The manager’s guide to managing stress
We all want our teams to experience a happy, productive and motivated office life – yet how many of us actually know how to go about ensuring that desirable state?
A manager must be confident of his or her ability to promote wellbeing at work and recognise when stress is having a negative effect in their environment. On a technical level you need to understand the policies, processes and wellbeing resources of their organisation – and on top of that, the more subtle art of providing basic emotional support and assistance where needed.
Your presence as the first line of support to your employees will determine how effectively organisational objectives are met. Without adequate training, it can be a challenge to overcome the barriers to performance that stress and poor mental health can create.
This is where The Stress Management Society can provide expert help and training. In our powerful and engaging one day workshop ‘Managers Managing Stress’, participants will explore how to:
- understand and recognise stress in ourselves and others
- maintain a healthy work-life balance
- manage distractions/disruptions
- deliver effective management
- use practical coping strategies
- create a culture of wellbeing using The Stress Management Society’s 7E’s framework
- continue their learning journey with our 30 Day Challenge
Our Managers Managing Stress workshop is endorsed by the Institute of Leadership & Management (ILM). Upon taking part in the training, each participant can opt to complete the workplace assessment and gain an ILM certificate..
Want to know more? Let us talk you through it all
Whether you’re looking into training for your managers or would like to organise this for yourself, we would love to work with you; call us on 020 3142 8650 for more information. Rather cut to the chase? You can secure a place by clicking here.
Step into your future with the UK’s leading stress management training
If you’re thinking of becoming a trainer or simply looking to broaden your existing skillset, The Stress Management Society have applied their accelerated learning techniques to help others deliver according to our tried and tested methodology, and also have the opportunity to join our ranks.
Whether it’s within or outside the workplace, 
stress is all around us; eating into our productivity and our quality of life. Countless people in the UK are currently searching for answers to their own unique pressures and the experts who can help them do this – which is why The Stress Management Society has created the Train the Trainer (TTT) programme.
TTT is a unique, effective set of adaptable, ILM-accredited courses that draw upon over a decade’s worth of our expertise in the field of stress management, resilience and wellbeing training. Our Chief De-Stressor and trainer Neil Shah leads participants through inspirational sessions that cast aside the standard presentation slides in favour of more interactive, engaging, practical techniques to allow for optimum retention of information.
Depending how far along the course you choose to progress, you will come out the other side confident and ready to deliver our stress management training yourself; to colleagues, clients and line managers. You’ll develop techniques that supercharge your engagement and rapport-building skills while learning how to deliver up-to-the-minute practical strategies that change lives and transform workplaces.
Train the Trainer Stage One
This two-day module is for anyone who would like to gain the engagement and motivational skills needed to train colleagues, clients or anyone else in need of help with stress. Under the tutelage of The Stress Management Society’s most experienced trainers, you will be learning how to deliver our signature two-hour ‘Excelling Under Pressure’ workshop which covers, amongst other issues:
- Understanding what stress is
- Recognising the signs and symptoms of stress
- Understanding the causes and effects of stress
- Relaxation techniques
Train the Trainer Stage Two
If you already want to develop advanced training skills? Do you want to deliver to Managers? Would you like to learn the powerful ‘7 E’s’ framework to creating a culture of wellbeing. In this three-day, second half of the course, you’ll expand what you’ve learned in Stage One in order to progress to working with line managers – an important but specialist audience with different requirements in terms of stress management – delivering our ‘Managers Managing Stress’ workshop. There may even be opportunities for us to work with you in the future, if the portfolio of work you produce from these sessions is of a suitable standard. By the end of day three you will have mastered the following:
- How to engage this unique audience
- How to give the managers a broader understanding of Stress/Mental Health issues in the workplace
- How to improve managers’ skills and confidence in dealing with stress and encouraging wellbeing in their workplace
- Our unique learning methodologies
- The ‘7 E’s’ Framework to creating a culture of wellbeing
- The accelerated learning techniques that allow maximum retention of information for line managers
- Methodologies to facilitate to high levels of interaction and participation
What our previous attendees want to share with you –
“This two day Train the Trainer course gave me real, tangible tools that I can use to train my own staff. The theories given are simple enough to be adopted by members at every level, and don’t involve asking staff to ‘go to their happy place’! Thank you, I feel well equipped for my role in training this topic.”
“A practical, engaging and fun way of delivering training that works!”
“Absolutely loved the workshop. Thank you very so much – You are a wealth of knowledge and inspiration.”
“Holistic approach to stress management.”
Want to know more? Let us talk you through it all
We would love to work with you; call us on 020 3142 8650 for more information. Eager beaver? You can secure your tickets now when you click here for TTT1 and here for TTT2.
What is the key to an engaged workforce?
