Question

It is Monday morning. You have just arrived in your office one hour late because you had to find a substitute babysitter at the last minute. As you enter your office, you find a note from your secretary saying that he/she has a funeral today and will not be in until this afternoon. A crucial staff meeting begins in 30 minutes to discuss budget cuts for each of your subordinates’ units, and you have not yet completed your preparations for the meeting. You know that there will be hostility and confrontation in the meeting, but if you have the data organized and charts prepared, you know you can get through the meeting without a blowup. The trouble is you do not have time to get everything prepared before your staff shows up. The meeting cannot be postponed because your meeting with your peer managers is scheduled right after your staff meeting. The main agenda item for that meeting is your report on the results of your staff meeting.

What sources of stress (types of stressors) do you belief are present in this scenario? Which do you believe would provide the greatest level of stress? How might one cope with the stress in this scenario?

Answer 1

The various sources of stress in the above scenario include family problem (find a substitute baby sitter at the last moment), arriving one hour late to office, secretary on leave until afternoon, not prepared for the crucial staff meeting discussion on budget cuts followed by reporting the results of the staff meeting in the managerial meeting, improper time management and improper organization of data

The scenario can be attributed to the episodic acute stress that happens regularly in the office making people to live in a tension state with tight deadlines. When episodic acute stress begins to accumulate, it may lead to heart diseases. In the above scenario, the person is overburdened due to the above-listed stressors. Among the listed stressors, improper time management provides the greatest level of stress as the person is late by one hour to the office and the crucial staff meeting begins in 30 minutes without the aid of the secretary. In the scenario, it is clearly mentioned that the person does not have time for preparing and organizing data for the presentation. Hence improper time management is identified to provide the greatest level of stress

The person can cope with the stress by managing the available time in an effective manner by adopting time management techniques. The person should develop time management skills by managing their work-life appropriately and plan the office work hours without any disturbance from the family. In the above scenario, the initial stress begins with the family problem of the person that delays the person coming to the office, faces tight deadlines in the staff meeting and affects the entire work leading to high levels of stress. Doing physical exercises daily for about 20 minutes helps the mind to refresh and manage time in an effective manner. In the 4A’s framework of stress management (Avoid, Alter, Adapt and Accept), the person in the above scenario should follow ‘Accept’ method and continue with the proceedings and look for the upside in the scenario and learn from the personal mistakes or stressors leading to such stressful situation in the office. It is better the person talks to a trusted staff member and shares their feelings to get relief from stress