7 Ways to Reduce Stress in Your Workplace
Introduction
Sometimes your employees will feel overwhelmed within your workplace. As a manager, it is important to look out for the well-being of your employees. According to the American Institute of Stress, about 83% of United States workers suffer stress within their workplace. Inevitably, stressful situations will arise. However, here are some simple strategies to pursue to minimize stress in your workplace:
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Make Meetings Phone Calls Instead of Zoom Calls so Employees Can Stand and Walk Outdoors
Especially in the era of remote working, it is important to limit the amount of time spent sitting in front of a computer when possible. Encourage your employees to take phone calls outdoors or walk whenever possible. Moreover, studies from Stanford and Tufts have shown that movement can lead to greater creativity. So, next time you need to have a team brainstorming session, have your employees go for a walk during the call!
Have A Meeting to Discuss Healthy Eating Habits
Taking the time to educate your employees on developing healthy eating habits will highlight your care for the employees’ well-being. Consider bringing a nutritionist to join the meeting and present some ideas on the following topics:
Meal prepping for the week
How to make a healthy lunch
The correlation between healthy eating and stress reduction
Provide Opportunities for Your Employees to Bond
Closer employees will be more likely to collaborate and offer help to others in the office. Take time to set up events to allow your employees to get to know each other. Consider looking into the following examples:
Have a team lunch
Do weekly icebreakers
Attend a sporting event as a group
Understand the Workload of Each Employee
Make sure you aren’t overworking the employees. Create realistic expectations and deadlines for assignments. Also, you can take some time to check in with the employees on the workload to see if it is too much or too little through a survey or meeting. In addition, as a manager, you can encourage your employees to form strong habits of planning their tasks out, by indicating the priority level of the task to them.
Encourage Your Employees Not to Check Emails After Work Hours
Stress can accumulate when the employee realizes how much more work there is left to do when they get home. Then, they will never rest, and burnout will increase. Tell your employees it is acceptable to not check emails after work hours. This will allow the employee to feel more at ease while at home and resting for the evening.
Allow for Breaks in Your Workplace
Sometimes, an employee simply needs to get up and walk around in the middle of the day to relax and feel refreshed. Burnout can surface in your workplace if breaks aren’t a part of the work day. Encourage this within the culture of your workplace. Make sure breaks are not frowned upon, but rather they are encouraged for your employees. To help avoid burnout in your workplace, read over The Secret to Ensuring Your Employees Are Not Overworked for some key tips.
Offer Feedback to Your Employees
Employees may be stressed out if they don’t know if their work meets your expectations. Offer the employee feedback through a performance review or a simple conversation, so then the employee understands how their work looks. If you need help creating a performance review, use ManageBetter's ReviewBuilder to simplify the process with over 3,000 curated phrases at your fingertips.
Conclusion
Looking out for your employees is crucial to being a great manager. Understanding when your employees need reassurance or group praise is critical to maintaining high morale within your workplace. Sometimes, employees just need to know their work is valued to help relieve stress. In addition, encourage your employees to form strong habits, such as healthy eating and exercise, to keep their stress levels low. As a manager, you can have a strong impact on your team’s well-being by looking out for and understanding your employees.
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