In order to successfully create and implement a culture of wellbeing and engagement within your organisation, every manager must be recruited as a champion and ambassador.
Managers must be sure of how to promote wellbeing at work and to recognise when stress is having a negative effect. The need to understand policies, processes, wellbeing resources and how to provide basic emotional support is absolutely key.
Acting as the first line of support to employees, managers play a key role in ensuring that organisational objectives are met. Without adequate training, managers will be ill-equipped to handle the barriers that stress and poor mental health can create.
In our powerful and engaging one day Managers Managing Stress workshop we will explore:
- Understanding and recognising stress in ourselves and others
- Maintaining a healthy work-work balance
- Managing distractions/disruptions
- How to be an effective manager and build a culture of wellbeing: ‘The 7 E’s Framework’
- Practical coping strategies
For more information or to discuss how we can support your organisation in prioritising the needs of your people to create a happy, healthy and successful workforce please do contact us on 0203 142 8650 or email info@stress.org.uk
We look forward to supporting you and your organisation.
Have a lovely day!
Neil Shah
Chief De-stressing Officer
The Stress Management Society
Who are the most important people to you in the workplace?
Failing to prioritise the needs of the most valuable people to your organisation will result in serious consequences.
I recently sent out a survey to my team to find out who they thought was most important out of the 4 options:
- Our Clients
- Our Staff
- Our suppliers
- Our partners
The results surprised me as most of my team answered number 1, ‘our clients’. Don’t get me wrong, I love our clients (we worked extremely hard to achieve our 95.7% excellent feedback last year) however there is something far, far more important to me – my amazingly wonderful team!
We are more than a team – we are basically a family! That’s not to say we don’t have disagreements like any family – only this morning myself and one of my senior team members had a heated debate regarding the state of the office (we are in the process of moving and there are boxes and mess everywhere which is creating a few frayed tempers). The thing is, when your people are the priority, challenges tend to be dealt with quickly and resolved, rather than avoiding them and focusing elsewhere.
Our 7 Es Wellbeing Framework – this framework identifies the 7 core components required to create a culture of wellbeing.
One of our E’s is Empathise – by understanding this and being able to recognise that my colleague from my story was probably tired and under pressure after having spent several days out of the office with clients, coming back to an office filled with boxes (many stacked around his desk) would inevitably have resulted in him feeling rather annoyed. I was able to Engage him in finding a way of addressing the cause of the frustration (relocating the offending boxes) and move forward positively. I did have some client calls booked in; however, failing to address this would have had a significantly negative impact to the working environment as the whole office mood was affected. Thankfully it was addressed and 5 minutes later everything was back to normal. Team disagreements and arguments are only a problem if they are not addressed and resolved as early as possible.
Also, how can you support your clients without firstly supporting your staff?
Think about when you’re taking a flight. When the cabin crew are taking you through the safety instructions, they demonstrate what to do if the pressure in the cabin drops and the oxygen masks are activated. They reinforce the importance of attaching your own mask before deploying the masks of other vulnerable passengers, i.e. children and older people. This is no different in the workplace – and it starts at manager level – looking after yourself, equipping yourself with essential skills before being able to support the rest of the team and then customers.
If you want to know how to effectively support your staff, then join us for the ‘Managers Managing Stress Workshop’ on the 19th May 2016 to increase your skills and confidence to recognise and tackle stress and achieve the engaged workforce you have always dreamt of!
Have a wonderful day!
Neil Shah
Chief De-stressing Officer
The Stress Management Society
Do you think you can exercise your way to health, wellbeing and career success?
What’s the connection between managing stress and physical activity?
Can exercising improve your career prospects?
April is Stress Awareness Month – this year there is a real focus on physical activity in the workplace and how it can improve productivity, mood and morale.
Do you find that balancing your work and home life is becoming increasingly difficult? If so, you are not alone – The total number of work related stress, depression or anxiety cases in 2014/15 was 440,000 (Health and Safety Executive Report 2014/15).
On Monday I was asked to feature live on BBC Radio Scotland, talking to presenter Gillian Russell about the dangers of stress, how to identify it and what to do about it before it starts damaging our health. We also talked extensively about the role that physical activity at work plays in our happiness and success.
To listen to my interview on BBC Radio Scotland
Do you have the ability to exercise during your working day?
A recent study conducted by Leeds University found that workday exercise improved mood, but most importantly, it improved performance. Employees who took part in physical activity during their lunchtime achieved in 7 hours what they would have otherwise achieved in 8 hours with no physical activity in the working day.
Essentially, the time you invest in your health and wellbeing by exercising during your lunch or in the morning before you start you will gain back through increased productivity and efficiency.
