1. Managing and Overcoming
Performance Pressure

2. Workshop Objectives
Introduction and Course Overview
 Performance Pressure Awareness
 Stress Test – How stressed are you?
 Managing Performance Pressure – Stress Control
 Control Coping- Identify and deal with Stressors
 Overcoming Performance Pressure – Stress Management -
Internal Stressors – Coping Strategies
2
2

3. Performance Pressures
Beware Of The Dangers
• Increasingly, evidence is emerging of people working long hours, thereby
putting health and family relationships at risk
• Pressures to compete and meet ever-increasing demands of customers
(as well as the need to hang on to a job) are forcing people to spend
more of their time working
• Whilst stress does have its benefits, too much can cause errors of
judgement, mistakes, accidents and damage to health
• Some people are more vulnerable to stress from overwork than others
• Not only are there Type „A‟ personalities but Type „A‟ organisations - is
yours one?
3
3

4. Performance Pressure
Personality Types A/B
Type A Type B
• Try to do more and faster • Easygoing
• Concerned with speed, • Take difficulties in their stride
performance and productivity • Spend time on what they‟re doing
• Tend to be aggressive, impatient, • Rarely harassed
intolerant, hard driving and always hurried • Take time to ponder alternatives
• Preoccupied with time • Usually feel there‟s plenty of time
• Start early and finish late • Not as preoccupied with time
• Strong competitive tendency • Less prone to heart attacks
• Always want to succeed
• More likely to have heart attacks
4
4

5. Stress Test – How Stressed Are You?
Ask Yourself?
• How do you cope with the following situations:
• Driving in rush hour
• Getting a last minute work assignment
• Misplacing something in the house or having something break while using it
• Dealing with incompetence at work
• Planning your budget
• Being blamed for something
• Waiting in a long line at the store or bank
 WHAT ACCORDING TO YOU IS STRESS?
5
5

6. Performance Pressure
Signs Of Stress
 Physical
• Headaches, indigestion, throbbing heart, allergies, infections,
twitching, nausea, tiredness, weight loss/gain, vague aches
and pains
 Mental
• Indecision, making mistakes, forgetfulness, poor concentration,
easily distracted, worrying more, making hasty decisions
 Emotional
• Irritability, anger, alienation, nervousness, apprehension, loss
of confidence, tension, cynicism, job/life dissatisfaction
 Behavioural
• Unsociable, restless, unable to unwind, appetite loss/gain,
increase in drinking/smoking, taking work home, too busy to
relax, poor personal management
6
6

7. Performance Pressure
Causes – The 'How' Of Stress
 Where you work
Red tape, changes, demands from customers, uncertain future,
technology changes, poor job understanding, lack of networking, low
focus on key performance indicators
 Your job
Volume of work (too much/little), deadlines, pressures, being responsible
for staff, wrong assumptions, poor teamwork, interpretation problems
 Your career to date
Still not found your niche, no clear goals, reached your plateau, ambition
 Your relationships
Colleagues, friends, partner, boss, staff, children and families
 Conflicts
Unable to find a balance between work and home; worried about money
 Self-imposed
Giving yourself a hard time, materialism, low self-image, poor self-
management
7
7

8. Performance Pressure
Stress – What is it?
What Is Stress?
Stress is a condition or feeling experienced when a person perceives that demands
exceed the personal and social resources the individual is able to mobilize
The Bad News
Stress is an inescapable part of modern life
The Good News
Stress Isn't Altogether Bad News
Stress results in :
• Wear and tear” of our body
• Physical & emotional effects
• Positive or negative feelings.
• + ve compels us to take action.
• Eg- deadlines, competition, confrontations etc.
• - ve feelings of distrust, rejection, anger, depression
8
8

9. Stressors, Stress and Strain
Stress is the physiological and psychological response to demands that are perceived to
be challenging or threatening.
• The Interrelationships
Strain
Stressors (physiological)
(physical)
Cognitive Strain
Appraisal STRESS (behavioural)
Strain
(psychological)
9
9

