Understanding Stress and its Impact

• Stress is any force that pushes a psychological or physical factor of a human being beyond its range of stability, causing strain.
• Hans Selye defined stress as the force, pressure, or strain exerted upon a material object or person that resists these forces to maintain its original state.
• Workplace related situations can yield both positive enhancements and negative effects.
• When external or internal demands exceed a person's capacity to cope psychologically or physically, stress occurs.
• Stress is now commonly associated with mental health concerns.
• Stress is a major societal challenge with 75% of bodily diseases related.
• Prolonged stress can suppress the body's immune system.
• Stressors are events causing the body to give a stress response like noise, crowding, or commuting.
• The perception of stress depends on an individual's subjective interpretation and available coping resources.
• Different types of stressful events are social/relational (rudeness etc), financial (taxes etc), and organizational (restrictive rules etc)
• Other stressful events include life events (death etc), lifestyle choices (poor diet etc), and physiological factors (poor health etc).
• Primary appraisal is how a new environment is perceived (positive, neutral, or negative).
• Negative events are assessed for harm, threat, or challenge.
• Harm is the assessment of damage already done, and threat is the assessment of possible future damage.
• Challenge appraisals are connected to expectations of coping and potential benefits.
• Secondary appraisal is the evaluation of coping abilities relative to the situation.
• Factors influencing appraisals include past experience and perceived controllability.
• Perceived control reduces stress.
• The General Adaptation Syndrome (GAS) describes how the body responds to any stress in three stages: alarm, resistance, and exhaustion.
• Hans Selye developed GAS in 1936, which is a formulation of stress.
• Long-term stress can cause problems, making coping strategies and professional support important.

Stages of GAS

• Alarm Reaction is the initial response, triggering the "fight-or-flight" response, increasing heart rate and releasing hormones like cortisol and adrenaline.
• After the initial alarm, the body attempts to repair itself.
• During the resistance stage, the body remains on alert, adapting to the higher stress level.
• Ongoing stress leads to physical changes to cope.
• If stress is not resolved, the body enters the exhaustion stage, where resources are depleted.
• The signs of the resistance stage include irritability, frustration, and poor concentration.
• The exhaustion stage results from prolonged stress, draining resources and leading to feelings of hopelessness.
• Signs of exhaustion include fatigue, burnout, depression, anxiety, and decreased stress tolerance.

Occupational Stress

• Inevitable in many jobs, taking a major part of one's life in terms of time and importance.
• It can be a source of gratification, challenge, and harm.
• Conflicts between a person's goals and organizational goals relates to work stress.

Organizational Strategies for Stress Management

• Employee selection and job placement
• Training
• Realistic goal-setting
• Job redesign
• Increased employee involvement
• Improved organizational communication
• Employee sabbaticals
• Corporate wellness programs

Individual Strategies for Stress Management

• Time-management techniques
• Increased physical exercise
• Relaxation training
• Expanded social support networks
• Meditation

Stress Management Skills

• Optimize health through diet.
• Regular exercising
• Avoiding harmful substances
• Practicing relaxation techniques
• Setting achievable goals
• Assertiveness
• Examining values
• Reducing stressors

Additional Ways to Deal with Stress

• Long-Term: Exercise, eat well, mindfulness, relaxation.
• Short-Term: Take walks, breathe deeply, aromatherapy, get hugs,
• Home: Express yourself, take action, organize, create space.
• Work: Understand expectations, avoid multitasking, minimize conflict, be comfortable.
• Relationships: Remove stressors, address root causes, make time for yourself, improve communication.
• Distress is a negative stress response from being overwhelmed, and eustress is the positive stress response from challenging tasks.
• Distress=Bad, Eustress=good

Interpersonal Skills

• Behaviors used to interact effectively with others.
• Encompass strong communication and the ability to manage emotions.
• Referred to as people skills, social skills, or social intelligence.
• Involves reading and accurately interpreting social cues to form effective responses.

Top 10 Interpersonal Skills

• Emotional intelligence means recognizing, understanding, managing, and influencing emotions in oneself and others
• Communication is essential, including verbal, non-verbal (facial expressions etc), active listening, and digital communication.
• Reliability means being ethical, timely, and fulfilling promises.
• Delegation, motivation, problem-solving, and conflict resolution skills will yield success in leadership positions
• Demonstrate positivity
• Negotiation and persuasion will aid in coming to agreements
• Openness to feedback includes flexibility, active listening, humility, open-mindedness, and adaptability.
• The ability to show empathy to colleagues builds a cohesive work environment
• Teamwork skills promote delegation, negotiation, collaboration, cooperation, creativity, idea exchange, and listening.
• Conflict resolution skills involves managing workplace relationships

The Art of Persuasion

• Convinces others to agree or act and is valuable in the workplace for work performance.
• Influences teamwork and leadership
• Improves productivity, facilitates organizational change, advances careers, and empowers individuals.

Persuasion Techniques

• Framing: Influencing perception through description and explanation.
• Emphasizing "we" rather than "you" promotes inclusivity.
• Speak specifically and confidently
• Explain the personal benefits to encourage agreement.
• Creating scarcity and urgency increases desire.
• The ‘but you are free' (BYAF) technique increases agreement.
• Emphasizing that ‘it’s working for others’ influences decisions.
• Gaining agreement on smaller points first works.
• Using data and evidence strengthens arguments.
• The ‘foot in the door’ technique starts with small requests.

Communication-Based Persuasion Skills

• Effective communication is essential.
• Prioritize active listening.
• Recognize motivations.
• Use logic and reasoning, backed by evidence.
• Establish credibility through positive interactions.

Creative Problem Solving (CPS)

• Method to discover opportunities when conventional thinking fails and involves formulating a plan to overcome obstacles.
• Separates divergent and convergent thinking such as brainstorming and evaluating options.
• Key principles include balancing divergent and convergent thinking, asking problems as questions, deferring judgment, and focusing on "Yes, and," rather than "No, but.".

CPS Learner's Model (CIDI)

Stages:

• Clarify by exploring the vision, gathering data, and formulating questions.
• Ideate by exploring ideas through brainstorming and mind maps.
• Develop by formulating solutions to meet needs and criteria.
• Implement by formulating a plan of action and communicating it.

Six Thinking Hats

Thinking Perspectives:

• Blue Hat: organization and planning.
• Green Hat: creativity.
• Yellow Hat: benefits and values.
• Red Hat: feelings and instincts.
• Black Hat: risk analysis.
• White Hat: factual gathering.

Mind Mapping

• Structures idea organization.
• Breakdown concepts into parts.
• Helps to visualize information.

Forced Connections

• Helps brainstorming by generating unexpected solutions.
• Connecting different products has revolutionized other areas, such as 3D printing.
• Break traditional thinking.
• Improve productivity.
• Encourage new ideas.