Stress-Management

Emotional stress usually occurs in situations people consider difficult or challenging. People may feel stressed in
different situations.
Physical stress is a physical reaction of the body to various triggers. The pain experienced after surgery is an
example of physical stress. Physical stress often leads to emotional stress, and emotional stress often occurs in
the form of physical stress (e.g., stomach cramps).
Stress management involves controlling and reducing the tension that occurs in stressful situations by making
emotional and physical changes. The degree of stress and the desire to make the changes will determine how
much improvement takes place.

ASSESSING STRESS
Attitude: A person's attitude can influence whether or not a situation or emotion is stressful. A person with a
negative attitude will often report more stress than would someone with a positive attitude.
Diet: A poor diet puts the body in a state of physical stress and weakens the immune system. As a result, a
person can be more likely to get infections. A poor diet can mean making unhealthy food choices, not eating
enough, or not eating on a normal schedule.
This form of physical stress also decreases the ability to deal with emotional stress, because not getting the right
nutrition may affect the way the brain processes information.
Physical activity: Not getting enough physical activity can put the body in a stressed state. Physical activity has
many benefits, including promoting a feeling of well-being.
Support systems: Almost everyone needs someone in their life they can rely on when they are having a hard
time. Having little or no support makes stressful situations even more difficult to deal with.
Relaxation: People with no outside interests, hobbies, or other ways to relax may be less able to handle stressful
situations. Getting 7 to 8 hours of sleep per night also helps people cope with stress.

AN INDIVIDUAL STRESS MANAGEMENT PROGRAM

Find the positive in situations, and don't dwell on the negative.

Plan fun activities.
Take regular breaks.
Physical activity:

Start a physical activity program. Most experts recommend 150 minutes of aerobic activity per week.
Decide on a specific type, amount, and level of physical activity. Fit this into your schedule so it can be part
of your routine.
Find a buddy to exercise with -- it is more fun and it will encourage you to stick with your routine.
You do not have to join a gym -- 20 minutes of brisk walking outdoors is enough.
Nutrition:

Eat foods that improve your health and well-being. For example, increase the amount of fruits and
vegetables you eat.
Use the food guide plate to help you make healthy food choices.

 Eat normal-sized portions on a regular schedule.

Social support:

Make an effort to socialize. Even though you may feel tempted to avoid people when you feel stressed,
meeting friends usually helps people feel less stressed.
Be good to yourself and others.
Relaxation:

Learn about and try using relaxation techniques, such as guided imagery, listening to music, or practicing
yoga or meditation. With some practice, these techniques should work for you.
Listen to your body when it tells you to slow down or take a break.
Make sure to get enough sleep. Good sleep habits are one of the best ways to manage stress.
Take time for personal interests and hobbies.

RESOURCES

workshops
running workshops for motivation, team-building and improving performance

Workshops combine training, development, team-building, communications, motivation and

planning. Participation and involvement of staff increases the sense of ownership and
empowerment, and facilitates the development of organisations and individuals. Workshops are
effective in managing change and achieving improvement, and particularly the creation of initiatives,
plans, process and actions to achieve particular business and organisational aims. Workshops are
also great for breaking down barriers, improving communications inside and outside of
departments, and integrating staff after acquisition or merger. Workshops are particularly effective
for (CRM) customer relationship management development. The best and most constructive
motivational team-building format is a workshop, or better still series of workshops, focusing on the
people's key priorities and personal responsibilities/interest areas, which hopefully will strongly
overlap with business and departmental aims too. Workshops can be integrated within regular
monthly team meetings - an amazing amount of motivation progress and productivity can be
accomplished with just a 90 mins workshop per month. Workshop facilitation by a team leader or
manager develops leadership, and workshops achieve strong focus on business aims among team
members. Workshops are very effective for training too - workshops encourage buy-in and
involvement more than conventional training courses because they are necessarily participative, and
the content and output are created by the delegates. Also, the relationship between workshop
facilitator or workshop presenter and delegates is participative, whereas a 'trainer' is often
perceived as detached, and the training material 'not invented here'.
There are many workshop format variations - here's a basic workshop format:

Prior to workshop session identify and agree via consultation with the team the
aim/opportunity area to be addressed. It's helpful to refer to John Adair's Action-Centred
Leadership model for examples of different workshop subject areas and their implications.

