Workplace Stress – Is Your Job Performance Suffering?

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 talking it out doesn’t correct the situation, make an appointment to talk with your supervisor to let him or her know the extent of it and how it’s affecting your job performance. Your boss may choose to take charge and bring correction so that everyone can do their job more effectively.

Poor Management

Maybe your nasty cube-mate isn’t the problem but your horribly demanding manager is. Tolerating a boss who’s unfair or belligerent can send your stress level through the roof. Try discussing your issues with him or her before taking any further action to remedy the problem.

|If direct discussion with your supervisor proves ineffective, the next step is to approach the next level of management. Document the inappropriate behavior you have witnessed or personally experienced and report it to someone in human resources or follow the appropriate channels for your company.

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.

Huge Workload

Occasionally it is the volume of work itself that causes stress in the workplace. It goes without saying that you should only accept assignments that you have time for, but when there are no options for opting out of additional work it is important to ask for help when you are overwhelmed. Sharing the workload is what teamwork is about. Most companies are happy to foster teamwork between co-workers. If the workload becomes too stressful and no help can be found contact your supervisor and explain that you are overwhelmed. In most instances arrangements can be made to reduce your workload.

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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