Taking the stress out of your comms

April marks Stress Awareness Month – a month dedicated to understanding stress, and taking the appropriate steps to improve your wellbeing and the wellbeing of those around you.

This year’s theme is #LittleByLittle which aims to highlight the big impact of small but consistent positive changes.

From our top tips for managing stress in the workplace to providing stress-free services for your communications, Effective is here to help you.

Our top tips for managing stress in the workplace:

• Show appreciation: Tell your colleagues or employees that you appreciate their hard work and let them know that their effort is being recognised.
• Useful feedback: Help your colleagues grow by giving them constructive feedback on a task, so that they themselves can feel motivated and inspired in their professional progression. This can provide a confidence boost when approaching a similar task in the future.
• Get outside: The tried and tested method of improving wellbeing. Get up and away from your desk and spend some time outdoors. If you’re conscious of taking time out of your working day, try a walking meeting to get the benefits of some fresh air while keeping on task.
• Check in: Not just a chat at the desk. Schedule dedicated time with your employees to check in on how they are doing. They may need someone to talk to and you can devise a plan to overcome their stress together.
• Lend a hand: If you can see that a colleague or employee is struggling, offer to help them out if you have the capacity. Managing our time can be tricky, especially if someone may be new to the role. Offer advice or a helping hand to help relieve a colleague’s stress.
• Give back: What could your employees benefit from in terms of stress relief? Perhaps its monthly team socials, or additional support from an external service for professional or personal development. You could conduct an anonymous questionnaire amongst employees to determine the best way to support them.

How we prioritise our wellbeing at Effective:

• Team socials: A firm favourite. We hold regular socials as a team to spend quality time together outside of work and unwind with a fun activity. These have included meals, tours and walks.
• Wellbeing hour: Every member of our team is entitled to a wellbeing hour. This is one hour each week that they can take to spend some time dedicated to something that is important to them and their wellbeing. These could include exercising at the gym, going for a walk, or simply finishing early for the day.
• Check ins: Every team member has a weekly check in with our MD Alastair to discuss anything from their current workload, how they are handling their time and whether they need additional support, to their fun plans for the weekend!
• Walking meetings: A new addition for us now that the sun has come out! If there is an internal catch up scheduled, we will take this time to get our steps in and go for a walk, even if it’s just for 20 minutes. This has had glowing feedback so far with many of us enjoying the breath of fresh air – literally!

How Effective can take the stress out of your comms:

Going into our 20th year at Effective, we are experts in managing your business’ reputation and can take the stress out of your comms. We use streamlined methods to provide smooth and simple PR support, from reputation protection solutions and press releases to design and social media, and handle your communications needs in the most effective way, so that you can focus on the rest!

If you, or someone you know, is struggling with stress and mental wellbeing, you can find more information at Mind, Samaritans or the Mental Health Foundation.