Many of us experience stress in life, whether this is in the short term from one-off projects, or long-term stress from a high-pressure career.

Not only can this be profoundly unpleasant, it can seriously affect our health and our work. However, it is possible to manage stress, if you use the right tools and techniques.

In this article, we’ll look at what stress is, what increases your risk of experiencing it, and how you can manage it, so that it doesn’t affect your well-being and productivity.

https://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/managing-stress.htm?utm_source=Twitter&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=mtpage

Devil’s advocates tend to pop up just when a project is about to launch. The idea has been validated and vetted, and then the devil’s advocate threatens to derail the whole affair with a volley of last-minute questions that appear to undermine the core rationale. Champions of the project are often blindsided, fumbling for a defense of what they thought was obvious.

I hear about devil’s advocates all the time in my work leading research projects that help industries measure how well they advance women and how they can do better. Women’s initiatives are lightning rods for people who take a provocative position not to learn more, but to be disruptive. They claim they are challenging “political correctness” or the fairness of giving any one group “special treatment.” Copious data indicates that more women in leadership delivers better business results. Companies know they need to retain, develop and promote more women to better serve women customers, clients and investors. Yet, I’ve seen many women’s initiatives derailed or weakened when a devil’s advocate argues that addressing the specific needs of women staff is somehow unfair to everyone else.

While devil’s advocates can be a force for good—by challenging assumptions and helping to sharpen thinking—it’s important to know how to deal with them. How do you disarm a devil’s advocate? The goal should be to address legitimate concerns while foiling spurious objections. Here are six tactics that work for me and my clients in our work to retain and develop women leaders:

Be ready with a powerhouse statistic that crystallizes the case. That’s how Darin Goehner, a partner with Seattle accounting firm Moss Adams, responds when men ask, “Hey, when do we get our initiative?” His response: “Look at the numbers. When women are 51% of partners, that’s when men get their initiative.” Goehner’s answer drills down to the heart of the matter: the disproportionate effect of the CPA profession’s culture on partner-track women.

Show how the topic is really a business issue, best solved by applying the same skills that you use with customers or clients. Risa Lavine, chief of staff for New York-based accounting firm CohnReznick, is sometimes asked if investing in a women’s initiative will deliver measurable results. She turns it around by saying, “This is a business problem. So let’s tackle it as a business problem,” applying analysis, research and recommendations. CohnReznick is methodical about tracking the retention and advancement of its women, just as with any other metric.

Tackle the status quo head-on. It’s tempting for longtime leaders to think that a culture that has worked for them will work just as well for others. They’ll say, “If it ain’t broke….” Counter this with forecasts that illustrate the consequences of letting the status quo continue uninterrupted. Show alternative scenarios that project the expected effects of the proposed program.

Challenge assumptions by redirecting attention to the real issue. Occasionally, a devil’s advocate will make a sweeping statement, such as, “Women don’t really want to make it to the top.” The answer: “We need to ask women what they want and find out what it will take to help them achieve their goals.”

Show how everyone wins. Some people assume that supplementary programs for women give them “an unfair advantage.” Providing extra resources to offset cultural barriers doesn’t take anything away from men. In fact, the whole organization gains when women become better at selling, managing, innovating, and leading. Counter with: “It’s about adding more ways for women to win, not subtracting ways for men to win.”

Focus on shared goals, not winning this argument. Some people just can’t help it. “Let me play devil’s advocate…” they’ll say. When someone opens with this frank admission, it’s reasonable to ask why they think that’s constructive. Try: “Let’s not. We all agree that we need to find new ways to develop female talent. Let’s build on that, instead of trying to dismantle what we’ve already accomplished.”

https://hbr.org/2016/01/what-to-do-when-a-devils-advocate-tries-to-derail-your-project

Do you often feel overwhelmed by the amount of work you have to do, or do you find yourself missing deadlines? Or do you sometimes just forget to do something important, so that people have to chase you to get work done?

All of these are symptoms of not keeping a proper “To-Do List.” These are prioritized lists of all the tasks that you need to carry out. They list everything that you have to do, with the most important tasks at the top of the list, and the least important tasks at the bottom.

By keeping such a list, you make sure that your tasks are written down all in one place so you don’t forget anything important. And by prioritizing tasks, you plan the order in which you’ll do them, so that you can tell what needs your immediate attention, and what you can leave until later.

To-Do Lists are essential if you’re going to beat work overload. When you don’t use them effectively, you’ll appear unfocused and unreliable to the people around you. When you do use them effectively, you’ll be much better organized, and you’ll be much more reliable. You’ll experience less stress, safe in the knowledge that you haven’t forgotten anything important. More than this, if you prioritize intelligently, you’ll focus your time and energy on high value activities, which will mean that you’re more productive, and more valuable to your team.

