Your team is feeling overwhelmed by stress. How can you help them regain control?

Identification is the most important step in addressing any problem, including stress. Without recognizing the specific sources of stress, it is impossible to address them effectively. For example, if we don’t know that a patient is suffering from depression, how can we provide the right support or treatment? Promoting open communication is crucial in this process. It allows individuals to express their concerns, providing a clearer picture of the issues at hand. This understanding makes it easier to take appropriate steps to resolve the stress and support the team.

Developmental training that builds self-awareness enhances the ability to recognise when stress transitions into distress. Stress, in itself, isn't inherently negative; it can drive performance. However, each individual's capacity varies, and it's crucial to have the right support systems in place to maintain peak performance. It's important to differentiate between acute stress, which can be manageable and even beneficial, and chronic stress, which can be detrimental. By helping individuals understand and identify when they're operating outside their window of tolerance, we can better support them in maintaining their capacity and well-being.

Open dialogue in high-stress and high-performance environments must be sensitive to the individual's feelings of failure. When stress management is pushed to the extreme, leading to burnout, it can be challenging for individuals to seek support without feeling inferior. It's difficult to commit to well-being when the internal dialogue is "I'm failing—I just need to do more and be better." On the flip side, there's often a defensive need to justify one's efforts. Both scenarios can trigger physiological responses that, without proper training, can exacerbate stress and heighten feelings of isolation.

Creating psychological safety is key for your team to speak openly about their stressors. Many employees won't share their stressors for fear that it will reflect badly on their resilience or perceived performance. Reducing stigma by opening discussions around mental health in 1-1s, listening non-judgementally, and supporting them with accessing support and solutions is key in helping them regain control. If the stress is team-wide, consider running a workshop where they can problem-solve together and build a support network to manage stressors.

At it's heart, stress is felt when we just don't feel we have the resources to cope with what we need to do. These resources could be time, skills, information or help from others. This feeling of stress and overwhelm also comes from a feeling of being out of control. What helps enormously is writing everything down. It's tried and tested and might seem a bit cliche but it's incredibly effective. When I'm feeling like this I created quadrants on a page and list what I need to do under a heading in each quadrant: Work, Family, Personal Admin, Other Simply writing down what's in our heads increases a feeling of control and gives us a clearer picture of where to start.

From my perspective as a coach and human performance physiologist, time management at an operational level makes sense, but at a human level is important to combine with physiological resets and mindful check-ins; this shifts the productivity in the managed time. The real edge comes from knowing what you’re bringing to each task. Ask yourself: Am I seeing the problem clearly, or have I pushed beyond my optimal capacity? Following ultradian rhythms, pausing to reflect on your values between stimulus and response, and maintaining self-awareness of internal processes that create undue urgency or pressure are all crucial. And finally, mastering the ability to switch off when necessary can make all the difference in maintaining peak performance.

A wonderful study that was looking at the similarity of burnout symptoms and perimenopause symptom; and in turn the exacerbation of both - found that those with a strong support network and social connection at work did better in bother scenarios for symptoms management. And the newer study that looks at the power of an 8 minute phone call to reconnect with what matters inherently returned a sense of ease and happiness. So who should your phone call be to, your bestie, your reality checker, your cheerleader, your professional support??

Effective wellness programs are powerful tools in helping teams manage stress, but the key to lasting wellbeing lies in fostering self-leadership. When individuals develop self-leadership skills, they gain the ability to navigate stress with resilience and clarity, making decisions that align with their well-being. Additionally, creating networks within the team that offer support and encouragement can significantly enhance overall morale. Programs that combine these elements can provide the foundation for sustainable, long-term wellness in the workplace.