Whether staff are going into work or working from home, the COVID-19 pandemic has not only changed the way they work but also what is happening all their lives.
Uncertainly creates stress
People are not able to live like they did before, see family and friends, visit favourite their places, travel or are just feeling worried about their future, their job and their family. This uncertainty has created heightened fear, anxiety, and other strong emotions that can be overwhelming and create stress that leads to reduced performance and productivity at a minimum and burnout at the extreme.
What can you do as a manager or leader?
Especially in today’s uncertain times, it is critical that you recognise what stress looks like and know what steps to take to build resilience and options for coping with the stress of the Coronavirus Challenge.
How you and your team cope with these emotions and stress and the resulting behaviours will affect their well-being, the well-being of the people you care about, your workplace, and your community. And from a business view staff engagement, productivity and performance.
The stress caused by this uncertainty is not going away anytime in the immediate future, so learning to cope with and manage this stress it has never been more important.
How to best manage stress
The best way to start managing stress is to understand what it is and how it impacts you personally. Understand the physical changes stress has on you and how you may react or behave when you are stressed. Some even suggest that stress even good for us.
Once you have this understanding you can learn techniques to help develop an inner calm and strategies for building emotional resilience. This will help you and your team cope with the current situation and create a more caring and engaged work environment that leads to better productivity and performance.
Need some more support?
If you would like more information on how to reduce stress by perceiving and understanding your own emotions and those of your staff, check out our Emotional Intelligence Assessment and Training services or Contact Us for an initial consultation (the first hour is on us)