Causes and effects of stress in project management

Developed by Casper Stenbæk – Work In Progress

Notes for the reviewer: Figures and formatting will be done later, as the initial article is written in Word for the word counter and backup reasons.

Todo:

• Methods for managing your own stress.
• Internal/personal Stressors
• Rework Intro/Abstract
• Fix references

Introduction/Abstract

This article will describe the causes and effects of stress in project management. The hope is that this article will be a starting point to understanding both how to manage the stress of team members, and how to prevent the stress from forming in the first place. The article will not be considering communication strategies although communication is a critical part of stress management. To frontload the information, tangible tools are first described, providing quick access for urgent situations. The starting point will be a short description of stress as a physiological process, what the mechanisms are, and how it affects the persons experiencing it. The article will also cover some of the important models around stress in workplaces. After a thorough description of the mechanics of stress, the article will list the common causes of stress. It is currently uncertain whether it is feasible to write a management strategy for each cause, or if a general management technique should be provided instead, this will be clearer after more research. In any case, the article will then provide techniques and strategies for managing this stress. The techniques will mainly be from the managers perspective, but methods should also be relevant for general workers.

What you can do as a manager

This section contains the fundamental, solution-oriented actions you can take to help your team manage stress. This part is mainly for managing existing stress, for a more extensive description of preventative and interventive measures, see section 5: “Preventative measures and intervention”.

For your team members

• Encourage getting enough, good quality sleep. When it comes to stress, the number one factor in processing stress is getting enough sleep. For most adults this ranges between 7-9 hours, although a few can function fine with 6, and some others need upwards of 10. Whatever the stressor may be, having a robust sleep schedule is key to processing and overcoming it. The quality of sleep can be improved by reducing interruptions, lowering the amount of blue light in the evening (reducing screen-time is most effective), and by having a consistent schedule.
• Ensure proper distribution of workload. Taking care to make sure that employees are only given tasks they can realistically handle is key. If you notice a stressed team member, reducing their workload temporarily can help them immensely in overcoming stress.
• Provide resources for managing stress. Some employees may not be aware of how to handle their stress. In this case, resources or education should be provided, such that they are able to handle their own stress. Examples of resources could be:
  • Training in prioritisation, delegation, and time-management.
  • Access to personal stress management (meditation techniques, self-help book etc.).
  • In more extreme cases, help them to get in contact with a mental health professional.

For yourself

• Getting enough, good quality sleep. No matter if you’re a PM or an employee, you’re still a human being. Therefore, getting sleep applies to you as well.
• Relaxation, meditation, and mindfulness exercises. Taking the time to process any external stress, either through meditation, reflective relaxation, or mindfulness exercises can help manage personal stress.
• Social safety net. Friends, family,
• Physical activity.
• Avoid alcohol and drugs

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The physiological processes of stress

The physiological processes behind stress are key to understanding the causes and effects. Here, the overall response is covered including topics such as, fight-or-flight, alarm, resistance, and exhaustion/rest. To make this matter easier to understand, an example is provided.

The General Adaption Syndrome (GAS)

The General Adaption Syndrome, developed by Hans Selye in the 1950s is the medical term for what a living organism, such as humans, does when exposed to any kind of stress, positive or negative. This syndrome explains the changes in the body’s chemistry that happen over the process of responding to the stress. GAS has three distinct phases, an initial phase where the sympathetic nervous system (Fight-or-flight system) activates, a following phase where the organism makes efforts to cope with the stress, and a third and final stage of either exhaustion or recovery which happens when the organism fails or succeeds in overcoming the stressor and either depletes its physiological resources or recovers the spent energy over a resting period.

Alarm phase

The first phase when encountering stress is the alarm phase. This phase consists of two parts, a shock part where the body endures/becomes aware of the stressor, and a second, anti-shock part in which the body responds by producing chemicals that heighten awareness and response time, adrenaline, and numbs pain, cortisol (aka the stress-hormone). The second part is what is more commonly known as the fight-or-flight response. EXAMPLE: An employee learns that they are falling behind in terms of productivity, and if they don’t increase their productivity they will be fired. Although the body is not in any physical danger, it reacts in the same way, as if a dangerous animal was just sighted in close proximity to a campsite. This activates the alarm phase, where the fight-or-flight response shuts down digestion, increases heart rate and generally makes the body ready for action.

