A healthy amount of pressure can be good for an employee. Feeling some stress at work is a sign that the leader of the company has set ambitious goals. Without pressure, your employees may drift through their days without accomplishing anything of value.
Conversely, putting too much pressure on your team could result in feelings of hopelessness, frustration, and burnout. It is crucial that you, as a leader, know how to guide people through situations of pressure. These are some of the steps to help your employees perform under pressure:
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Provide Enough Time to Complete Tasks
Every member of your team brings a unique skill set to the table, but it’s safe to say that no one is superhuman. As a manager, it’s your job to consider the strengths and weaknesses of each team member.
Some people work best under a great deal of pressure. They are multitaskers who enjoy taking on many smaller projects at once and balancing their time between them. Other people get easily distracted and freeze up under too much pressure. They might do better focusing on one project or task at a time.
No matter what work style your employees adopt, they’ll need adequate time to complete their work. Always check to make sure your employee is comfortable with the deadline before you allow them to begin work on the task.
Offer Employee Wellness Programs
Even if you set reasonable expectations for your employees, they’re still likely to feel some pressure. Some people deal with stress better than others.
Offering employee wellness programs is a great way to support those who might be struggling. Additionally, you can help your employees to prevent stress by promoting employee engagement activities.
There are a wide variety of wellness programs. If you’re thinking about starting one, you can ask your team for their input.
The program might include activities such as paid gym passes or vouchers for massage therapy. Some companies even hire on-site counsellors to assist employees who are struggling with anxiety or other conditions.
Paid vacation time is another major benefit that can promote employee wellness. People are happier and healthier when they have time to enjoy the fruits of their labour.
Additionally, vacation time and employee wellness packages make your workplace more attractive to potential future employees, which can help your company secure some of the top entry-level talent entering the workforce.
Maintain Open Communication
When a superior is kind and easy to talk to, an employee will be more likely to come to them with a problem. Do your best to maintain an open-door policy with your staff.
It will give you the opportunity to provide guidance and support. You’ll also gain insights on what issues are causing your staff to stress out. This will aid you in coming up with solutions to help them perform under pressure.
Team-building activities can also promote healthy communication between employees and management. When you show up for the activity and demonstrate that you’re an equal member of the team, your employees will be more likely to trust you.
Be Sure to Offer Positive Feedback
This is an area where many managers go wrong. You already know that you need to correct employee mistakes, but what about providing positive feedback?
You can’t lie to your employees when their work is subpar, but you can do your best to find something positive to make note of.
For instance, perhaps an employee took a project in the wrong direction, but they still made a solid effort. You can explain the error while still praising the hard work.
Through these communications, your employees will begin to figure out exactly what you expect from them. Research from PWC found that 60 percent of surveyed employees prefer to receive feedback on a regular basis.
Have Clear Success Metrics
People do their best work when they’re aiming for clear, attainable goals. When your employees don’t know what’s expected of them, they’ll experience far more stress.
It’s a good idea to hold weekly or monthly meetings to discuss the overall goals for the company and the duties and tasks that each employee will take on in order to help meet those goals. Having these goals displayed on a bulletin board or employee web portal can be helpful as well.
Also Read: Create A Productive Office Culture with 10X Employee productivity
Demonstrate a Positive Attitude
A good leader does more than assign duties and correct mistakes. As a member of the management team, you’re expected to be a role model. If you don’t stay positive, how do you expect those working below you to avoid slipping into a negative mindset?
No matter how stressed you are, always make positivity the goal. Everyone has personal issues that they must set aside while they work. Try to keep the focus on what you can control, and know that it all begins with controlling your own attitude.
Over to You
Work is bound to get stressful from time to time, but with a little effort, you can create a supportive and relaxing work environment. If you’re struggling to keep it together yourself, don’t be afraid to reach out for professional help.
A management position isn’t for the faint of heart. You have a lot of stress on your plate. There’s no shame in talking things out with a therapist when you need some extra support.
