Creating a Stress Free Office
A Gower Management Workbook

Starting with the premise that stress is damaging to the organization as a whole, the authors describe the technique of "innoculating your staff against stress" and place it amongst the other core skills and responsibilities of the manager or team leader,

This workbook starts with the premise that stress is damaging to the organization as a whole and that effective stress prevention will only happen if people work together to understand stress, audit its causes and symptoms and act to deal with its impact. The authors describe the technique of "innoculating your staff against stress" and place it amongst the other core skills and responsibilities of the manager or team leader. Using a mixture of facts, techniques, cartoons and illustrations, questionnaires, quizzes, exercises and games, the authors provide the means to: understand what stress is and what responsiblities your organization has under the law; identify the precise causes of stress within your own team and develop strategies for reducing their impact; recognize the symptoms of stress in your team and understand the role you have supporting individuals; and understand the four main strands to reducing stress and how to apply them in the workplace. This text is aimed at managers and team-leaders at all levels, for self-study, and trainers for use in conjunction with formal courses - whether in-company or external.

Part 1 What is stress?: facts and feelings - the secrets of successful management, out attitudes to stress, the facts, the law, what should organizations do?
defining stress - what is stress?, a psychologists's definition, when pressure becomes stress, the pressure curve
implications for managers - personal pressure curves, the pressure curve of your team, implications for managers. Part 2 What causes stress?: setbacks, challenges and hassles - three categories of stress inducers, the stress audit, setbacks, hassles, challenges
auditing stress in your team - identifying challenges, hassles and setbacks, stress audit for the team, generating audit questions
implications for managers - appraising our own capability, ANTs, the mental style of copers, encouraging helpful characteristics, tackling the causes of stress. Part 3 What are the symptoms of stress: the symptoms - symptoms of stress activity, why do we get the symptoms of stress?, personal checklist - the symptoms of stress
auditing the symptoms of stress - symptoms audit, suggestions for audit questions, how do I know when a person is under stress?
implications for managers - the effect on capability, breaking the vicious circle, long term preventive action with the team. Part 4 What can be done to reduce stress?: KARMA - the answer to stress, KARMA, stress audit
the all round approach - physical and mental well-being, obtaining support, assertiveness, relaxation
the stress free office - managing skills in the stress free office, example A - objective setting, example B - listening, next steps, conclusion - trapped in the lift.