134 brilliant stress management
Signs and portents
Stress in a workplace becomes visible in two ways: through
changes in individuals, and through change across a team or
across your entire staff. We’ll examine the indicators for these
one at a time. You may like to make a tally of how many you are
aware of among your colleagues and in your workplace.
Individual signs of stress
It would be very rare for all of these signs to be present and,
indeed, some will depend on the individual’s personality. In fact,
one of the commonest yet most subtle signs of stress is when
personality traits and characteristics become more pronounced.
Other things you may notice include:
Health
Fatigue, tiredness
Coughs, colds, recurrent illness
Frequent headaches
Back, neck and shoulder pain
Twitching, tics (eye area particularly), hand tremors
Stomach or bowel problems, indigestion, atulence
Skin disorders, greasy or spotty face, are-ups of acne,
eczema or psoriasis
High heart and breathing rates – perspiration, ushing
Weight loss/gain
Mood and emotional
Tension, irritability, mood swings
Anger and frustration
Tearfulness, crying
Anxiety, listlessness, depression
Loss of motivation/commitment
Manage stress at work 135
Oversensitivity to small things or under-sensitivity to major
issues
Behavioural
Poor concentration, indecision, forgetfulness
Declining/inconsistent performance
Uncharacteristic errors
Lapses in memory
Poor timekeeping, absences, leaving early
Increased time at work
Poor posture
Appearance and personal care decline
Nail biting, lip biting
Stimulant abuse – coffee, cigarettes, alcohol
Fidgeting, drumming ngers
Door, drawer, phone slamming
Arguments and conict with colleagues, customers and
other people
Risk-taking and accidents
Collective signs of stress
Across a whole team or organisation, you may start to notice
systemic trends from a rise in the incidence of undesirable indi-
cators. These statistical features may only provide solid evidence
after a long period, but if you are monitoring them frequently
enough, they can provide early indicators that you need to be
on the alert for personal signs of stress that you can deal with
quickly.
Increased absence levels
Poor timekeeping
General poor health
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