November 3, 2008
Is Workplace Stress Affecting Your Job Performance?
Workplace stress is as inevitable as death and taxes. Most people will experience stress in the work place on a regular basis. Some occupations have high levels of stress associated with them. Health care and law enforcement workers, for example, experience daily stress as a part of their everyday working life. Workplace stress can be reduced by identifying those situations which trigger it and reducing your exposure to those situations.
Common workplace stress triggers include:
Rude co-workers
It’s not uncommon for the people we work with to present a challenge at some point in our careers. Still, dealing with bad attitudes is a stressful challenge that can kill our own job productivity.
Several means of handling this type of problem exist. Here it’s important to choose your battles. If you can ignore the rude behavior and get your work done, let it go if at all possible.
Some co-workers take annoying too far. Some are downright rude or offensive. When ignoring the co-worker doesn’t work try confrontation. In a polite, but firm tone explain what behaviors are bothering you, why the bother you, and give suggestions for how the co-worker might improve. It is possible that the offender does not know they are upsetting you. Saying it out loud will help reduce the stress and anxiety surrounding the situation.
If direct confrontation does help quell the bad behaviors contact you supervisor. State your complaints in writing in a formal tone. Make sure to explain what behaviors are bothering you and how they are affecting your work performance. Try to avoid emotional pleas and high temper complaints. Remain factual and offer supporting information and your superior will most likely side with you and assist in rectifying the situation.
Poor Management
Maybe it’s not a rude co-worker you’re dealing with, but a mean boss. Putting up with a boss that makes you miserable can be very stressful. You’ll want to try talking with them first to see if that helps the situation.
Bosses have bosses too. If a manager is creating an uncomfortable or stressing work environment for you do not hesitate to involve their supervisor in your complaints. As with co-workers you will want to make sure that your complaints are factual, non-emotional, and supported by appropriate documentation. Write down offenses and document all inappropriate behavior before bringing the case to upper level management
There’s no reason to have to put up with that at the workplace when it’s not warranted. It’ll cause too much stress for you and make your job performance slide. Most companies will work with you to resolve the problem.
Increased Workload
Trying to manage an unreasonable workload will certainly cause a lot of anxiety. Accept only the amount of work that you can deal with in a given period of time. Take any assistance offered by co-workers and return the favor when they need help. Working together can have far reaching rewards.
Discovering, reducing, or eliminating workplace stress where possible is a positive step towards having a fulfilling and productive work experience. Stress in the workplace is inevitable, but correctly managing stress can help prevent job burnout and increase job satisfaction.
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Filed under Self Improvement by ama
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