Keeping a properly structured and thought-out list sounds simple enough. But it can be surprising how many people fail to use them at all, never mind use them effectively. In fact, it’s often when people start to use them effectively and sensibly that they make their first personal productivity breakthroughs, and start making a success of their careers. Read more.

Imagine this scenario: One of your team members has saved the company a significant amount of money with a process she spent weeks creating.

It’s right before the winter holidays, so you decide to reward her with a turkey that she and her family can enjoy for dinner one night. You make a big deal of presenting the turkey to her. She smiles and shyly accepts the gift, quickly putting it in the office refrigerator. You feel good because you rewarded her efforts, and she seemed to be happy about the recognition.

But is she? Things aren’t always as they appear. You didn’t take the time to learn whether or not she eats meat, so you didn’t discover that she’s a vegetarian. And you didn’t consider that she commutes to the office one hour by train – so by the time she gets that frozen turkey home to give away to friends, it will be a drippy, soggy mess.

Have you ever wondered why the rewards you offer don’t seem to be received very well? We often hear from business experts about how important it is to reward your team. But it’s equally important to take the time to find out how your team would really like to be recognized. Sometimes people don’t want a bonus or pay raise. Instead, what they’d really like is a sincere “thank you” or a day off to spend with their families.

This article can help you learn the “ins and outs” of recognizing your team.

https://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/newTMM_54.htm?utm_source=Twitter&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=mtpage

Have you ever been so afraid of failing at something that you decided not to try it at all? Or has a fear of failure meant that, subconsciously, you undermined your own efforts to avoid the possibility of a larger failure?

Many of us have probably experienced this at one time or another. The fear of failing can be immobilizing – it can cause us to do nothing, and therefore resist moving forward. But when we allow fear to stop our forward progress in life, we’re likely to miss some great opportunities along the way.

In this article, we’ll examine fear of failure: what it means, what causes it, and how to overcome it to enjoy true success in work, and in life.

https://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/fear-of-failure.htm?utm_source=Twitter&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=mtpage

You’ve just arrived at the office, and it looks like it will be another typical day. Before you even sit down, one of your team walks into your office and asks for your help on the budget she’s preparing. As soon as she leaves, someone wants to know if you have any time to help him with a marketing plan that’s due by the end of the week.

Before you know it, you’ve spent much of your day helping your team to do their jobs, while your own tasks are left untouched.

It’s important for managers to be a resource to those they lead. But it’s easy for teams to take advantage of this. Over time, they can develop “manager dependency.”

So how can you train team members to take more responsibility for their own tasks, instead of running to you for “hand-holding” through every step? In this article, we’ll examine how to decrease manager dependency, and how to get the members of your team to “stand on their own two feet.”

Micromanaging and Delegating

Team members often become dependent on their manager because of micromanagement . When managers don’t let team members take responsibility and ownership of tasks, then it’s understandable that people come to depend on that control.

It’s important to take a close look at your management style. Is it possible that you’re managing your team just a bit too closely?

If you are, then cut back slowly. Start by giving people tasks that don’t have to be perfect. (When you reduce your control and input, your team might be uncertain at first – that’s why it’s a good idea to start with low-priority or low-importance tasks or projects.)

Next, look at how you’re delegating . When delegating tasks, team members must understand exactly what they need to do, they need to know that they have the skills and knowledge to complete the task, and they need to feel responsible for delivering it with a certain level of quality by a certain deadline.

If any of this information is missing when you assign tasks, then your people may be forced to come to you for more information. You can avoid this by making sure that they have everything they need at the start of the project. To learn more about assigning responsibility, see our article on The Responsibility Assignment Matrix .

One strategy for preventing manager dependency is to assign one task to two team members. Give them the responsibility for dividing the work. If they have questions, encourage them to discuss issues with each other first. They should come to you only if they’re unable to find an answer together.

Let them know at the start of the task that you’ve given them all of the information you have. And explain that if you knew all of the answers, you wouldn’t need intelligent people in their roles! Let them know that the task will require them to do some brainstorming and strategic thinking, and that you trust their ability to do it. Also make it clear that you want them to come to you with a finished project.

If they do have problems, remember the old advice to “get people to come to you with solutions, not with problems.” Make sure that they’ve thought through at least one possible solution to the problem before they come to bother you.

Creating a Culture of Responsibility

For your team to take responsibility , you must have a workplace culture that encourages this behaviour.

Look at your organization’s culture . Does your company encourage or discourage responsibility and independent thinking?

If it’s discouraged, then you need to take steps to change this.

Make sure that “taking responsibility” is written into your performance plans. You want your team to know that this behaviour will be rewarded. When team members take independent action to get the job done, praise them for their initiative.

When it’s time for performance appraisals, assess team members on their ability to take responsibility. Let them know that you value their initiative, and that the more they take responsibility for their tasks, the better their appraisals will be. Keep notes on which team members have taken responsibility, and what they did specifically, so you can discuss this during their performance reviews.

