School of PE Blog

Stress in high-intensity situations is a constant companion of high-performing people, even worse when it’s compounded by team dynamics that constantly shift. We’re completely capable of managing acute stress, but when met with it constantly over long periods of time, it can cause negativity in our lives and in the lives of the team around us. In fact, the Mayo Clinic says that consistent levels of stress can lead to physical symptoms like muscle tension and headaches, mental symptoms like lack of motivation and memory problems, and behavioral symptoms like angry outbursts and avoidance. None of these symptoms are beneficial for the effective management of a team dynamic and can turn your high-performing team into a negatively performing one.

Here, we’ll discuss how to manage team stress in the workplace and a few stress management techniques to pull out when a team member needs some help.

Stress management as a team is slightly different than standard stress management for one single person or even two. It starts with the early implementation of team dynamics and the standardization of certain practices in the workplace.

Learn to manage personal stress in the workplace- While we are discussing stress as a team, the person we need to focus on first is the individual. Learn techniques to manage personal stress so that it doesn’t spill out into the workplace and stop the flow of others. Lashing out or causing the team to miss deadlines because you lacked the motivation to complete projects will definitely lead to negative consequences for everybody.

Maintain transparency and open communication- Transparent communication is more than being honest. It’s also being vulnerable. In high-stress situations, being vulnerable is like taking down your shield and exposing everything, which is incredibly difficult for most people. You open yourself up for criticism, and telling people that you need help or that you don’t agree with the way things are done is difficult. However, keeping this kind of communication open is one of the best things a team can do because that’s where the real connections that are going to benefit the team are found.

Be respectful of others space- This refers to mental, physical, and emotional space. Maintaining those boundaries enables everybody to operate in a way they’re comfortable with, which encourages higher levels of productivity.

Encourage sufficient sleep- Sleep is a major factor in promoting healthy stress levels. Keep work at work, and when you lay down to sleep, try not to think about problems you’re facing. Sometimes, that’s where the biggest problems are solved, but prioritize sleep in order to stay emotionally and mentally attuned.

Support employee career growth- Certification exams are a big aspect of developing high-achieving team members, but the balance between work and exam review courses is very tricky. If not done well, the stress of both can be overwhelming for the individual and the team. Support employee career growth by giving adequate review time, enabling certain tasks to be delegated elsewhere, and allowing enough time for them to complete the review course and develop their career.

Set realistic expectations- By gauging goal outcomes and deadlines, you can get a general idea of what’s realistic for your team through experience. Set expectations that match the groups' capabilities. This will help manage team stress by helping them know that they can complete a task, even if it is a challenge.

Focus on positive reinforcement instead of negative consequences- Positivity in the workplace goes a long way. Negative consequences can impact the groups' morale and discourage them from doing the best work that they can. It’s a bit counterintuitive, but when you consider the opposite, you’ll see that highlighting the achievements of the team and its members will take the team a lot further.

Encourage time off and flexibility- Time off to decompress and recharge from the general stress of work enables the team to have a clear mind and an understanding of their own limits. By remaining flexible to the team’s ever-evolving demands of life on top of work, you’ll create a workplace where the group is happy to work when the work needs to get done because they know that they have adequate time to disengage. A similar phenomenon is described by Tian Doris in his YouTube video, The Most Overlooked Productivity Superpower.

Encourage monotasking- Multitasking can seem like a great idea sometimes, but the focus we gain when we do only one task at a time is just as good, if not better. Eliminating the necessity of doing four or five different things at once helps streamline the thought process. When we do multiple things at once, we’re also juggling different deadlines, different task lists, and processes, so it’s more like we’re working on ten to fifteen different tasks at once, which can lead to more stress than it’s worth.

Maintain healthy work-life boundaries- Leave work at work, and home at home. Sure, it’s okay to think about a work problem. In fact, sometimes home is exactly the right place to figure it out, and work is a fun place to talk about the achievements of our personal lives. However, when those boundary lines become too blurred, and work and life are suddenly everywhere, there’s no room to really focus on the task at hand (similar to multitasking), and stress levels rise because we can’t do what needs to be done.

Use progress as a measurement, rather than perfection- As creative creatures, we like the idea of something we’ve done to be perfect. However, things can be done sufficiently without being perfect. In fact, sometimes, that perfection is exactly what leads to those elevated stress levels. Instead, reach for an excess of what you need to get the work done, but don’t stress about perfection because, in reality, it’s unattainable and leads to burnout faster than satisfaction.

Stress in the workplace is easily manageable if everybody is considering their own lives and the ways they react to stress. Instead of forcing the rest of the group to deal with the stress of an individual, there are techniques that can be learned that can keep the individual team members responsible for their own emotional state.

Breathe- A breath is a break. Breathing techniques are the simplest way to take a moment to realign with your nervous system and do a small check-in with yourself. Taking a minute between tasks to do this simple task can help maintain a healthy stress level.

Stay mindful in the moment- Breathing exercises are an excellent way to stay mindful, but the important thing is to remind your body that you’re not actually in any danger (because stress is a physical response to perceived danger). Reminding yourself in other ways that you’re not in danger and grounding yourself in where you are is incredibly important.

Stay creative- Finding a creative outlet is an excellent way of maintaining stress levels. It’s an outpouring of what’s inside to the outside, and as you participate in this creative outlet (writing, art, sports), you’re giving the stress you have a place to go rather than staying pent up inside.

Get perspective- Talk to somebody outside of the situation. This person can give you another way to look at a problem and offer solutions without judgement. Sometimes, it’s the simple act of sharing the problem that helps eliminate the stress associated with it.

Sleep on it- Similarly to getting perspective, taking a break from an issue and giving it time to settle will give you a different way of thinking about the problem.

Perform an act of kindness- This one is one of the best. Doing things for others automatically takes us out of our own issues. When we focus on others, our problems seem far less complicated. This can be bringing a treat for the team to boost morale or tackling another person’s problem for them.

Laugh about it- Laughter really is the best medicine. Incorporating humor into stressful situations alleviates the physical pressure of seeing the problem as so serious and can help the group form a better relationship through the event.

Embrace mistakes- Fail forward. John C. Maxwell famously wrote, “Fail early, fail often, but always fail forward.” (Failing Forward) Failure is the foundation of progress and is entirely normal in high-achieving groups. That doesn’t mean that it’s always easy to fail. However, if you embrace those failures and mistakes, you’ll learn to do better next time.

Stress is something that every person tackles throughout their life. When working with teams, that stress is compounded by each individual’s personal way of handling things. Learning useful techniques for managing stress and implementing procedures in the workplace to help eliminate stress in the first place is one way to keep the team from cracking under pressure.

Invest in your team's well-being and productivity with a professional development course from School of PE!