10. Performance Pressure
The “Why” Of Stress
It is all a matter of PERCEPTION
• Right perceptions lead to CONSTRUCTIVE STRESS
• Wrong perceptions lead to DESTRUCTIVE STRESS RESS
ST
 BURN OUT EFFECTS
• Complaints of fatigue, being overworked, exhaustion
• Shows loss of enthusiasm, energy, drive, pep team spirit
• Shows loss of imagination, creativity, refusal to take risks
• Becomes defensive easily, has poor relationships with key people
• Is disorganized, has poor recall, memory loss
10
10

11. Two Types Of Coping – Their Effects on Burnout
CONTROL
COPING
(taking charge Reduces
over one’s life)
BURNOUT
Strengthens
ESCAPE
COPING
(passively letting
things happen to you)
11
11

12. Managing Performance Pressure
Control Coping – Identify and deal with Stressors
• Identify Stressor
• Try to reduce or eliminate it
• Change your response to it
• Use coping resources available
• Develop new coping resources
• Identify and create additional coping resources
12
12

13. Managing Performance Pressure
Relationship Stressors - Working With Your Boss
THINGS TO CONSIDER
Aims and values
• What does he want for himself and others?
• How ambitious is he?
Strengths and weaknesses
• What is she good at, likes/dislikes doing?
• Is she good at ideas or relies on others to do the thinking?
Working style
• Does he prefer written or verbal reports, like or dislike formal meetings, like to be
presented with solutions, prefer things simple and straightforward?
Circumstances
• What are the pressures on her? How does she get on with her boss?
• What‟s happening at home?
13
13

14. Managing Performance Pressure
Relationship Stressors - Working With Your boss
DEVELOPING THE RELATIONSHIP
 The relationship you develop needs to recognise:
• Your styles, goals, strengths, circumstances
• Need for a constructive exchange of information and ideas
• Dependence on each other for progress
 Get involved and keep close:
• Find out what your boss is working on
• Share strengths and remove or avoid sources of conflict
• Don‟t rely on him or her for constant guidance; you can provide:
- ideas and alternative ways of looking at situations
- your views of the problems and solutions
• Invest time getting to know how your boss operates and what he or she expects.
14
14

15. Managing Performance Pressure
Relationship Stressors - Handling Pressure From Your Boss
 WHAT TO DO IF ...
• He makes unrealistic demands:
• Explain how you feel about it
• Remind him about your other current work load
• Try saying „no‟
• She doesn’t tell you what’s going on:
• Think why this might be (politics or something you have done)
• Try and find out elsewhere
• Confront her; again, be assertive - tell her how you feel
• He’s inconsistent:
• Remind him of the decisions/policies, etc
• Find out why - it may be an organisational problem/difficulty
15
15

16. Managing Performance Pressure
Relationship Stressors- Working With A Team
 WHAT MAKES A GOOD TEAM?
• Common goals/objectives agreed by all members
• Sound procedures and ways of working
• Appropriate leadership
• Openness and confrontation
• Co-operation and conflict
• Regular review: „What are we trying to achieve?‟
• Get on well with others in and outside the organisation
• Opportunities for individual growth
 Good teams (in practice) also:
• Display plenty of energy, activity, laughter and humour
• Are loyal to each other and don‟t run down others
• Take initiative and show enterprise
• Listen to each other and outside views
16
16

17. Managing Performance Pressure
Work Stressors - Interruptions
 WHERE DO THEY COME FROM?
• Boss
• Who often has the power when it comes to setting priorities
• Subordinates
• The more accessible you are, the more they‟ll use/abuse you
• Fellow workers
• Interrupt for many reasons from social to work-related
• Clients and customers
• These you can‟t ignore
• Phone
• Sounds familiar
• Interruptions blow you off course, but they can be managed.
17
17

