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STRESS IN BUSINESS - A GOOD THING?

How important or dangerous is stress in business?

Stress to many people is necessary to bring out the best, to become more creative and work better.

Others find stress tiring and counter productive to a point where work and business efficiency suffers, staff are ill more often with associated delays and costs which builds MORE STRESS in those left to row the boat.

Stress is individual, some people can take a little, others none at all. Some need it, most avoid it.

What switches on stress in a business and what can we do to reduce it?

• disorganisation - if people are confused they get stressed trying to cope and make mistakes, good planning is vital. Often even seemingly efficient systems can be improved on, reducing costs and speeding up processes, production costs are reduced and staff are happier.

• lack of clear leadership - knowing who is in charge, what the tasks are, and being left to get on with it works well. Where a business owner allocates tasks to supervisors or managers each must know their roles and priorities individually AND collectively.

• money shortage - many businesses are under funded from the start, or continue to struggle on a tight budget for years. They are forced to cut corners, avoid necessary investment in tools and equipment, are slow paying their own bills. Often well off business owners are just TIGHT with money and whilst this is not a bad method, some take it too far and create stress and restrictions on business growth and staff.

• bad payers - having supplied the goods or carried out services and not getting paid hits cash flow and is annoying. Being in a cash up front or on completion business has a lot going for it. If you give credit then control risks well and have clear procedures to chase slow payers. Consider factoring as a way of improving cash flow.

• bad staff management - some business owners have bad people management skills they see staff as "tools" rather than people, and forget they have needs, ideas, and lives outside work. Happy staff are loyal, productive and efficient, unhappy staff leave, are sick more and spread rumours.

• too busy - to think or plan - "we must get around to it soon" syndrome. Thus vital tasks get left undone, improvements to methods carry on in the same old way. Make time to plan ahead, solve problems and strive to become more efficient. Work flows easier and staff are less stressed.

• understaffed - a growing business can get so busy staff and methods just cannot cope and there is no time to bring in more help - staff work overtime, come in at weekends, and increase stress both at work and at home.

• no breaks - taking a rushed sandwich at your desk or machine hardly qualifies as a stress reducing break, it's so necessary staff and management take frequent breaks and owners must see this as a priority.

• fixed hours - flexible working hours have proven more beneficial as staff can avoid peak traffic flow and fit their hours around family life easier.

• information - letting everyone know what is going on - often business owners keep staff in the dark and rumours and worries can get out of hand. A well informed team work better towards a common aim, and can take bad news better. See the business as a team effort with a clear leader and success is more likely, and to many certain.

Useful web sites

How to deal with stress | Business Link Putting the systems and policies in place to deal with the growing problem of stress in the workplace.

Business stress information Stages of Stress · Four Reactions to Stress · Stress Styles and Work

Handling Stress in a Small Business In order to alleviate stress, home business owners need to prioritize and set a schedule for the division of time for each set of responsibilities.

Top 10 Causes of Workplace Stress Top 10 Causes of Workplace Stress, Business-Building Information articles and resources to build your business.

Please feel free to Contact Us with questions or to give us information to add to our knowledge base.