The Key To Keeping Your Employees Stress-Free At Work in 2019

A chilled-out team is a happy team, and a happy team of employees is a productive one. The pressure of tight deadlines and ambitious targets is enough for your staff to worry about, without office politics, physical ailments and a snail-slow computer system on top. These are factors you can easily control, to help things run as smoothly as possible in the workplace and allow your staff the freedom to do their jobs.

Here’s our guide to helping your employees live their best work life:

Encourage staff to de-stress on their own terms

Make it clear to your team that you want them to feel relaxed at work and enjoy their experience. By speaking to staff about the problems stress can cause you can help them think of ways to reduce pressure. This list of tips for avoiding work overload should help them consider what they need to do to make their task-load more manageable. This sets the ball rolling for you to apply stress-reducing techniques in the workspace for your team as a whole.

Use a shared organisation tool like Asana

Post-it notes crumpled in the folds of a laptop will never escape your to-do list. A shared work tool that lets the whole team organise tasks in one place means each of your employees are on the same page and know what is expected of them and when. An application like Asana is great for delegating tasks easily and quickly. It allows users to create lists or virtual pin-boards where they can attach digital labels and assign roles to different staff members.

Let your employees go home (for goodness’ sake!)

Particularly if you’re a small-scale start-up on the verge of success, it can sometimes feel as though the entire team is obliged to put in extra hours to help get things off the ground. As the owner of a small business it can feel like a godsend when your handful of employees are willing to work late and appear to care about projects as much as you do. Keep this in mind though: what if they’re simply eager to please, and inwardly dying for a rest? As a leader, it’s your responsibility to keep working hours fixed and clear. Staff with a more even work-life balance will perform better and be more content in the long term.

Encourage mindfulness at work

No, this is not just a gimmick from the shiny, bean-bag-strewn offices of Google. It’s a genuinely effective way to help your staff relax. Mindfulness apps like Headspace allow team members the chance to take 10 or 15 minutes from their day for some peace and quiet. Set aside time for group meditations; at worst they’ll result in uncontrollable giggling and general team merriment: great for morale. At best they will turn headache-plagued staff into chilled-out workers with the focus and clarity to perform at their best.

Make resting and snacking standard

Another tip from Google HQ is to allow napping at the workplace. You don’t all have to curl up together in a pod, but providing an option for a brief lie down shows staff you are considerate of their energy levels. Devoting the budget to healthy snacks is another idea for keeping the workforce fuelled and focussed. Eating sensibly at work is an age-old challenge, so by providing a fruit bowl, high-carb and protein nibbles or even a healthy group lunch, you can save your staff the Sunday night meal-prep panic and allow them a chance to bond and gossip over wholesome and healthy treats.

Author’s bio:

Irma Hunkeler works for Re:signal, a digital marketing agency. Her experience includes working for clients in different industries such as travel, retail, recruitment, technology and charitable institutions. Extensive networking and meeting professionals across different industries, allow her to collaborate with industry experts for her writing.

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