18. Managing Performance Pressure
Work Stressors - Handling Interruptions
• When you‟re interrupted, ask yourself what‟s more important: the
interruption or what you‟re working on?
• Keep a „To Do‟ list to re-focus on what you should be doing
• Try to keep interruptions short - „What do you want, why, when, etc?‟
• Keep a log of who/what interrupts you; a pattern may emerge
• Be assertive; learn to deal with „Have you got a minute?‟
• Invent a deadline
• Continue to look busy
- stand up to interruptions
- remove the chair in front of your desk
- reduce eye contact
- collect your papers, check your watch
• Go to them - this way you can leave any time
• Learn to say „no‟
• Plan a quiet hour
18
18

19. Managing Performance Pressure
Work Stressors – Managing Self and Time
• Acknowledge that you‟ll never have all the time you need to do what
you want
• Recognise that lack of time is often a symptom of other problems
(eg: poor planning, inability to prioritise, taking on too much)
• Remember that if things are really important you‟ll find the time -
from somewhere
• So ...
• Build on what works for you
• Don‟t set out to make dramatic changes to the way you operate - try
new ideas gradually
• Try working smarter and not simply harder
• Above all, if managing time is a problem for you, do something
19
19

20. Managing Performance Pressure
Work Stressors - Practical Tips
• Remember, you have some choices - do nothing, fight it or learn to
manage it by:
• Identifying what causes you stress and how it shows itself
• Improving your listening skills – busy people can be bad listeners
• Learning to Prioritize
• Concentrating on what must be done and cutting out all those non-
essential meetings, phone calls and visitors
• Learning to delegate and trust others; none of us is indispensable
• Learn to say 'no' – don't take on everything that comes your way
• Pacing yourself; have 10 minute breaks throughout the day
• Being tidy and organised; untidiness creates its own problems
• Learning to relax and switch off - DON’T take work home
• Get a balance between work and home; your life is important too!
20
20

21. Overcoming Performance Pressure
Stress Management
Should we let stress control us…..a big question?
Stress Management is the ability to maintain control when situations, people,
events make excessive demands
 Coping Strategies
 Deal with Anxiety
 What is your Self Concept
 How do you evaluate your Self Image
 Self Esteem
 Do you have a love or high Self Esteem
 What „s on your mind
 Desensitize and Reprogram yourself
 Know your emotional triggers
 Work on your Self Concept, Self Image and Self Esteem
21
21

22. Overcoming Performance Pressure
Deal with Anxiety
 Wipe out Worry
• Postpone worrying
• Be realistic about the downside
• Focus on your successes
• Take a short relaxation break
• Recognise and admit that you are feeling stressed and anxious
• Give yourself permission to feel anxious about whatever it is
that is bothering you. But ask “How much anxiety is too much"
• Try to pinpoint what it is you are anxious about.
• Become aware of your body's symptoms. Don't let them scare
you, let them talk to you
22
22

23. Overcoming Performance Pressure
Internal Stressors – What Is Your Self Concept?
• Self Concept is the idea we have in our head about who and what we are
• It is what you understand about yourself, how you define yourself
• Of all the judgments you make in life, none is as important as the one you make about
yourself.
• Once we have an idea fixed in our head we reinforce it subconsciously
• Self Concept is linked to Self Image, Self Worth and Self Esteem
• If your Self Concept has too many negative aspects it can be bad for your Self-Esteem
23
23

24. Overcoming Performance Pressure
How do you evaluate your Self Image?
 The Successful Way You Look At Yourself
 Your Self Image isn't just what you see in the mirror
 It includes the thoughts you have about your appearance, your strengths and weaknesses as
well as how you think others perceive you
 Many people have a distorted self image with negative labels attached to them
 Our Self Image is shaped by:
 What we are told about ourselves when we are young
The world you live in
Advertising and media
 Often these standards are impossible to uphold
 A negative Self Image creates massive stressors in your life – disappointment with self, doubt,
feeling of failure
 Look into the mirror of your life and get a realistic view of yourself
Appreciate who you are and what you have
Tell yourself – I like what I see in the mirror and I like what I see in my life
24
24

