LEADERSHIP
Sustainable leadership How to manage team stress and burnout Building a sustainable business means creating a sustainable team: after all, the foundation of any construction business is its people. Yet the construction industry isn’t just physically demanding, but also rife with stress. Thus it makes sense for effective leaders to prioritise managing team stress effectively. How to recognise when your team is under stress Here are the key indicators to help you identify when a team or individual is likely to be stressed: 1. Decreased productivity: This can also manifest itself as missed deadlines, or an increase in errors. 2. Increased absenteeism or tardiness: Frequent absences, late arrivals, or requests for time off work. 3. Low morale and motivation: When team members seem disengaged, demotivated, or exhibit a negative attitude towards work. 4. Increased conflicts or tension: Stress can contribute to conflicts, arguments, or strained relationships. 5. Physical and emotional signs: For example fatigue, frequent headaches, irritability, mood swings, changes in appetite, or sleep disturbance. 6. Communication breakdown: When stress levels are high, effective communication may suffer, leading to misunderstandings or breakdown in collaboration. 7. Increased turnover or resignations: High levels of stress can contribute to employee burnout and dissatisfaction.
4. Promote work-life balance: Encourage a healthy balance by promoting realistic workloads, flexible scheduling when possible, and encouraging breaks or time off. 5. Recognise and appreciate your team: Acknowledge and appreciate your team’s efforts and achievements. Recognise their hard work and provide constructive feedback to boost morale and motivation. Regular performance reviews, set against specified Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) are a great tool for this. 6. Encourage stress management techniques: Mindfulness, time management, and relaxation exercises are key. I can help implement shifts in the corporate culture to ensure such practices become routine and normal.
Strategies to address stress within your team The more proactive you are in putting mechanisms and processes in place to manage stress, the better for your team – and for the sustainability of your business. Here are the top strategies I would recommend – and if you’re not sure on how to get started, I can help implement these approaches in your team. 1. Extended DISC® profiling: My construction clients swear by this as a tool for improving communications, and getting to the root cause of misunderstandings and personality conflicts. 2. Foster open communication: Encourage your team members to share their concerns, challenges, and ideas. Your role is to create a safe and supportive environment where they feel comfortable discussing their stressors. This shift can pose a significant change for a construction company, where communication is traditionally blunt and coarse. Seeking external assistance in this endeavour can be immensely beneficial. 3. Provide resources and support: Offer training, tools, or mentorship to help your team members manage their workload effectively, and also to help motivate and inspire them.
Summary • Stress can erode the sustainability of a construction business. • By recognising team stress, you are able to take steps to counter it. • Examine your own stress management techniques to ensure you’re setting a leading example. • It can be worth engaging a third-party to assist with the necessary organisational cultural changes to address team stress and any communication issues.
Need help? Contact us (09 215 3378 or jason@excc.co.nz) for a free consultation to see how we can help with your team stress and communication issues.
Jason Dinan, Executive Coaching & Consultation. With three decades of leadership experience working in 154 cities in 27 countries, I specialise in growing organisations through developing peak-performance leaders, teams and strategy. I was the project head for a leading homebuilder in New Zealand, Australia and North America, helping grow their annual sales from 47% to 311%.
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