed effectively.
c) Procedures for dealing with grievances are introduced.
d) Teams are allowed some control over their work
e) Role conflict and ambiguity are avoided
f) Published support is available within the organisation.
Q: What is the secondary level intervention? A: This includes training, education and implementation
Q: I am a training director of an IT company? What training initiatives have been proven to work? A: There are two training initiatives that will help reduce stress in your organisation:
a) Stress awareness and resilience training for all employees. Many organisations cannot eradicate stress but they can strengthen the resilience of their employees to manage it effectively. Individuals can be taught how to increase their capacity to tolerate excessive demands and learn how to 'bounce back' from challenges.
b) Stress Management training for all Managers. Managers need to recognise the signs and symptoms of stress in both themselves and in others and know how to deal with it quickly and efficiently so that team performance is not impaired.
Q: What is the 3rd level intervention? A: Dealing with stress-related problems in the workplace by timely interventions and by offering coaching, counselling, mediation and regular staff appraisals.
Q: I am a Manager and I assume that you would say that I have a fundamental role
in managing stress in my team? A: Exactly so. Your role is to manage people and you need to communicate, 'walk the talk', be approachable and value individual and team effort by recognition.
Q: What are the benefits of taking action to manage work stress? A: The organisation will benefit from reduced absenteeism, improved staff morale and increased productivity.
Q: What is your key message? A: Create a healthy workplace culture where you have motivated and resilient teams who love what they do! Engage, involve and inspire them and lead by inspiration and motivation.
Q: What do I do next? A: You could buy a copy of my new book, Show Stress Who's Boss! and put these interventions into practice.
Is this all difficult to do? No! Is it costly to implement? No! Then how many companies
are actually committed to doing it? Now that's another question for another time!
Keys Points
Q: Is stress is good for me? A: No! Pressure is good for you but stress is not.
Q: What is the difference between pressure and stress? A: Pressure motivates and is within your control and you can usually manage it. Stress is the adverse reaction people have to excessive pressure or other types of demands placed upon them.
Q: What causes stress? A: Fundamentally, it is the way that we think about a
situation rather than the situation itself, that causes stress.
Q: What is a stress 'carrier'? A: People who exhibit stress-producing behaviour but are unaware of the impact of their conduct upon others.
Q: What are some of the physical reactions to stress? A: Dry mouth, anxiety, rapid breathing, moist palms.
Q: What are some of the symptoms of prolonged stress? A: Sleep problems, headaches, anger, indigestion.
Q: What are some of the causes of workplace stress? A: Long working hours, lack of autonomy, excessive expectations, uncertainty, work under-load / overload
Q: What are some of the effects of workplace stress? A: Poor performance and productivity, low morale, reduced commitment and increased absenteeism
Q: What can the organisation do to manage stress? A: Introduce Best Practice with primary, secondary and tertiary levels of intervention.
Q: What is the primary level intervention? A: The primary level deals with the assessment of risk and its prevention by introducing appropriate interventions, reviewing the needs of the organisation and implementing an anti-stress policy.
Q: I am the CEO of a pharmaceutical company and want to assess the risk of stress in my organisation. How can I do this? A: You will need to ensure that:
a) Demands upon employees are realistic.
b) Change is managed effectively.
c) Procedures for dealing with grievances are introduced.
d) Teams are allowed some control over their work
e) Role conflict and ambiguity are avoided
f) Published support is available within the organisation.
Q: What is the secondary level intervention? A: This includes training, education and implementation
Q: I am a training director of an IT company? What training initiatives have been proven to work? A: There are two training initiatives that will help reduce stress in your organisation:
a) Stress awareness and resilience training for all employees. Many organisations cannot eradicate stress but they can strengthen the resilience of their employees to manage it effectively. Individuals can be taught how to increase their capacity to tolerate excessive demands and learn how to 'bounce back' from challenges.
b) Stress Management training for all Managers. Managers need to recognise the signs and symptoms of stress in both themselves and in others and know how to deal with it quickly and efficiently so that team performance is not impaired.
Q: What is the 3rd level intervention? A: Dealing with stress-related problems in the workplace by timely interventions and by offering coaching, counselling, mediation and regular staff appraisals.
Q: I am a Manager and I assume that you would say that I have a fundamental role
in managing stress in my team? A: Exactly so. Your role is to manage people and you need to communicate, 'walk the talk', be approachable and value individual and team effort by recognition.
Q: What are the benefits of taking action to manage work stress? A: The organisation will benefit from reduced absenteeism, improved staff morale and increased productivity.
Q: What is your key message? A: Create a healthy workplace culture where you have motivated and resilient teams who love what they do! Engage, involve and inspire them and lead by inspiration and motivation.
Q: What do I do next? A: You could buy a copy of my new book, Show Stress Who's Boss! and put these interventions into practice.
Is this all difficult to do? No! Is it costly to implement? No! Then how many companies
are actually committed to doing it? Now that's another question for another time!
Keys Points
- Excessive pressure = stress
- Anti-stress interventions, work!
- Resilience is the key to beating stress!
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