Managing Stress Within the Team
19 January 2010
Read by 1950 persons
Patrick Bouvard, consultant and author of "Stress, That Hidden Friend," shares five key principles managers should follow to succeed in this area. Two watchwords: listening and finesse.
1 Detecting Stress
It's obvious, but it's worth mentioning: to manage stress, you need to know how to detect it. "The manager must understand what stress is and what it is not," emphasizes Dominique Hoareau. "To do this, don't hesitate to demystify stress, to get informed." To understand the situation, the manager can use assessment tools, for example, in the form of questionnaires. "It's very useful to do an assessment within your team," advises Patrick Bouvard. "Using a questionnaire, it's possible to track the stress level of your team over time." This questionnaire should allow employees to express the positive and negative aspects they feel in their work. But the manager shouldn't limit themselves to this questionnaire alone. Observation is also a very useful stress detector, especially since the symptoms are numerous: physical, physiological, moral, psychological, relational, intellectual, or professional.
2 A Stress-Free Organization
A main stress factor: uncertainty. A factor that can reach alarming proportions when it affects the tasks or objectives of employees. "In a team, you need to clearly define everyone's tasks without overlap, without internal competition," continues Dominique Hoareau. "In short, the manager must find the line between emulation and perversion." For this, nothing like a well-structured organizational chart and the setting of precise and achievable objectives. A system that doesn't prevent dealing with emergencies, if the manager knows how to be educational by explaining the reasons for new demands to their team.
3 Regulating Stress Daily
Daily, the manager must above all be attentive to the slightest sign of stress in their collaborators to regulate the problem before it becomes significant. "As a manager, you must be able to allow freedom and room for maneuver, to delegate responsibilities and transmit information," adds Dominique Hoareau. "This allows the employee to better take into account the tasks they have to assume, therefore to take responsibility, and even take initiatives." The manager should avoid playing the "buddy" card in their relationship with the team, at the risk of destabilizing some people and causing conflicts of interest. On the other hand, one quality should be maintained: listening.
4 In Case of Individual Stress
The first reflex for the manager faced with detected stress in one of their collaborators: be available and attentive. "The identification of a major stress problem in a collaborator should lead the manager to first listen to them," recommends Dominique Hoareau. If the stress has a personal origin and endangers the employee's health, the manager should refer them to their doctor. "If the socio-professional component is the most disrupted, you should first see the occupational physician. The best response remains the one that professionals who know the employee and their workplace can give." This type of initiative must be taken, of course, with the employee's agreement.
5 In Case of Team Stress
Stress is not just an individual phenomenon: it can become collective and "self-perpetuating" through a circular movement, passing from one collaborator to another. "The first reflex for the manager is to look for the causes of this collective stress by holding meetings or individual interviews, and trying to distinguish between private and professional life," explains Patrick Bouvard.
Published January 16, 2010
Posted online January 16, 2010
lematin.ma
1 Detecting Stress
It's obvious, but it's worth mentioning: to manage stress, you need to know how to detect it. "The manager must understand what stress is and what it is not," emphasizes Dominique Hoareau. "To do this, don't hesitate to demystify stress, to get informed." To understand the situation, the manager can use assessment tools, for example, in the form of questionnaires. "It's very useful to do an assessment within your team," advises Patrick Bouvard. "Using a questionnaire, it's possible to track the stress level of your team over time." This questionnaire should allow employees to express the positive and negative aspects they feel in their work. But the manager shouldn't limit themselves to this questionnaire alone. Observation is also a very useful stress detector, especially since the symptoms are numerous: physical, physiological, moral, psychological, relational, intellectual, or professional.
2 A Stress-Free Organization
A main stress factor: uncertainty. A factor that can reach alarming proportions when it affects the tasks or objectives of employees. "In a team, you need to clearly define everyone's tasks without overlap, without internal competition," continues Dominique Hoareau. "In short, the manager must find the line between emulation and perversion." For this, nothing like a well-structured organizational chart and the setting of precise and achievable objectives. A system that doesn't prevent dealing with emergencies, if the manager knows how to be educational by explaining the reasons for new demands to their team.
3 Regulating Stress Daily
Daily, the manager must above all be attentive to the slightest sign of stress in their collaborators to regulate the problem before it becomes significant. "As a manager, you must be able to allow freedom and room for maneuver, to delegate responsibilities and transmit information," adds Dominique Hoareau. "This allows the employee to better take into account the tasks they have to assume, therefore to take responsibility, and even take initiatives." The manager should avoid playing the "buddy" card in their relationship with the team, at the risk of destabilizing some people and causing conflicts of interest. On the other hand, one quality should be maintained: listening.
4 In Case of Individual Stress
The first reflex for the manager faced with detected stress in one of their collaborators: be available and attentive. "The identification of a major stress problem in a collaborator should lead the manager to first listen to them," recommends Dominique Hoareau. If the stress has a personal origin and endangers the employee's health, the manager should refer them to their doctor. "If the socio-professional component is the most disrupted, you should first see the occupational physician. The best response remains the one that professionals who know the employee and their workplace can give." This type of initiative must be taken, of course, with the employee's agreement.
5 In Case of Team Stress
Stress is not just an individual phenomenon: it can become collective and "self-perpetuating" through a circular movement, passing from one collaborator to another. "The first reflex for the manager is to look for the causes of this collective stress by holding meetings or individual interviews, and trying to distinguish between private and professional life," explains Patrick Bouvard.
Published January 16, 2010
Posted online January 16, 2010
lematin.ma
