We all have times where we feel stressed, because of personal relationships, work, or other obligations. Stress isn’t always bad. It can sometimes be positive. Research suggests that a moderate level of stress that can be overcome often helps an individual feel stronger and more productive. Stress becomes a problem when it impedes our ability to be productive and reduces morale.

There are many things that can cause negative levels of stress in the workplace. Poor communication, lack of accountability and distrust are just a few.

You can evaluate the level of stress you may be adding to your team by asking yourself these simple questions:

  • Are my employees working in careers that have high depression rates? If so, what help can I offer to help them minimize stress?
  • Are my employees overworked? Do we have a high turnover rates? Do we have fair compensation?
  • Do I trust my employees and in turn do they trust me?
  • How often am I communicating one on one with my employees about not only their careers by their lives as a whole?
  • Am I holding m y team accountable for their work?
  • Am I treating employees fairly?
  • Is my management style adding or reducing to my employee’s stress?

We cannot control all the stress our employees experience. Employees may have problems outside the workplace that increase their stress levels. This makes finding ways to minimize stress in the work environment even more important to improving employee productivity and morale.

Here are some stress-reducing activities to try with your employees:

  • Get out of the office and go on a walk
  • End the day doing ten minutes of meditation
  • Create a game area for your employees to hang out and build personal relationships during breaks
  • Take your team to lunch away from the office
  • Find ways to recognize employees or departments for their hard work or accomplishments
  • Do a fun service project to help everyone get engaged and give back

What ideas have you implemented to help employees destress? We would love to hear about them on our Facebook page.