A massive 40% of workers say their jobs are very stressful. Such stress levels may be even higher for leaders and managers, who are typically burdened with more responsibilities.
Whether you’re an employee picking up a pay-check, a manager leading a team or an entrepreneur running your own business, work shouldn’t be this stressful. Though you’ll always have deadlines, difficulties, and delays, you need to be able to manage your stress level. And not just for yourself. Helping your team avoid anxiety will make them more productive and less likely to be sick or quit.
Here are five tips for managing stress levels for you and your team.
- Have a mission
With a clear goal for your business, you’ll always know why you’re doing something. When things get stressful, you have the consolation that at least it’s helping you achieve your goal. If it’s not, you should question why you’re bothering with the hassle.
The same goes for your team. Around 50% of employees are not clear what’s expected from them at work. That’s got to be stressful. Ensure your team are clear about your business mission and help each person connect the dots between their daily tasks and your company’s big picture. Also, encourage everyone to have career goals, so they have their own personal mission.
- Take action
Feeling of loss of control is one of the main causes of stress. That’s why being decisive is often a good response to difficult situations.
During moments of stress start the search for a solution immediately. By sending an email or making a phone call, you feel like you are already making progress, which helps reduce his stress.
- Learn how to delegate
If you’re not good at something, it can be stressful to do have to do it continually. Delegating such tasks to someone better at it can reduce your stress.
- Distinguish between stress and pressure
Pressure is a good thing for ambitious people. It helps us push boundaries and overcome obstacles. At work, the pressure to hit a target or meet a launch date should be exciting. This is very different from stress, which often comes when goals are unrealistic, or the conditions aren’t right to deliver.
- Stay healthy
One form is exercise. Going for a 30-minute run puts your body under stress, but it’s ultimately good for you. One study showed that exercising every day can reduce stress levels by up to 40%. While it’s often hard to find time for exercise when you’re busy, it’s always worthwhile. Try having meetings on the move. It’s also important to eat well and drink lots of water to stay healthy, hydrated and stress-free.
Address the stress
Stress should be a one-off occurrence and not something that comes with the job. If every deadline day is a chaotic, anxiety-inducing mess, maybe you’re not planning projects well enough. Addressing any fundamental issues and using the five coping tools above for occasional times of tension will help reduce stress levels for you and your team and ensure everyone is happy, healthy and productive.
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