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Stress?
Are your employees functioning efficiently? Are they struggling to meet deadlines? How is the quality of their work? Do they seem to be preoccupied or disconnected - (don't forget to evaluate yourself in the process). Managing an organization in 2010 has created more challenges for leadership than at any other time in the near past. In addition to management struggling to create and maintain efficiencies within their department or division, they must also remain "in touch" with the needs of their employees. Workers are also feeling increased pressures attempting to balance work and life issues in a challenging world. This juggling act is critical to their individual success as an employee but even more so for the organization. It has been proven by countless studies that employees who have lower levels of stress outperform their counterparts when burdened by actual or perceived stressors inside or outside the workplace. There are many antagonists responsible for cultivating stress in our lives. In this article, we will focus on a few simple strategies that we can share with our employees that may help ease some of the anxieties associated with self-induced work-related stress. - Set Goals and Control Time Allocation: Set goals that are realistic, achievable and measurable within appropriate time frames. Scheduling more than you can handle or trying to cram one last appointment in before lunch can definitely create an overload and cause undue stress. Schedule your time accordingly. Learn how to say, "No" if you're faced with an overload situation. Carefully consider any time-based commitments you make and fit them into your schedule appropriately.
- Reconsider All Meetings: Make certain there is a need for a meeting. Is it an efficient use of time and does it serve a valid purpose. Meetings should only occur when interactions are required. The Wall Street Journal, quoted a study that estimated American managers could save 80 percent of the time they currently waste in meetings if they did two things: start and end meetings on time and follow an agenda.
- You Can't Be All Things To All People: At some point in your day, something has to give. Prioritize your commitments and address those which are the most important. Time management could be defined as the ability to control events - when we are in control, the stress is minimized. However, when we allow our commitments to overrun our ability to control, we become our own worst enemies and stress starts its invasion.
- Make Time Decisions Based on Analysis: Categorizing your to-do list is a simple yet often forgotten strategy in defining your workday. To best eliminate the possibility of undue stress leeching into your agenda, categorize your tasks into these four groups. (Spend a majority of your time on the items that fall into the last two categories) Not Urgent and Not Important, Urgent but Not Important, Not Urgent but Important and Urgent and Important.
- Manage Procrastination: Most people procrastinate for these three reasons: You don't know how to do the task, you don't like to do the task, or you feel indecisive about how to approach the task. Most often, breaking a large project into small manageable tasks can create the feeling of accomplishment. List each section of the project on a To-Do list and reward yourself for each portion completed. Remember this - activity precedes motivation: get something started and the motivation will often come with starting the task.
Share these strategies with your staff and implement them into your own daily work life. They really can reduce stress levels which can ultimately lead to positive returns on human capital investments.
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