Stress at Work 2

[jike]

What produces stress in your job and what do you do to handle or reduce this stress?

Some things that produce stress in my job are: impossible schedules, overly demanding managers and/or clients, scope creep with no additional time, changes, etc.

 

[csd72]

A belated answer to the original question.

I divide work goals into achieveable and non-achievable deadlines:

I try to treat all achievable goals as a personal challenge rather than a problem (even if they are only just barely achievable).

For non-achievable goals, honesty is usually the best practice as the management will have far more options early on in the project rather than last minute.

 

[KENAT]

Still here, after some tooing and throwing, and several different plans, management turned the thumb screws and the original engineer came in over the weekend to work on it.

It's not all over though. I guess it's stirred up a hornets nest and at this point I'm not sure what the outcome may be.

 

[RDK]

I work in Afghanistan.

Job stresses there include AK-47’s and the possibility of sudden death due to suicide bombers or IED’s.

Everything else is a minor problem.


Rick Kitson MBA P.Eng

Construction Project Management
From conception to completion

http://www.kitsonengineering.com

 

[vpl]

RDK

My hat's off to you for putting all our minor worries into perspective! Good luck on your next tour over there!



Patricia Lougheed

Please see FAQ731-376 for tips on how to make the best use of the Eng-Tips Forums.

 

[ajack1]

A top post RDK and a star for you.

The ability to see that things are only a minor problem is the best way to manage stress. Of course if you have nothing major to get stressed about it is easy to get stressed over minor things, avoid doing that and you are on the right road.

 

[ludikris]

Producer of stress:

The entire order entry and engineering system, or lack thereof. The lack of participation of long term employees to do anything than the 'head bashing in a brick wall' that they've done for years.

Coping mechanism:

Making sure all my 'stuff' is in one sock, doing the absolutely best that I can with the information provided, and disseminating said information and my work as quickly and efficiently as possible to the parties that I'm responsible to. Understanding that I am one person, and can't be an all-aspect solution to every multi-million dollar project that I'm working on.

In addition to that, I go to the pistol range for some .45 caliber therapy then come home and have a beer. (Please consult local laws and age limits before attempting either of the above.)


--
Erik
MO P.E.

 

[futebol3]

I like Erik's solution the best. I enjoy taking my 1911 out to the range and putting a couple hundred rounds down range. I also like to work on my car when I have time and its not too cold, unfortunately today is not one of the good days.

As to the causes of this stress, I usually encounter:
- Boss who wont listen to my ideas (or at least appears not to) and then quotes them verbatum in a meeting later as his own.
- IT dept that overregulates the network traffic and constantly harasses me over my space quota, even though I've explained that part of my work is video editing for training purposes (I need several GB to store data).
- Coworkers who appear to only have high school diplomas...
- Resistance to change or even listening to anything related to change.
- Etc. as this can go on for a while...

 

[michfan]

My boss constantly asks for my opinion on something, and then cuts me off after the first few words and says, "no, this is why it's like that..." or something similar.

It makes me feel stupid, and then I get angry because I know I'm not stupid. And then I want to start looking for a new job. And I want to ask him why he didn't go to school for structural engineering since he knows everything. And then I think about getting paid on Friday and I just nod my head and agree. I've learned to just tune it all out.

Yesterday he ripped on his own son (works here as a detailer) and the rest of us just sat here like we couldn't hear. If he wants to do something like that, he should do it in his office, away from the cubes. But hey, payday is just a few days away. Being able to pay my bills has helped lessen the effects of work stress.

I've sold out, I know...

 

[prohammy]

Michfan,

That's not selling out. If you are like most of us, then you do this game for very good reasons.

1 Money for the essentials in life
2. Money for the non-essentials in life
3. Money for A DRINK on a Friday night to release the fever and stress of having to listen to/deal with everyone elses problematic way of getting through life.
4. All of the above (next week again)

Remember that Friday (or POETS day) has all the above taken care of and Monday is just a way to get to Friday. Paychecks ahoy.

PS I get paid monthly, my Fridays take a long time to come round sometimes



Kevin Hammond

Mechanical Design Engineer
Derbyshire, UK

 

[KENAT]

Working as a team creating design standards & Design Room Manual (DRM).

Documenting them in company format.

Having an email sent by QA to all CAD users and a few others saying they are in force.

Ensuring the above email had links to the secure folders the documents are in so people can find the documents.

Getting an email a week later from my boss saying "The population is asking for a link to the DRM. Do you have that handy?"

To handle it I vented to anyone that would listen and sent him a reply referencing the original email and a couple of other links and posts on our internal 'wiki' that I'd made.

