Managing Stress in the Workplace

Institute of Leadership & Management

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2010
• eBook ISBN: 9781136381973
• Topic: Business
• Subtopic: Business General
• Index: Business

Super series are a set of workbooks to accompany the flexible learning programme specifically designed and developed by the Institute of Leadership & Management (ILM) to support their Level 3 Certificate in First Line Management. The learning content is also closely aligned to the Level 3 S/NVQ in Management. The series consists of 35 workbooks. Each book will map on to a course unit (35 books/units).

Session B
How do you cope with tough times?

1 Introduction

A supervisor on a course I once ran told how one of his team had come to him. The team member was going through a bad patch in his marriage and this was spilling over into his working life. The supervisor tried to be sympathetic, but his basic message was, ‘Pull yourself together’. The team member went home that evening, took a drug overdose and died. He could no longer cope with his stress. The supervisor was left with the question of how he could have coped better with the situation that was presented to him.

Stress: environmental factors which exert an undue strain, or pressure, on a person. This strain can be mental, physical or social and will vary from individual to individual. Definition given by the ‘white collar’ union ASTMS, now part of MSF.

Most tough times do not end quite so tragically. But for very many people tough times mean pain and unhappiness. For some of them tough times mean illness, breakdown, destruction of relationships and loss of job, income and security.

In Session A we looked at the multiple demands that can cause periods of prolonged stress. In this present session we go on to examine how you may react to tough times.

2 What to look for

2.1 Major triggers

If you are going to help yourself and others in tough times, you can be forewarned if you know which conditions may trigger stress and which symptoms people are likely to show when they are experiencing a situation as stressful. In Session A you looked at a wide variety of contributory factors that are more or less persistent features of the working situation. In addition, psychologists have identified a number of specific events that are likely to be experienced as highly stressful.

Activity 13

Listed below are ten events that are usually stressful. Order these events according to how stressful you think they are. Put a 1 against the event you think is the most stressful, a 2 against the next most stressful, and so on.

■ trouble with boss
■ divorce
■ change in work hours or conditions
■ minor violations of the law
■ death of spouse
■ dismissal from work
■ change in responsibilities at work
■ sex difficulties
■ marriage
■ retirement

You will find feedback on Activity 13 on page 76. What is important to note is that these events have a cumulative effect, especially if they all occur within the same year. For example, if you take on a more demanding job at work you may be able to cope with this without too much difficulty. If, however, within the same twelve-month period you also got married and were charged with a driving offence, then you are likely to show some of the signs of stress that we shall look at shortly.

If you know which events are likely to be stressful, then you may be able to take appropriate action where you can influence some of the events concerned. For example, is it really a good idea to take on a new job, get married, and move house all within six weeks?

2.2 Physical signs of stress

Often the first signs of stress will be some minor physical complaint. Initially, we may not even associate these with the difficult time we are having at work or home.

Activity 14

Have you experienced any of the following physical problems in the last six months?

■ headaches or migraines;

■ backache;

■ muscle cramps;

■ poor sleep;

■ indigestion;

■ loss of sexual desire;

■ persistent tiredness;

■ skin problems;

■ eye problems (e.g. double vision or difficulty focusing);

■ tingling sensations in arms or legs.

Looking back, were these signs connected with any tough time you were having?

______________________________

______________________________

______________________________

Of course these kinds of problem can be caused by factors other than a tough time. For example, muscle cramps could be caused by unaccustomed exercise, or a skin rash might have been the result of handling some irritating substance. But if you cannot identify any obvious cause of any problem you have had, or if you have had several of these problems around the same time, then it is worthwhile considering whether this is the way your body responds to stress.

2.3 Emotional symptoms

Sometimes you may become aware of stress more through emotional rather than physical symptoms.

Activity 15

When you are under stress do you notice whether you have any of the following?

■ wild swings in mood;

■ excessive worries about things that do not really matter;

■ over-concern about your health;

■ withdrawal and daydreams;

■ inability to feel sympathy for others;

■ tiredness and lack of concentration;

■ increased irritability and anxiety.

When your feelings are upset, it is often difficult at the time to see that anything is wrong. But if you look back at the end of the day, say, you may realize that you were unable to concentrate on work at all. Maybe you found yourself shouting at your children for things you would usually ignore or even find funny. Maybe you were incredibly optimistic and confident one moment, and a few minutes later full of black despair. If you have seen signs like this, take note: it is probable that you are under stress and need to do something about it. These kinds of emotional symptoms are also signs that you should be looking for in the others around you at work.

2.4 Behavioural symptoms

The third set of symptoms you should watch for are the behavioural signs of stress. You should look for these in yourself, but they are especially valuable in telling you about who in your workplace may be stressed and needing help. Some of the more common behavioural symptoms are:

■ indecision;

■ complaining unreasonably;

■ becoming accident prone;

■ driving carelessly;

■ poor work;

■ drinking more alcohol;

■ smoking more;

■ increased use of drugs (e.g. tranquillizers, sleeping tablets, illegal drugs);

■ eating more than usual (or sometimes ea...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title
• Copyright
• Contents
• Series preface
• Unit specification
• Workbook introduction
• A. What makes your job tough?
• B. How do you cope with tough times?
• C. Helping yourself in tough times
• D. Helping others in tough times
• Performance checks
• Reflect and review