stress

Project management – Knowing when to dig in and when to step back

Posted on by michael598sum14

I just began my first ever project manager position a couple of weeks ago. So how is it going? Well, I really like it. It is somewhat what I thought it would be. It is either a great deal busier than what I initially thought, or I have to just learn a few things first in this new role in order to get better at time management.

Prioritization

In my last position I was not pushed to meet hard deadlines. Honestly, I just didn’t have them.  Awesome, right? Well this new job of mine is nothing like the old job. It is go, go, go; and I love it! However, I am learning to prioritize on the fly – almost every day since I have been given 2 projects to start off with. One is big and is very important to the whole organization, and the other is important but a lot smaller in comparison. I also have other ad-hoc tasks that I complete that take time from my projects. My problem with all of this so far is that I have been a very involved worker throughout my whole career. I want to know everything about everything. I also want to do everything since then I will know that I got it done and there is no risk with someone else doing it. Well that’s a problem when you are a project manager and you a ton of stuff to do all the time and you stay in the “dig in” mentality. Well this type of problem then led me to look around online and I found a great blog with some ideas:

Everything is not important important!

  • Sit down with the boss to have them set you straight or be prioritized directly from them
  • Listen to all stakeholders, including your family to find out what items you are responsible for are holding them up
  • Document all arrangements of work to be completed for people and from people. (CYA)
  • Look backwards from the process diagram to find out your backward times which will give you deadlines you have to meet.

Become Organized (If you are not already)

  • Don’t waste time trying to figure out what you should be doing, let a system deal with that while you actually do something.

Cost, Scope, Time

  • Work backwards from when your deadlines are and how long your tasks will take. Creating a list for this will automatically give you priorities on what should be done.
  • Spend money when necessary to help get you back up above water again in your project’s progress.
  • Communicate with your stakeholders if things just aren’t going to plan and be honest so that they will see that you are working with them to get them everything they need

Delegate as much as possible

  • There may be people who can help you finish a task

Do any of you struggle with some of these problems in your PM roles? Or do you know people who do?

Source: http://lifehacker.com/5877111/how-to-prioritize-when-everything-is-important

Quality of Work is Affected by Stress! What Triggers Your Stress, and How Can Employers Help?

Posted on by spr1331kbrooks

 

Like many Americans, it is natural to be bothered by a few things in your work environment.  Some people are bothered by a coworker, their salary, or even their fear of being fired.  These, and other factors, are categories of stress in one’s work environment. 

We all know that the higher we are stressed at our jobs, the higher the chances that the quality of our work can progressively decrease.  So where does this leave the quality of America’s output, as the stress levels of the workers are progressively increasing?

Harrison Interactive, of Everest College, conducted a study of stress factors at work and how much individuals are bothered by it.  This study was conducted by phone, using 100 adults, between February 21st, and March 3rd.  This study was conducted last year, also, and according to their sample size, 73% of American workers were stressed by some factor of their jobs last year.  It is no surprise that this year’s study (released earlier this week) shows that, at a number of 83%, even more American workers are stressed at their jobs.

Below is the data from the study:

 

Percentage of Stress Factors at Work for American Workers by Year
              Stress Factor Year 2012     Year 2013
Low Pay 11%     14%
Unreasonable Workload 9%     14%
Commuting 9%     11%
Annoying Co-Workers 10%     11%
Working Outside Chosen Career 8%     8%
Work-Life Balance 5%     7%
Lack of Advancement Oportunity 5%     6%
Boss 4%     N/A
Fear of Being Fired N/A     4%


Since last year, each individual factor that didn’t remain constant, increased. The top two stress factors this year are pay and an unreasonable workload. Last year pay was still one of the top two stress factors along with annoying co-workers, which increased this year, also, just not as much as the stress of an unreasonable workload.

With the quality of American output at risk, what can companies do to keep the stress level of American workers down?  My personal opinion is to start by creating a comfortable work environment.  Some companies, such as Google, do many things to keep their work environments as stress-less as possible.  Google offers many perks to its staff, such as relaxation rooms, giant slides, free meals via gourmet chefs, motorized scooters to move through the offices, the option to bring pets to work, prayer rooms, company outings, and many more!  There are also some days where the employees have to stop the work their doing, to do something fun that they enjoy.

 

 

If all companies headed towards creating a relaxed environment, the stress levels of employees would decrease, increasing the quality of their work. Because pay has consistently been the number one stress factor of American workers, employers should consider giving raises to the well-deserving employees. Keeping employees as stress-less as possible can be considered as an investment in the increased quality of the employees’ work.

Because commuting is another high factor, companies should also consider parking perks for employees, where they can park for free in a company parking lot. Businesses can also consider a program with their city’s transit services, where the employees can receive discounts on bus and train passes.

 

 

 

Sources:

Forbes- http://www.forbes.com/sites/susanadams/2013/04/09/stressed-out-at-work-its-getting-worse-study-shows/

Chicago Tribune- http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2012-08-26/business/ct-biz-0827-workplace-stress-20120827_1_workplace-stress-annoying-co-workers-everest-college

Global Staff- http://globolstaff.com/the-perks-of-working-at-google.html