Using Parenting Techniques with Your Team

Surprisingly, you can use some proven parenting techniques to teach your team to be more independent.

For instance, many parents are encouraged to let their young children take the lead in some situations. The children’s choices might be wrong, but the experience allows them to learn and grow.

This is a wonderful technique to use with your team. During meetings, put someone else in charge while you sit back and observe. Or, let the group choose a leader. Putting the team in control forces them to rely less on you, and it empowers them to make their own choices.

Parents are also advised to “practice being absent” if they want their children to be more independent. If your organization allows telecommuting, spend more time away from the office – or simply keep your door closed, signaling that you don’t want to be disturbed. Putting space between you and your team will force them to make decisions on their own.

https://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/preventing-manager-dependency.htm?utm_source=Twitter&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=mtpage

So how does one incorporate resilience and compassion into teamwork in the face of tough challenges, work overload/deadlines, pressures to meet commissioning/trust targets and understanding the minds of the differing personalities that you work with on a daily basis?

There are no easy answers or quick solutions however what I have realised whilst working within my team is that small random acts of kindness often goes a long way.

Equally what is pertinent is that you have to make attempts at chipping away at the obstacles whilst embracing change. We pride ourselves on the fact that our team is great because we incorporate the 5 R’s with the 6C’s: Respect each other Role model – to staff/clients/community Resilient – we don’t get going when it gets tough. Responsibility- we are responsible for ourselves, clients & community Restorative – offload & reflect.

Overall what it simply comes down to is that happiness can be created whenever & wherever you are by small random acts of kindness. Sometimes we can be doing this without giving it a second thought.

http://www.fabnhsstuff.net/2016/01/10/incorporating-resilience-compassion-team-work/

Positive and negative thoughts can become self-fulfilling prophecies: What we expect can often come true.

If you start off thinking you will mess up a task, the chances are that you will: You may not try hard enough to succeed, you won’t attract support from other people, and you may not perceive any results as good enough.

Positive thinking, on the other hand, is often associated with positive actions and outcomes. You’re drawn to, and you focus on, the positive aspects of a situation. You have hope and faith in yourself and others, and you work and invest hard to prove that your optimism is warranted. You’ll enthuse others, and they may well “pitch in” to help you. This makes constructive outcomes all the more likely.

When it comes down to it, positive, optimistic people are happier and healthier, and enjoy more success than those who think negatively. The key difference between them is how they think about and interpret the events in their life.

So, how do you think about your successes and failures? Do you have a predictable thinking pattern? Find out here.

Problems are at the center of what many people do at work every day. Whether you’re solving a problem for a client (internal or external), supporting those who are solving problems, or discovering new problems to solve, the problems you face can be large or small, simple or complex, and easy or difficult.

A fundamental part of every manager’s role is finding ways to solve them. So, being a confident problem solver is really important to your success. Much of that confidence comes from having a good process to use when approaching a problem. With one, you can solve problems quickly and effectively. Without one, your solutions may be ineffective, or you’ll get stuck and do nothing, with sometimes painful consequences.

There are four basic steps in solving a problem:

• Defining the problem.
• Generating alternatives.
• Evaluating and selecting alternatives.
• Implementing solutions.

Steps 2 to 4 of this process are covered in depth in other areas of Mind Tools. For these, see our sections on Creativity for step 2 (generating alternatives); Decision Making for step 3 (evaluating and selecting alternatives); and Project Management for step 4 (implementing solutions).

The articles in this section of Mind Tools therefore focus on helping you make a success of the first of these steps – defining the problem. A very significant part of this involves making sense of the complex situation in which the problem occurs, so that you can pinpoint exactly what the problem is. Many of the tools in this section help you do just that. We look at these, and then review some useful, well-established problem-solving frameworks.

https://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/newTMC_00.htm?utm_source=Twitter&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=mtpage

Are individual members of your team performing less well than you’d hoped? If so, this proverb can take on great significance. To figure out what’s causing the performance issue, you have to get to the root of the problem.

But because employee performance affects organizational performance, we tend to want to look for a quick fix. Would a training course help Ted? Or should you move him into a different role?

These types of solutions focus largely on the ability of the person performing the job. Performance, though, is a function of both ability and motivation.

Performance = Ability x Motivation

From “Developing Management Skills” (8th Edition) p.27, by David A. Whetten and Kim S. Cameron. © 2011. Reprinted by permission of Pearson Education, Inc. Upper Saddle River, NJ.

Where:

Ability is the person’s aptitude, as well as the training and resources supplied by the organization.

Motivation is the product of desire and commitment.

Someone with 100 percent motivation and 75 performance ability can often achieve above-average performance. But a worker with only 25 percent ability won’t be able to achieve the type of performance you expect, regardless of his or her level of motivation.

So, before you can fix poor performance, you have to understand its cause. Does it come from lack of ability or low motivation? Read more…

https://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/newTMM_80.htm?utm_source=Twitter&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=mtpage