25. Overcoming Performance Pressure
Internal Stressors – Self Esteem
 You are the only person in the world that can establish, build and nurture your Self-Esteem
• Self Esteem is your control, your approach to the attacks of "reality"
• Your self-esteem is your appraisal, your evaluation and your feelings about yourself. Your
opinion of the person who you have been living with since you were born: Yourself.
 Where does Self Esteem Come from?
• You are not born with low Self Esteem
• It is something you have learned from reactions to things that have happened to you and people
you have interacted with.
 Self Esteem can be damaged by
• Negative comments from primary care givers
• Disappointment in relationships
• Abusive relationships
• Major mistakes in life
 Your Inner Critic is the worst enemy of Self Esteem echoing the negative talk you have heard
from others
25
25

26. Overcoming Performance Pressure
Internal Stressors – Do you have low or high Self Esteem
 Signs of Low Self Esteem
• Negative Self talk – ways that your thinking can be distorted
• Frequently apologizing
• Focusing on your flaws
• Rejecting positive comments or compliments
• Avoiding risk
• Avoiding eye contact
• Pessimism
 People with high self-esteem
• Have confidence in their ability to meet day to day challenges
• Don‟t spend a lot of time worrying about what other people think of them.
• Don‟t have a need to put down other people
• Are able to learn from their mistakes
• Are able to laugh at themselves
• Are able to take criticism without being devastated or crippled by it
26
26

27. Overcoming Performance Pressure
Internal Stressors – What's on your Mind?
 The way you think
• Negative thinking
• Inappropriate Self Talk
• All or nothing thinking
• Overgeneralization
• Mental filter
• Discounting the positives
• Magnification or minimization
• Emotional reasoning
• “Should” statements
• Labelling
• Blame
 Take responsibility and make some positive changes
27
27

28. Overcoming Performance Pressure
Desensitize And Reprogram Yourself
• Deal with high or unrealistic expectations
• Recognize your own ability and potential
• Tune out abusive remarks. They are only words, even though
they hurt.
• Stay calm and don‟t give your „opponents‟ the satisfaction of
seeing you react in front of them (deal with your feelings later).
• Change your automatic negative emotional response to a
positive one (with humour, If you can).
28
28

29. Overcoming Performance Pressure
Internal Stressors - Know Your Emotional Triggers
Know Your Emotional Triggers
• We all have our triggers - words, expressions, a look in the eye - which
press that button marked blast off.
• If you want to see sparks coming from my eyes, just call me stupid.
Your key task:
• Ask yourself: „What hurts me most? Why?
• How do I react?‟
• Get to know your triggers and work on neutralising them.
29
29

30. Self Concept, Self Image, and Self Esteem
 Believe In Yourself
• Recognize that your self concept can be mistaken and correct it
• Be aware of the Inner voice that drags you down
• Change your attitude – do not behave in a self defeating way
• Think positively about yourself and about the situation. Matters can be
resolved if you believe they can.
• Think positively about the difficult person -hard to do but it helps to
prevent a build up of your own antagonism.
• Believe that you deserve better
 Remember – your thoughts and feelings affect your self esteem and
your self esteem in turn drives the way you think and feel
30
30

31. Reactive Behaviour and Proactive Behaviour
 Try to respond and not react
• Stimulus –Response
• Between them there is some space or Time
• We can utilize that time to decide our response to people or
situations
Stimulus Response
Freedom of
Choice
Anticipation! Advance Planning! Foresight!
31
31

32. Managing and Overcoming Performance Pressure
Remember that:
In the short run, anyone, can be a victim, even you
In the long run, there are no victims--- only willing participants
The key to winning back your time is to be more effective at being rather than doing
You don‟t have to catch the ball every time someone throws it at you
Learn how to say NO!!
You are more resourceful than you often acknowledge and
You always have more options than you know
32
32

33. Managing and Overcoming Performance Pressure
• Encourage yourself
• Think positive
• Get to know yourself
• Help others
• Choose your friends wisely
• Stand up for your rights as a person
• You have the right to change your mind
• Use daily affirmations to hijack negative
thoughts
• Have a Winner Mentality
33
33

34. ®
Leading People. Leading Organizations.
Thank you
34
34