HOW TO NORMALIZE ACUTE STRESS REACTIONS

Most people can keep their emotions in line at the workplace. They don't fall apart and have tantrums and crying binges all day. If they do it is clear that something is seriously wrong and they have too much stress or tension in their life. But even normal, healthy , well-adjusted adults have bad days, and suffer from acute episodes of stress and tension. Ideally, people should not fear this nor should businesses fear these events. Normalizing stress as part of the human experience takes a lot of pressure off of everyone. In fact, it is usually a bonding process between "survivors of stress" to share tension and stress stories which often increases team loyalties, somewhat like fox-hole buddies . "We did it! Good for us!" Normal tensions should come and go like waves and a good management team can support their people by handing out the surfboard wax, or hollering a rousing "SURF'S UP, GANG" cheer . Normal, regular, run-of-the-mill emotional spins are not a problem, and, in fact, can add color to a dreary workplace. But if spinning does not rapidly resolve, or becomes a repetitive cycle something else is happening.

Case Example

Jason was in a foul mood. He was late to the staff meeting and did not contribute. Toward the end of the meeting the manager asked Jason what was going on. Jason growled that he was having trouble with the new computer upgrade. The manager stopped the team and announced to all, "Hey, I hear Jason is the only one in the office who wants to throw the computers out the window? Are we going to let him be the only one having that much fun?" The team stopped and cheered and was loud and unruly for two or three minutes. During the uproar, while everyone was complaining and laughing and grumbling publicly , the manager quietly asked Lou, a senior staff member, to pop in and give the tea, a bit more encouragement and support. Lou offered one-on-one training at the end of the week to Jason or anyone who wanted some extra time. Jason refused with, "nah, I'm actually getting it. It's just I didn't sleep last night because my son was up with the flu the entire night." The manager shared that his wife was down with it also. The work continued with good production levels throughout the day, with the team making humorous references to vicious things they wanted to do with their computers.