Have you noticed that your staff is stressed? No one wants stressed staff members because that means they won’t have a clear mind to make decisions and they’ll get overwhelmed easily. This means they won’t be as productive as they could be and they won’t be happy at work (and being having happy staff members has SO many advantages!).
But sometimes, it’s hard to help them – Especially if you have a lot of employees or if you are short on time. It’s also tricky to find the right way to help them.
Here’s a really quick exercise that we teach during the resilience training we deliver in work places. The great thing about it is that it’s easy to use and that it gets even easier the more you use it. It will help your staff stop switching to auto-pilot and reverting back to their bad habits (getting stressed, overwhelmed, feeling panicked…). Let me introduce SOS.
S- Stand Back
In your own mind, create space for yourself to pause.
O – Observe
Recognise, without judgement, what you are feeling, thinking, and how you are behaving. Are you running on autopilot, are you just reacting? Or are you really engaging and being present?
S- Steer
Steer the situation in the direction you want. Don’t just make a snap decision, but really consider the results you want and make the choice to drive your focus in that direction.
Try it yourself the next time you’re feeling stressed. If it works, why not share it with your staff in an email or print it and place it in the kitchen or another common space? It’ll take 5mins and your staff will really thank you for it.