As a manager you’re going to find that there are times when you feel a lot more stressed than you do at other times. You might even stop and wonder why you feel more stressed than those around you. The truth is that, as managers, we tend to believe we need to be perfect at everything we do. We need to be in control. We want to be right. We want our jobs done perfectly. In short, we put too much pressure on ourselves.

As you approach the New Year, take the following 5 points into consideration and see if you can begin to make tiny changes, one at a time. Eliminating some of the stress you’re putting on yourself might make your job just a bit easier to accomplish!

5. Stop Expecting Perfection

You are not perfect, nor are the people who work for or with you. If you stop expecting perfection you won’t be disappointed when you don’t achieve it and you’ll be better able to take a strong, objective look at the great results you did achieve after working on a project instead of the minute percentage you think you didn’t.

4. Keep Your Opinions to Yourself

Do you have a tendancy towards giving people your unsolicited opinions or advice? Stop. If people want your help they will ask for it. If you’re working with someone who doesn’t know you well, ask them if you can offer your opinion or advice so that they can get ideas from another vantage point. If you stop forcing your ideas on others they’ll be more willing to work with you.

3. Forget the Past

So you’ve made a few mistakes in the past. Stop letting them eat at you, stressing you out even more. Put them aside and move on. You can’t change the past but you can control what you are doing now and in the future.

2. Analyse Less

Sometimes, when we are given new tasks, we feel like we have to learn as much as possible about the background or procedures before we get started. We end up adding stress and wasting time when we realistically could have just jumped right into the project. Try to spend less time analysing projects - just do them instead.

1. Stop Caring about Who Likes You

The truth is very simple. Not everyone you meet in your life is going to like you. Their reasons may or may not be valid. You don’t need to stress yourself out or care about who likes you and who does not. It doesn’t matter and, to be honest, you can work professionally with people who do not like you as long as you are all respectful.

Ready to reduce the stress in your life? Start by taking a look at yourself and your habits. Once you can do that you’ll be half way home and your relationships with your team members will instantly begin to improve!

Thanks again,
Sean

Sean McPheat
Managing Director
MTD Leadership

Click below for a:
FREE email course “Improve Your Management Skills”

As much as we hate to deal with it, tragedy can and will strike our families and our employees and can do so at any given time. The loss of a parent, child, or other close family member can be devastating and the last thing your team member is thinking about is work.

Your job will be to help find ways in which your organisation can help your employees deal with their situations. It is incredibly important for you to recognize that a person who returns to work after only a few days, even weeks, is not fully recovered and will not be able to give you 100% of his attention. This is normal and is something you’ll have to learn to work with.

So what are some things you can do to help support a grieving employee?

• Learn about the stages of grief so that you can understand exactly what your employee is going through at any given time.
• Have your entire team sign a sympathy card to show their support.
• Personally communicate with your employee as often as possible to ensure he’s really ready to come back to work.
• Consider modifying your employee’s job duties, work hours, or method of communication (telecommuting instead of coming into the office) as necessary until he is ready to make a full reentry.
• Monitor him closely to make sure he stays on track as much as possible.
• Encourage the use of your organisation’s counseling services.

You can’t take back whatever tragedy your employee is suffering from but you can show a generous amount of compassion and support - and your employees will appreciate you for it and remember that support for a long time.

Thanks again,

Sean

Sean McPheat
Managing Director
MTD Leadership Training

Click below for a:
FREE email course “Improve Your Management Skills”

Depression is a very serious issue. More than 10 million people between the ages of 25 and 44 are affected by depression every single year, and many go untreated. What does this mean to you as a manager? It means that at any given time at least one out of every 20 team members you employ may be depressed.

It’s true that some people get “the blues” from time to time but most of them are able to shake their blues off in a day or so. Those who are truly depressed can’t just “shake it off” the way other can. They can’t control the aches in their bodies, the way they are thinking, or the way they act. Before you know it, depression is affecting your employee’s judgement, productivity, and ability to socialize with other team members or clients.

The first thing you need to do is learn to recognize and identify the symptoms of depression. Some of the most common include:

• Sad moods that seem to be persistent
• A decreased energy level or overwhelming sense of fatigue
• Sudden changes in eating habits
• Excessively crying throughout the day
• Trouble concentrating or making clear decisions
• An irritated attitude
• Complaints about lack of sleep
• A sudden change in morale
• Sudden absenteeism
• Increased accidents in the workplace

As a manager, you have to take some sort of action if you identify an employee as becoming depressed. Here are a few things you must remember:

• You aren’t a doctor and you can’t diagnose depression.
• Objectively let your employee know you’ve noticed change and let him know that your organisation has resources available if he needs help
• Learn about depression so you can understand how it impacts life and the workplace
• Hold frequent coaching sessions to try to keep your employee’s performance goals on track

These are just a few of the things you can do if you begin to notice depression in the workplace. First and foremost is the need to make sure your employee gets the help he deserves. In the end, he’ll be glad you reached out to help.