 

[Maui]

What causes the most stress for me is having to perform additional work that is well beyond my responsibilities in order to compensate for the incompetence of co-workers or suppliers. This drives me nuts. Unfortunately it's usually not possible to isolate myself from this type of frustrating situation and still get the job done properly.

Maui

 

[Jordonlaw]

Stress at work is often caused by other people not doing things the way you would, whether on a techical or personal basis. My wife figured all this out the other year after some incidents with a friend of her's had got her really annoyed. Once you realise that the reason you get annoyed is because the other person doesn't think and act like you do, you probably can't change them and, most importantly, it's not personal then you can move on. I've told this to a lot of people and there is a instantly a realisation that you shouldn't judge everyone against your own standards.

I get stressed out when I can't figure out what the FEA job I'm working on has failed for the n'th time. The solution is to walk away and do something else. I'm lucky in that I can think of a solution to a problem that I didn't know I was in my mind at the time; I solved a really complex problem in the shower once - almost ran out naked shouting "Eureka".

 

[btrueblood]

"- Boss who wont listen to my ideas (or at least appears not to) "

I've had that one too, at many different jobs and many different bosses, usually with the added pecadillo of being made to feel stupid for trying to express my opinion. Still makes me angry, but I've figured out a fairly long term solution: only offer my opinion when I am quite sure I'm right, then listen to the "no that won't work" answer and do it that way, making sure to say "okay, we'll do it YOUR way". When that doesn't work out, suggest again my idea. Slowly, very slowly, over time, the right answer wins (ain't physics/chemistry/science great?) and wiser people begin to whisper "hey, that kid might just be right this time". The whispered rumour makes the rounds and eventually gets to the boss.

Then he fires you.

I also like to take walks. At my current job, the shop is about a 30-second walk away, and out the back door by the scrap wood pile are some ratty bushes that are becoming overgrown. A 2x2 scrap, about 24 inches long, makes a nice blunt instrument to do a little pruning...

 

[electricpete]

What stress me out is colleagues ... or calling me just to tell that they just sent me an email regarding some issue and then repeat what they say in the email.

I often do that... for a number of reasons.
#1 - the number of people that I want to keep "in the loop" is more than the number of people I can call.
#2 - The important receivers of the information deserve to be called because things can fall through the cracks on email. We are told important information deserves to be communicated face to face (first choice) by phone (second choice) or by email (least reliable).
#3 - Often the person I call is a manager whose time I value. The way I figure, it's better to get a phone call saying: "What I'm telling you is on email". That way the receiver has the option to say "Ok, I'll read it when I have the time and let you know if I have questions". Also if they pull it up during the conversation, they can probably absorb it faster than listening to me explain it without the email.

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[prohammy]

Stress = Force/Area

Force = Mass x Acceleration

Mass = My Boss (weight of his personality alone could account for a large proportion of the universe's dark matter)

Acceleration = A very large number (bordering on physically impossible) considering distance from his office to my desk

Area = My shoulders (quick measurement reveals roughly 40,000 mm2, feels smaller as the day wears on)

Therefore

Stress = Aaaaaaarrrrrrrggggggghhhhhhhhh

Kevin Hammond

Mechanical Design Engineer
Derbyshire, UK

 

[KENAT]

Prohammy, a useful technique I've noticed people use in your situation is called 'sloping shoulders'. It essentially works the same as sloped armour or a pitched roof.

The ‘force’ is diverted on down to those below you.

From what I've seen it's mainly employed by middle managers and project managers, don't know if it will work for you as it requires someone below to catch it or it will just bounce straight up and hit you in the fundament; but hey, there must be an intern, apprentice or cleaning staff that can take the 'force'.

 

[prohammy]

Ken,

Remember I am a contractor (lowest form of life in the Eng Dept) which makes it fairly difficult to find the required scapegoat.

Kevin Hammond

Mechanical Design Engineer
Derbyshire, UK

 

[KENAT]

Well in that case just say that to meet that requirement will require you to work evenings & weekends at 1.5 times normal rate...

 

[271828]

I'm back in school now after working for years. Back when I worked a real job, I think I was stressed by "weird" and embarrassing things.

For example:

1. The never-ending stream of free junk food that I haven't adequate discipline to resist. I gained about 3" worth of belt in 9 years, in large part due to this.

2. Principals who worked less than me, and were less effective, showing up in new BMWs, going on expensive vacations, and buying $500k houses.

Of course, I had a lot of the same issues as others: terrible scheduled handed to me by principals, obnoxious architects, etc.

Yeah, I know: I have emotional problems and a lack of character, LOL.

I could whine about it, deal with it, or move on. I chose the last option!