It's also important to decide workshop objectives in relation to the team's 'maturity',
experience and development - refer to the Tuckman 'forming storming norming performing'
model, and the Tannenbaum and Schmidt model to understand and agree the level of
freedom and responsibility to give the team during workshops, and in agreeing workshop
follow-up actions and responsibilities.

Set suitable date and venue for meeting and issue agenda, with verbal
explanation/reassurance if necessary - seerunning meetings.

At start of workshop, introduce aim and process - agree expectations - answer queries. (5
mins)

Brainstorm the ideas and opportunities with the whole group - flip chart is best see brainstorming. (10-20 mins)

Split the group into pairs or threes (more usually creates passengers) and ask them to come
up with outline actions/initiatives/plans to achieve agreed purpose/aim. (20-30 mins)

Have groups present back their ideas - review and praise positives aspects in each, and
gently agree areas which would benefit from improvement/refining. (max 5 mins per group)

Then task and agree for groups or individuals to refine outline plans into clear objectives
(refer to SMARTER principles), during the workshop, or afterwards to be fed back to
manager, which can then be followed up and coached during implementation.

Follow up, coach, encourage, support and invite ideas for future workshop items and
process improvements.

tips on designing workshops

Workshops are an extremely flexible and effective method for training, learning, development,
change management, team building and problem solving, and virtually any organizational challenge.
You can actually run any sort of workshop you want - your options are as wide as your imagination
and certainly not limited to off-the-shelf or tried and tested formats.
Think about and then agree openly your aim(s) for each workshop or and/or session.
Invite suggestions from delegates beforehand as to workshop subjects and aims if you want to
maximise commitment and empowerment.

It helps for certain aims to use a model or concept to explain the theory behind your intentions, for
example if dealing with communications and motivation, helpful models
are: Johari, Maslow, Mcgregor, Tuckman, Emotional Intelligence - these sort of concepts are
interesting and accessible for students and organizational delegates of all types. There are many
others on this site.
There are also lots of materials and templates on the free resources section which help to theme
and underpin workshop sessions.
Split big groups into pairs or threes - this is more dynamic and produces more ideas - and gets the
whole group working better, particularly when they present ideas and review with the whole group.
As with teambuilding exercises, if you split into sub-teams of more than four it's advisable to have
each team appoint a leader, or things can be chaotic and some members become 'passengers'.
Try to agree actions and accountabilities at the end of sessions and workshops which enable followup.
My approach to workshops is always to tailor the content and structure for the particular situation,
which I would encourage you to do, rather than use off-the-shelf formats. Approach it like training
design - what are you (or the delegates) seeking to achieve? Be specific - more specific than just
'team-building' or 'improving relationships' - you need to identify a specific element within a general
aim.
Establish and agree a measurable output(s) or result(s) that represent the aim(s), and then work
back from there in thinking how to structure the workshop or session(s).
Unless you have a good reason for using laptops and projector, have the delegates use flip chart
paper and coloured marker pens, and hang the sheets around the walls. This enables delegates to be
far more dynamic and creative than modern technology media.
Encourage people to use creative methods that are appropriate for their personal styles and learning
styles.
Visual, spatial, creative people enjoy working with flip-charts, colours, 'post-it' notes, etc.
People-centred individuals and teams enjoy human interaction - role-plays, discussions, mutual
interviews, etc.
Logical, numerate, process-oriented people are happier with more structured planning tools and
computers.
Think about the sort of people in the workshop groups and provide tools, materials and methods
that they will be comfortable using.

See the guidelines for team building games and exercises, the free team building games, and for
business strategy: the free SWOT analysis template and examples, and the free PEST analysis
template, which can all help in running successful workshops.
Facilitating effective workshops is a skill that comes with experience. Effective workshops require a
facilitative and enabling approach - not a directing autocratic style, so concentrate on enabling and
providing tools, knowledge, mechanisms, freedoms, processes, information, etc., that open people's
minds and make connections between tasks and people, in an enjoyable, constructive and liberating
way.