Management Skills - Week 8 Managing Stress & Well Being

Stress related problems at work

- absenteeism - turnover - job dissatisfaction - accidents - physical health of employees

Time Stressor Elimination Strategy

- effective time management - efficient time management

Behavioral Guidelines

- address stress by first trying to eliminate stressors, then focus on developing resiliency and well-being - use proven time management practices - build collaborative relationships with individuals based on mutual trust, respect, honesty, and kindness - consciously work to improve your emotional intelligence - try redesigning your work to increase its skill variety, importance, task identity, autonomy, and feedback - reaffirm priorities and short-term goals that provide direction and focus to activities - increase psychological resiliency through life balance, especially by consciously engaging in physical, intellectual, cultural, social, family, and spiritual activities - increase hardiness by implementing a small-wins strategy - learn at least 1 relaxation technique and practice it regularly - increase social resiliency - identify meaningfulness in work that is more important to your own reward - establish contribution goals that make a difference to those around you - implement at least 1 gratitude practice

Encounter Stressor Elimination Strategy

- building community - contributing - emotional and social intelligence

Coping with Stress (hierarchy of approaches)

- enactive strategies: eliminate stressors - proactive strategies: develop resiliency strategies - reactive strategies: learn temporary coping strategies

Time Famine

- feeling that there is too much to do and not enough time to do it - prevalent in work environment that has increased employee responsibility

Anticipatory Stressor Elimination Strategy

- goal setting - small wins

Time Management Benefits

- helps prioritize and accomplish more goals - helps balance between work and personal life - increases productivity and reduces stress levels - provides more time for activities that one considers important

Gratitude

- higher physiological health, cognitive function, and substantially higher job performance - motivates others to express gratitude (self-perpetuating) frustration heart rhythms = jagged appreciation heart rhythms = smooth

Small Wins Strategy

- identify something under your control - change it in a way that leads toward desired goal - find another small thing to change and change it - keep track of changes made - maintain small gains made through change

Hint 1 of Overcoming Fear of Failure

- look at failure as an event, not a reflection on one personally - remind oneself that everyone experiences failure - look for the why and find a solution - ask oneself what one learned - associate with positive people and abolish fear and failure statements - create a new environment

Strategies for Time Management

- plan and prioritize - prepare to-do lists, and follow 80/20 rule - plan for time-specific and non-time specific activities - find one's optimal working time - control email, and prioritize tasks by level of importance - organize and delegate - differentiate between what is urgent and what is important - avoid procrastination

Encounter Stressors

- role conflicts - issue conflicts - action conflicts

Balancing Life Activities

- spiritual - family - social - intellectual - work - cultural - physical

Meaningfulness in Work Reduces

- stress - depression - turnover - absenteeism - dissatisfaction

Situational Stressors

- unfavorable working conditions - rapid change

Anticipatory Stressors

- unpleasant expectations - fear

Meaningfulness in Work Increases

- well-being - resiliency - commitment - effort - engagement

Time Stressors

- work overload - lack of control

Effective Time Management

1) spending time on important matters 2) distinguishing between important tasks vs urgent tasks 3) focus on results rather than methods 4) not feeling guilty when saying no

4 Sources of Stress

1) time 2) encounter 3) situational 4) anticipatory

Enablers of Meaningfulness in Work

1) work has important positive impact on well-being of human beings 2) work associated with important virtue or personal value 3) work has impact that extends beyond immediate time frame or creates a ripple effect 4) work builds supportive relationships and fosters generalized reciprocity

Stress Management Programs

Employee Assistance Programs (EAP) = offer professional counseling services to employees Stress Management Training (SMT) = offers training in stress reduction skills Stress Reduction Intervention Programs (SRI) = attempt to change the intensity and type of stressors Health Promotion Programs (HPP) = provide education about physical and mental benefits of leading a healthier lifestyle

Types of Activities that Determine Time Use

High Importance, High Urgency: - crises - customer complaints Low Importance, High Urgency: - email or texts - ringing telephone - unscheduled interruptions High Importance, Low Urgency: - developmental opportunities - innovating - planning Low Importance, Low Urgency: - escapes - routines - arguments

Hint 2 of Overcoming Fear of Failure

access new information, and let adversity become advantage create a new perspective or mindset - develop new self-talk - ex: background throughts take one step at a time, and keep moving forward

Time Management

behaviors that aim at achieving an effective use of time while performing certain goal-directed activities

Fear

body's natural alarm system that helps one react physically and mentally to danger and threat

Resiliency

capacity to withstand or manage negative effects of stress, to bounce back from adversity, and endure difficult situations

Contribution

centers on what individuals can give compared to what they can get (assisting others, helping to make something better, foster improvement in something)

Managing Stress and Fostering Well-Being

costs US economy $500 billion annually

Fear of Failure

disposition to avoid an undertaking because of the anticipation of shame and humiliation upon failing high levels lead to health problems, reduced motivation, and poor job performance

Strategy 3 for Managing Stress

eat healthy and exercise regularly - avoid consumption of alcohol and caffeine - eat for energy throughout the day - create time for relaxation - understand fear, and don't give into it

Community

eliminating encounter stress through membership in a stable, close-knit group or community ex: emotional bank account (compares investments in relationships to deposits and withdrawals in bank accounts. more people interact positively, more deposits are made)

Anticipatory Fear

fear in anticipation of danger and threat - anxiety = preoccupation with anticipated threat - worry = internal struggle to devise strategy to escape an anticipated threat

Strategy 1 for Managing Stress

identify stressors and stress levels - stressors: situations, activities, or people that cause one to feel stressed - stress levels: degree to which one lets source of stress affect one implement time management skills learn to share and disclose keep a journal

Meaningfulness in Work - 3 Types

job = do work primarily for financial or material rewards it provides career orientation = motivated by accomplishment and success calling = driven by meaning associated with work itself

Good Fear

maintains one's alertness and vigilance keeps one away from danger or harmful situations based on knowledge, reason, and instincts can adrenalize a person

Bad Fear

misreading of a situation hold one back instead of propelling forward stifles learning and interferes with decision making prevents one from being oneself and discovering new talents and interests

Temporary Stress Reduction Techniques

physiological techniques: - muscle relaxation - deep breathing psychological techniques: - imagery and fantasy - rehearsal

Strategy 2 for Managing Stress

talk to a trusted friend, relative, co-worker, or professional helper use visualization and mental imagery try mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) - helps achieve greater sense of control, reduces day-to-day stress, helps make clear choices, and promotes healthy living

Meaningfulness in Work

well established relationship between engaging in meaningful work and positive outcomes

Situational Stressor Elimination Strategy

work redesign