How to Keep Stress at Bay in the Workplace

Setting up a new business in London comes with its fair share of benefits and challenges. While you are based in one of the biggest cities in the world, you are also likely to face competition from so many others in your chosen sector. As with small businesses elsewhere in the UK, some issues remain the same, one of which being the well-being of a workforce.

Your employees should be able to do their job without feeling stressed or anxious, even before deadlines. However, there were 488,000 cases of work-related stress, anxiety and depression in 2016, suggesting that there is a problem that businesses need to address. Fortunately, there are a few ways in which small businesses can combat this and help employees feel comfortable at work.

Going Out as a Team

Team-building exercises are a tried and tested method of letting everyone in your business get to know each other. With these exercises, you can be creative, avoiding the usual ideas like laser quest and obstacle courses.

Pub quizzes can help to promote teamwork and, at their best, are lots of fun. To make them work, put people into teams with colleagues they have never really spoken to before. Regular team nights out can help to strengthen bonds between colleagues too, acting as a reward for hard work.

A Quiet Space

Stress often rears its ugly head for some workers because there is so much going on around them. To minimise the risk of overload, consider setting up a quiet space in your office. It could be a corner of the main office space or, if possible, a smaller office.

To block out noise, invest in a few sets of noise-cancelling headphones. They don’t have to be too expensive – even a set of basic ear defenders will do. If they can mute the buzz of a busy office, leaving an employee to work whilst feeling less stressed, they are definitely worth the money.

A Change of Scenery

Seeing the same place day in, day out can eventually wear some workers down. This is why, to shake up a humdrum routine and help people feel better about their jobs and the environment around them, a change of scenery may work.

For team meetings, brainstorming sessions or even a trip away from the office, an external office space would work wonders. From groups like CitizenM, you get inspiring views of the local skyline, a more relaxed vibe and a sense of rejuvenation that comes from being somewhere different.

Encourage Volunteering

Whether it’s helping another co-worker out with a difficult task or lending a hand to a charity, volunteering is a good way to help relieve stress. Aside from being away from the desk, the feeling that comes from helping someone else is pretty good and can put a smile on anyone’s face.

To encourage volunteering, look for a list of charities that need help and decide how much time can be spared. It could be a weekday afternoon, a whole day or even a couple of hours in a drop-in centre or soup kitchen after work.

Let Apps Take the Strain

To make jobs less stressful, turning to technology is well worth doing. Managing tasks and time is pretty simple – cloud-based apps like Google Drive, Dropbox and iCloud allow you to make lists of tasks to do each day and week. Time-management apps are also worth investigating, particularly if your business has a lot of clients.

For reducing stress in a more direct way, dedicated stress relief apps should be a go-to. Meditation apps are available for entire workplaces and can be used for just 10 minutes per day to have a discernible effect. Headspace at Work and Relax Lite are two such apps.

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