Thanks again,

Sean

Sean McPheat
Managing Director
MTD Management Development

Click below for a:
FREE email course “Improve Your Management Skills”

At some point in your career either you or one of your employees is going to feel depressed at work. The trick here is to deal with the situation before it gets out of control and begins to affect work performance - but how?

The first and most important thing to remember is that depression shouldn’t always be viewed as an illness that must absolutely be treated with medications. In many cases, a person who is depressed is responding physically to something in his environment. So the real key is to find out what is causing your (or your employee’s) depression and find out exactly what those triggers are trying to tell you.

Last week I talked about Matthew Campling and his Age/Work Arc Theory. Campling also spent some time studying the affects of depression in the workplace and concluded that all of us have a space in which our emotions or emotional reactions occur. Those who are overworked may not have time to allow their natural human reactions, such as feeling anger or worry, to occur.

Because they never work through their natural responses they begin to feel as though a dark cloud is filling the space around them. In short, a feeling of depression is usually a cover for some sort of issue or emotion that has not been addressed. Uncovering those emotions and working through them may help to solve the problem.

As a manager, it is your job to make sure that your employee’s tasks aren’t the cause of his dark cloud. If so, try to find out what you can do to make things a bit easier or to help your employee work through whatever issue he is experiencing within the workplace. Just remember that no matter how genuine your desire to help, not all cases of depression are simple to solve. If you can’t help your employee, refer him to someone with more professional psychological experience.

Thanks again,
Sean

Sean McPheat
Managing Director
MTD Management Training Course

Click below for a:
FREE email course “Improve Your Management Skills”

Stress is becoming more and more prevalent in the workplace, especially in light of changes in the world economy and individual fears regarding job security. If you feel stress creeping up on you at work (or if you see one of your employees succumbing to heavy stress) you’ll want to take immediate action to help alleviate some of the pressure. Here are 5 simple things you can do to help relieve stress in the workplace.

Use Humour

There’s no harm in taking a few minutes out of your day for a bit of humour. Tell a few jokes, forward a funny email, or sing a silly song. Do anything that will take your mind off of the things causing stress, even for just a few moments. Sometimes laughter helps to clear the head and make productive thinking easier.

Take a Quick Walk

Sometimes stress is caused by a lack of movement. If you feel incredibly stressed, put on your coat and take a quick walk around the outside of your work building. Use a quick pace and, as silly as it sounds, talk to yourself while you are walking. The physical activity will get your blood pumping and help to reenergize you while talking to yourself (even to reiterate “xyz is taking a walk” will help you to put yourself in the “now” and forget about the things on your desk.

Drink Water

Dehydration is one of the hugest health concerns in the world- anywhere. Most people don’t understand how important water is to the body and if you become dehydrated you will begin to have trouble functioning, both physically and mentally. Most people reach for coffee, cola, or energy drinks when they should, in reality, drink water. Stick to 4-8 glasses of water per day and you’ll find your levels of stress significantly lowering themselves.

Take a Nap

Alright - taking a nap while working may not be easy but it IS possible. If you have a stressful morning then go to your car during your lunch break, turn on the radio, and take a quick catnap. If you’re a heavy sleeper and are afraid you’ll fall asleep and not wake up in time, tell a coworker where you are going so they can come and get you a few minutes before you’re scheduled to return. No matter how you pull it off, know that a good 15-30 minute catnap is great for relieving stress.

Cry

Yup. I said it. Have yourself a good cry. Crying is, in many cases, a natural response to a rising level of adrenaline in the body (often caused by stress) and is nothing to be ashamed of. Focusing your energies on holding back the tears isn’t productive so go to a quiet place, hidden from others, and let the tears flow. You’ll probably feel a lot better when you’re finished!

Stress management in the workplace is incredibly important not only to your mental healh but to the overall productivity of your team. Take care of yourself and those around you and you’ll soon find yourself surrounded by a happier, more productive group.

Thanks again,

Sean

Sean McPheat
Managing Director
MTD Management Training Course

Click below for a:
Free email course “Improve your Management Skills”