Resistance Phase

Body attempts to cope in productive (solving the problem) or non-productive (avoiding the problem) ways. In addition to the adrenaline produced in the Alarm phase, another chemical is produced, noradrenaline, which has similar, but less intense effects, and focuses more on the blood vessels where adrenaline focuses on the heart. [3] EXAMPLE: The employee now begins to feel normal again, the noradrenaline helping them to stay focused on their work and dealing with the immediate problem. Here, the body is burning some of its limited chemical resources to help deal with the stressor.

Exhaustion/Recovery Phase

Prolonged exposure to stress eventually drains the body’s chemical arsenal, and the person experiencing the stress will then enter the last phase, exhaustion. Here, the body is unable to maintain normal function and symptoms that appeared in the first stage may reappear (sweating, heart rate increase, etc.). As such the body is now no longer equipped to fight stress and may begin to experience tiredness, depression, anxiety, and feelings of hopelessness. If the stressor is overcome during the resistance phase, then the body uses the third phase to rebuild the chemical resources that were used. This requires a safe and comfortable environment where the natural counterpoint to fight-or-flight: the rest-and-digest process, can begin. Here, the body uses the nutrients gained through eating and drinking to synthesise the chemicals needed for the next time a stressor presents itself. This is why eating healthy and nourishing food is so vital in handling and recovering from stress. EXAMPLE (Exhaustion): Even though the employee has been hard at work for a prolonged time now, he is still nowhere close to finishing the work (or the workload has been repeatedly increased), with the cost of failure still being the loss of the job. Now the chemical resources of the body are used up, causing the employee to have low amounts of energy, as well as a weakened immune system. In this example, this manifests in a sense of hopelessness, and depression. EXAMPLE (Recovery): If the employee manages to finish his work, or the stressor is otherwise removed (completed by someone else, no longer necessary to avoid loss of job, etc.) then the employee can begin the recovery process, where the body replenishes the resources spent in handling the stress. This is done in periods where there are no active stressors for the body to handle, and the normal processes of digesting food and conserving energy are possible (e.g., going to a comfortable and safe environment such as home).

Physical and psychological effects of prolonged stress

When third phase of the GAS is reached, and experienced for longer periods of time, it may have the following effects on the body:

Physical effects

Due to having its chemical balance disturbed through repeated activation of the alarm phase, the body is no longer able to cope with the stressor. As explained earlier, this manifests physically as tiredness and low energy levels, but also in a weakened immune system. Due to this weakened immune system, it is common for prolonged stress to be accompanied by increased frequency of illness and disease.

Psychological effects

Since adrenaline and noradrenaline are neurotransmitters, having an imbalance of them will cause changes in the brains ability to function normally. Because of this, prolonged stress is also linked with memory loss, and increased susceptibility to depressive episodes and mental illness. In extreme cases, workplace stress may lead to long-term depression, and the effects thereof.

Effects on workplace performance

According to a study by the American Center for Disease Control (CDC), prolonged experience of workplace stress can have a direct impact on the bottom line of the company. This prolonged stress may manifest in employees as follows:

• Reduced creativity, collaboration, sense of team cohesion, and engagement in the work
• Deterioration in internal (workplace) or external (stakeholder) relationships
• Deterioration in work-life balance, affecting home-life or outside relations.
• Serious losses in productivity and quality control
• Increased healthcare costs of employee
• High absenteeism
• Excessive turnover
• Negative brand reputation