I used to feel guilty about exercising during the day –often sneaking off to the gym for a quick lunchtime workout for fear my team would think I was slacking off. However, I have now realised that I should lead by example – not only do I exercise at lunchtime, I encourage my team to do so as well. In fact we are in the process of moving The Stress Management Society Headquarters to a purpose built premises in West London, and I made sure that showers were on the top of the shopping list so people can cycle to work, or go for a lunchtime run or walk along the beautiful Grand Union canal that flows outside our office.
Keep an eye out for our newly improved website www.stress.org.uk going live soon. The website features a blog section on ‘get moving to combat stress’ that includes top tips on how to fit physical activity into the working day and the profound effects it has on wellbeing.
So what can employers do to encourage physical activity during work hours?
There are many ways to promote health and wellbeing in the workplace and we are definitely excited about exploring some of them.
I’d love to hear what you are doing in your workplace to encourage physical activity – send me an email with your great ideas and we will publish the best ones in next month’s newsletter.
If you are looking at ideas for getting your workforce to be more active as part of your wellbeing plans or just some general info on how to recognise and reduce stress, please feel free to email us at info@stress.org.uk or call us on 0203 142 8650.
Have a wonderful day!
Neil Shah
Chief De-stressing Officer
The Stress Management Society
How can you achieve your goals and improve your self-development?
How many of you have always admired those who constantly have a positive outlook on life?
How many of you have ever wondered how people have become so successful, and what their secret to success is?
With Neurolinguistic Programming (NLP) – you too can be that positive, successful person! If you want to know how then join us for the ‘Introducing NLP Workshop’ on the 23rd April 2016 and achieve the goals you have always dreamt of!
Neil Shah – CEO of The Stress Management Society and, author of the best selling book ‘Introduction to NLP: A Practical Guide’ will guide you through practical techniques in this engaging, motivational workshop.
Learn tried and tested NLP techniques to enhance and enrich all aspects of your life from overcoming unhappiness or making new friends to identifying and achieving your goals.
What areas of life can NLP help you with?
- Stop you from living in the past
- Enhance your performance in the workplace
- Achieve that desired dream you’ve always thought of
- Improve your physical and mental performance
- Stop thinking negatively – and adopt a positive mind set
- Overcome unhappiness
- Becoming more confident and boost self-esteem
- And much more!
Have you ever had a time where you were really delighted at what you did, and wondered how you did it?
NLP is an effective psychological technique, capable of addressing a broad range of obstacles that we all encounter in our lives, such as phobias, depression, negative habits and even learning challenges. It’s a wonderful tool to improve our effectiveness both personally and professionally.
NLP shows you how to understand and model your own successes, so that you can have many more of those breath-taking moments. It’s a way of unfolding your personal genius, a way of bringing out the best in yourself and others.
It’s the study of what makes the difference between Average and Excellence!
Achievement
The moment you commit yourself is the moment the goal becomes assured
Ambition
Create the life you dream of with every choice you make
Attitude
Attitude is the difference between success and failure
We look forward to seeing you at the Introducing NLP Workshop on the 23rd April!
Head of Marketing and PR
The Stress Management Society
How can you maximise your wellbeing this Stress Awareness Month?
April is Stress Awareness Month. To mark the occasion we wanted to do something special, so we’ve partnered with Rescue Remedy and created a short stress and wellbeing questionnaire.
Why?
We want to know how you’re feeling and what more we can do to support you. We also want to reward you for letting us help you, so we’re also giving away 5 tickets to our much loved 10-Step Stress Solution Bootcamp!
All you have to do is click the link below and fill in the questionnaire:
http://dilogr.com/app1/s/SMSNelsonsWellbeingSurvey
Your answers will help us create fresh, fun and practical tips on areas that you would like support and guidance with, so thank you!
Have a wonderful day!
Sabina Darie
Head of Marketing and PR
The Stress Management Society
We achieved 95% excellent feedback – would you like to learn how?
Today, 3 months into the New Year, we’re delighted to share our feedback with you.
Here’s the thing – our success didn’t happen by chance.
Our success is a direct result of utilising accelerated learning techniques as our delivery style – these are based on Neurolinguistic Programming (NLP) techniques.
What is NLP?
NLP can be described as the GPS system that will guide you to achieve success, achievement and fulfilment.
Using NLP you can eliminate or modify existing behaviours if you are not satisfied with them; or internalise new, more beneficial ones that will ensure your success and happiness.
It isn’t about new-ages mantras, tree hugging and it definitely isn’t about selling snake oil. NLP is based on sound psychological principles and is an effective and rapid form of psychological therapy teaching you to achieve your goals and overcome unhappiness.
You may think that we want to keep the ‘secret to our success’ a secret – well guess what…we are not!
