Unfortunately for small business owners, staff taking sick days often increases stress levels for the proprietor.Affecting external relationships. Snapping at the secretary, wanting to be alone at home or arguing about the little things. If you have noticed that the relationships you have worked so hard to foster and faltering because of minute details, you could be stressed. Burnout.
If you are usually an extremely detailed oriented person, as most business owners have to be, and you suddenly realise you just do not care any more, chances are you are experiencing burn-out; one of the most obvious signs of stress.Smoke signals. We each have our own vices, and many people turn to alcohol or cigarettes in times of stress.
Increased drinking and smoking can be an indication that a person is experiencing a period of increased stress-levels.Outwardly expanding signals. Although not considered a traditionally harmful substance abuse problem, stress eating is something that affects a huge number of Australians, yet if you or an employee gains a large amount of weight over a short period of time, it can be an awkward topic to broach.
Strong or severe emotional symptoms. Stress can cause strong emotional changes, since it triggers the release of a lot of very powerful hormones and chemicals into our bloodstream. Examples include extreme anxiety or agitation, aggressive or violent behaviour, ‘withdrawal-isolation’ behaviours.Your family. Oftentimes our best feedback mechanism is our family unit, whether it is your mother telling you that you look tired, your partner warning you that you are becoming snippy, or your kids wondering why they haven’t seen you in weeks.
Managing Stress
Identifying when either you or your employees are experiencing high levels of stress is just a part of the process. Learning how to manage stress is vital for your business. Apart from the obvious health concerns, a recent survey by human resources and recruitment firm, Talent2, revealed that 63 percent of employees would have no hesitation in leaving their job if it all became too stressful.
Sadly, though, more than 70 percent of people believe that stress comes hand-in-hand with work. It just does not have to be this way.
It would be a lie to say that there is just one way to manage stress. We are all individuals, and we all manage stress in different way. There are traditional methods, modern methods and some extreme methods, but none of them will solve the problems, they will act as a band-aid.
Some traditional methods include:
Identify. The modern workplace is, by definition, a high-stress environment. Emails constantly flood in, orders need to be completed immediately, everything is happening at a million miles and hour and everything needs to be done five minutes ago. Your palms sweat, your heart beats faster, your head start swimming in everything you have to do. Take note of this. Identify your symptoms, as if you do not, you will have absolutely no chance in managing your stress.
Make lists. You have a million things to do, yet you do not know what to do first. List everything in minute detail that you have to do. Do not just write ‘re-brand company’ on your to-do list. Break it down into the smallest denominator. When the list is complete it will be completely overwhelming: be prepared for this. Take some time to prioritise your list—colour coding helps many people. Once you have done this, begin to work your way down the list through the priorities. Be prepared to re-arrange this list throughout a working day or week.
Breathe. You and your employees will be unable to work effectively if you cannot see the wood for the trees. Take a step back, and literally take a few deep breaths. You will be amazed how different things will look when you just take a few seconds to re-evaluate. You can take this further and take time during the day or before or after work to meditate.
De-politicise the office. One of the most stressful parts of turning up to work every day is managing the personalities that work with you. This holds true both for the boss and for employees. Take some time to really speak with your co-workers and identify where the problems lie. Identify agendas, identify the hard-workers and reward them and coach the workers that need some help. Take the politics out of the office.
One of the fatal errors in business, particularly small business where there is no dedicated HR employee and the boss is expected to be everything to everyone is to treat the workplace and workers like a factory staffed by robots. We all need to have a bit of fun, and work cannot be a serious place all the time.
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