Causes of stress

The causes of stress are numerous, and many different models have been proposed to try to explain the occurrence of workplace stress. One of the most influential models is the Demand-Control-Support model , in which stress is caused by high demands, low control and/or lack of support from the environment (team, management etc.). To get an overview, it would be helpful to classify the stressors, and thereby see which are actionable, and which are out of your control as a PM. According to the paper by Cooper and Marshall, 1976, there are multiple different classes of stressor. They are generally classified into two overall classes: the workplace related stressors (workload, job security, physical environment etc.), and the non-workplace related stressors (family problems, life crises, etc.). In addition to this, the stressors are also divided into two classes depending on whether they come from the workplace environment (physical environment, workload, working hours etc.) or if they come from the persons in the workplace (bullying, sexual harassment, status etc.). By dividing this way, it is possible to distinguish between factors that might be affecting the entire team, such as the general working conditions of the workplace, and more individual focused factors, such as workplace bullying or sexual harassment. In this article, the causes will be presented in the latter classification (), as this is assumed to be more useful to a project manager.

External (General (affects whole team))

These are the factors that you, as a PM, might be able to tangibly change, either through planning or redelegation. The external factors are many, including, but not limited to:

• Working conditions. If the workplace is not generally comfortable for your employees, or even outright unsafe, then the employees will be stressed by a constant worrying about their safety. Additionally, annoyances and disturbances such as high or low temperature, noise, or unpleasant smells will put additional stress on the employees through constantly having to adapt to these circumstances, often activating the GAS described above.

Providing a safe and comfortable working environment will therefore reduce the amount of stress faced by an employee.

• Workload. As seen in the example used in the GAS explanation section, having an unrealistic workload will cause the employee stress. An increased workload can be the result of a sudden increase in demands, or a sudden decrease in available resources. Whatever the reason, the necessary actions.
• Long hours. This both applies to days with long hours, as well as weeks with reasonable working hours, but no rest days. Both of these will result in the same problem, namely the employee not being able to spend enough time in the recovery stage of the GAS.
• Salary

Internal (Personal (affects select individuals))

These factors tend to be more personal and should therefore be handled with utmost care for the individual experiencing them. While some of these are beyond the control of a PM (major life events), most of them can be worked on through workplace action. The internal factors include, but are not limited to:

• Status. (Individual and occupational) The status or social standing may be important factors for an individual in determining their self-worth. If the individual ties their self-worth to their job, then a sudden drop in perceived social standing may be a significant stressor for the individual
• Workplace bullying.
• Narcissism and psychopathy.
• Sexual harassment.
• Work-life balance.
• Major life events.

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Personal differences (limitations)

A lot of the things mentioned here are general concepts that don’t necessarily apply to everyone equally. As a PM, this can be frustrating, as some of the measures taken to prevent or intervene during stressful situations may not have the desired effect. To get the full effect of the measures mentioned below, it is therefore critical that the PM understands and cares about the members of their team. Understanding and caring helps the PM to select and use the tools provided in this article more accurately.

Preventative measures and intervention

General information about handling and

What to look for

To deduce whether an individual is experiencing stress, the following factors could be indicators of excessive stress.

• Anxiety
• Depressed mood
• Irritability
• Apathy, loss of interest in work
• Complaints of lack of sleep (sleeping problems)
• Fatigue
• Trouble concentrating
• Muscle tension (complaints or anxious body language)
• Headaches (complaints or body language)
• Stomach problems (complaints or sudden increase in bathroom breaks)
• Social withdrawal
• Excessive use of drugs or alcohol

Most of these indicators will be observable through body language or general behaviour, but most can be deduced through a quick question such as “Are you getting enough sleep?” or “Are you feeling ok?”. In general, being observant and noticing behavioural changes will help you as a PM notice an overly stressed team member.

Annotated Bibliography

The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), CDC. STRESS… At Work. This article/paper by the American NIOSH provides a good overview of occupational stress as well as providing case studies from select companies and their strategies for managing stress. Irvin S. Schonfeld, PhD and Chu-Hsiang Chang, PhD. Occupational Health Psychology: Work, Stress, and Health. Comprehensive book explaining occupational stress in great detail. This book explains the history of stress, as well as the research methodologies used, but what is most useful for the average PM is probably going to be chapters 3 and 10, which explain the impact of working condition on mental health, and the interventions for improved mental health respectively. Additionally, chapters 5, 6, 8, and 9 are recommended for greater insight into specific parts of occupational stress.