We have launched a powerful and life-changing one day workshop to help you understand how you can influence others, make new friends, achieve your goals and be even happier!
Our programme is based on the Amazon best-selling book ‘Introducing Neurolinguistic Programming – A Practical Guide’ written by our very own Chief De-Stressing Officer Neil Shah who is a world renowned expert in NLP, stress management, and wellbeing, and was number 22 on the list of the World’s Top 30 NLP Professionals for 2015.
Neil has employed NLP techniques to achieve some amazing goals of his own: he has climbed mountains, completed an Ironman triathlon, and has run several marathons. He has helped thousands of people and companies from around the world to reach their goals and maximise wellbeing.
Would you like to learn how to replicate his successes?
This is your chance to spring clean your psyche and set yourself up for an incredible, happy and successful 2016 – with a full money-back guarantee!
The event will equip you with practical, applicable tools to empower you to change your life – and no psychobabble or PowerPoint!
The date is set for the 23rd April in Central London – however, spaces are limited so book now to avoid disappointment.
As a special spring treat the Easter bunny has brought a 10% discount in his basket just for you!
Owning your own business sounds like the perfect dream, right?
It definitely can be, however it’s important to take note that it’s not always smooth sailing.
Premierline, Allianz surveyed 259 small business owners, finding that over a third worry about aspects of their business on a daily or weekly basis and 41% are more stressed now that they run their own company.
What’s keeping business owners up at night?
“There are a broad variety of reasons as to why business owners might feel stress, this could be anything from having excessive or conflicting demands, not enough time, not being supported or it could be the levels of control that you have over aspects of your trade or business.” says Neil Shah, Founder and Director of The Stress Management Society.
Cash flow, marketing and business operations are just a handful of worries that are affecting small business owners.
We’ve certainly experienced this first hand last year. 2015 was a year of great growth for us; however growth also brought about a lot of change within our organisation. This in turn caused Neil to experience stress for a number of reasons – an increase in workload, conflicting demands and also having to spend a lot of time on the people and the actual functioning of the business, instead of business growth and development.
Luckily, because of the work that we do, we identified it very quickly and took positive action.
What did we do?
We practiced what we preach!
We wanted to find out exactly what areas were causing stress for all employees, including Neil, so we conducted a Business Stress Risk Review. Taking action is an important part of the process and can minimise the risk of long-term stress related illness, high staff turnover and other serious consequences of stress.
After analysing and reviewing the results, we found that the results were all above the benchmark data with only a few minor issues raised in the qualitative data section. Regardless, prevention is better than cure, so we put together an action plan inclusive of:
- Focus groups
- Pro-active workshops
- Positive cultural change
Are you a business owner who is feeling under pressure?
Do you work for an organisation that is experiencing stress?
Get in touch with us for a free, no-obligation Wellbeing Consultation on 0203 371 3219 or info@stress.org.uk and we will be happy to share with you our best practice approaches to tackling workplace stress.
Have a wonderful day!
Sabina Darie
Head of Marketing and PR
The Stress Management Society
How can you increase your personal resilience?
Are you overwhelmed by the pressures and demands of daily life?
Have you struggled to find ways to relax and de-stress?
Would you like to increase your personal resilience?
If you answered yes to the above questions The Stress Management Society is here to help you!
Act now to attend our 10-Step Stress Solution Bootcamp.
Neil Shah, founder of The Stress Management Society, international stress speaker and wellbeing expert has put together a powerful one day workshop, designed to equip you with the life enhancing tools to deal with modern day stress.
You will learn how to recognise the signs and symptoms of stress as well as how to:
- Manage your time – at work and at home
- Regain your balance and lift your mood
- Improve your concentration and motivation
- Get a good night’s sleep and stop worrying
Thousands of previous Bootcamp graduates will agree to how amazingly powerful this one day event is.
These techniques have been tried and tested over Neil’s 15 years of experience through working with thousands of people and companies from all over the world.
Here’s some of what they’ve said:
The training provided was extremely useful, it was well tailored for the audience and their needs and very interactive and relevant!” – Esha Shah
“It was the most useful training course I’ve ever attended!” – Donna Adams
“The session was highly engaging with a number of things that can be applied immediately!” – Edel Austin
“I can honestly tell you that The Stress Management Society’s programmes are extremely effective as delegates do walk away with skills and techniques to manage stress more efficiently!” – Zoya Sears
So invest the 12th of March as a day for yourself and start the journey to becoming the best version of yourself!
Take the first step towards a stress free, positive life today!
Spaces are limited so make sure to secure your place!
Watch this video to find out why you should attend the 10-Step Stress Solution Bootcamp!
Have a wonderful day!
Sabina Darie
Head of Marketing and PR
The Stress Management Society
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