How Facilities Managers Can Tackle Stress Levels

Facilities Managers are not the only profession reporting increased stress levels. It’s been a stressful couple of years for everyone and this has created an improved focus on wellbeing. Facilities Management is such a fast-paced industry, with ever-evolving demands, pressures and seemingly never enough hours in the day. So, it’s perhaps unsurprising that Facility Managers are reporting increasing stress levels.

Current stress levels of Facilities Managers

Of course, many jobs are stressful. And stress isn’t always necessarily a bad thing of course. However, recent research has found that for Facilities Managers at least, stress levels have tended to increase over the course of a career. This could be attributable, in part, to increasing seniority and additional responsibility. Additionally, it may equally be symptomatic of the fact that facilities management is a demanding industry. A variety of challenges and on some occasions, limited budgets mean that no day is the same!

That is not to say that everything about the industry is negative; quite the contrary. Many Facilities Managers report enjoying and thriving on the challenges inherent in the role. There is also a school of thought that suggests it’s how we respond to day-to-day stress that is key.

What is causing you stress in the workplace?

Before we start to look at tips to reduce your stress levels, let’s look at the areas that could be causing you stress.

Workload – Look at the allocation of your tasks. Are they properly allocated? Is there a fair share and are the right people taking on the right tasks?

Communication – How do you communicate with your team and visa versa? Poor communication can mean that tasks are poorly executed. This in turn can lead to higher levels of stress.

Time Out – When you finish work, how often are you contacted outside of hours? Are you always on-call? Waiting for the next call, or problem to arise will without doubt increase your stress levels.

Something else – There’s lots of things that can cause us stress. Simply living in today’s always on, optimised world causes unnecessary stress. However, recognising when you are stressed and identifying how your body is naturally reacting to it is a vital first step in dealing with stress.

Here’s our 4 top tips for Facilities Managers to reduce stress in the workplace

1. Review your allocation of tasks – This is a top tip for both you and your team. Ensuring that your tasks are allocated properly will mean that work is more likely to be completed on time and to a high standard. Think about the skills within your team. Are you allocating the best man to the job? Could you team learn new skills to be able to help other departments when needed? There are lots of options when it comes to allocating your tasks.
2. Improve communication – Now this doesn’t just mean communicating tasks. It’s equally as important to reward and recognise a job well done. Your team need to feel appreciated and feel that they matter. Giving someone a simple ‘well done’ will not only help with their stress levels, but also yours too! Reaching down and lifting someone up is one of the best things you can do for your mental health
3. Be sure to rest – This may seem very simple. However, only 51% of us are getting the recommend 8 hours sleep a night. Plus, research proves that 4 in 10 adults say that poor sleep has made them feel more stressed. Therefore, reducing your stress levels could be as simple as sleeping for an hour or so more a night.
4. And finally…. enjoy yourself! – Our teams have, in many cases. been working in silos for the last 2 years. So it’s more important than ever to bring a social aspect back to the workplace. By making the workplace fun and enjoyable is among the best ways to reduce stress levels.

However, sometimes all that’s left to do is change jobs. If you work in a toxic environment, or don’t fit with the values of your current employer, your stress levels will be higher than necessary. So if it’s time of you to secure a fantastic new job in facilities management, take a look at all our latest opportunities. There’s never been a better time to secure your perfect job.