5 Tips for Reducing Work Related Stress and Keep Up Productivity

When management and staff are under stress, it’s very easy for productivity to plummet. Stress does not simply affect a person’s mind; it can also cause a person to feel physically tired, physically ill and cause them to not feel up to performing the typical responsibilities of their job. All it takes is one stressed out manager or worker to cause a major decrease in the productivity of the whole business.

It’s no secret that work can be stressful much of the time. Knowing good stress management skills can be the difference between it getting out of hand or it being an issue that management and staff can effectively handle. Today, we’re going to share with you 5 tips for reducing work related stress to keep up productivity.

Tip 1: Sleep Well

A little problem can feel like a much bigger problem when people don’t get enough sleep. Getting enough sleep seems like common sense, but with long work hours, family obligations and other life responsibilities, it’s not always easy.

Someone who is tired is going to be more on edge; be more susceptible to illness and have a harder time dealing with stress that comes up during the normal course of a workday. The unfortunate side to a lack of sleep is that an employer has no control over how much sleep their staff is getting every night. With that said though, even if one person takes the initiative to get enough sleep and show up every day to work with a clear and rested mind, that person’s good mood will often transpose onto other workers.

Tip 2: Make Sure Management & Staff Are Well Trained

One of the most common reasons why management and staff become stressed is because they don’t have the solutions to the problems that they encounter during the workday. A lack of training or improper training can result in low productivity, higher stress and employee turnover.

Training can be expensive, but it’s often more cost-effective in the long run than underperforming staff or management constantly having to fill positions within the company due to staff leaving. If a person knows how to do their job well, they’re going to be under less stress and they’re also going to be able to feel more confident.

Tip 3: Provide a Good Work Environment

Working in low light, being too warm, being too cold or working in unsafe conditions are just a few examples of work environments that can lead to stress. While no work environment is perfect, if management and employees are comfortable and feel safe, they are less likely to become stressed out.

Something as simple as letting in outdoor light or changing how warm or cold the work area is can make a huge difference.

Tip 4: Find Common Stress Factors

Is the staff constantly complaining about the same problem or set of problems? If so, it could be a good indicator that there is a real issue that needs to be dealt with. While management and business owners can’t fix every single problem that comes up, if most people in the office or workplace are constantly nagging about the same things, it’s going to lead to substantial stress, especially if the staff feel like they’re concerns are not being addressed.
It’s important to be proactive about workplace issues so that they don’t snowball into larger problems that can cause tremendous stress.

Tip 5: Have a Solid Crisis Plan in Place

Unexpected events can happen in business very easily and whenever something expected does happen, it can create stress. A few examples of unexpected events include office equipment not working or not working properly; the power being out, several staff being sick at the same time or the loss of business income to name a few. If there is no plan in place to deal with these types of events, it’s going to create chaos with all members of management and the staff.

A little bit of time dedicated to planning can reduce stress levels immensely in the event that something does go wrong. Having a solid business crisis plan in place can help management and staff feel confident that if anything does go wrong, there are steps to follow in order to correct or help with the situation.

Summary

Any level of workplace stress can reduce productivity and it honestly doesn’t take much stress to take a major toll on management and staff being able to adequately perform their jobs. Above, we’ve shared a few common workplace stress factors and how business owners or managers can address the issues.

Being proactive, figuring out what’s causing stress within the workplace, having positive role models and providing a good work environment are great starting points if it seems like everyone has been letting their stress levels within the office get a little too high.