business

What I’m Learning: About Stress

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In this season of life, I work as an administrative assistant at a local architectural firm. Essentially I spend my time balancing the front office (clients, ordering, etc.) all the while providing assistance to 2 bosses and 7 employees of varying titles. I often find myself being dragged and pulled in opposite directions based upon some sort of cryptic hierarchy of needs. While my position can be stressful, I do enjoy the field I work in.

When I am not at work, I am a:

  • Husband
  • Father
  • Son/Brother
  • Friend
  • Blogger/Writer
  • Bible Study Host/Teacher
  • Video Game Connoisseur

I also spend various evenings and early morning hours devoted to learning the craft of web design. We all need a dream, right?

Something that I have been learning, lately, is not to let other’s stress become my own.

Putting stress within its proper context, is an art that everyone should practice daily. Below are a few examples of deflecting stress:

.: Example A :.

You have designed a web site for a company and have given them the keys. You no longer have anything to do with the site. Soon after, one of their employees comes to you wanting to change a portion of the site. Happy to help, you listen as the employee describes something the site was never built to do. Graciously you smile, tell the employee to check with the companies designated web master, and you move on.

.: Example B :. 

It is 4:30PM on a beautiful Thursday afternoon. Office supplies have dwindled down to the last paperclip. A fellow employee vents to you that they are about to use said paperclip and that you need to go out and get more, stat! In the most professional manner, you assure your co-worker that supplies will be ordered tomorrow. The paperclip crisis, small as it is, has been averted.

Stress isn’t worth it.

Office Thoughts

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Working in the world of an ————- office has led me to experience some extreme highs and deep lows professionally. As a front office manager, I have been placed in the unique position to fully observe almost all events in the office. In thinking through the different situations I have observed/experienced, both the good and the bad, I have come to conclude that:

  • Education Should Never Cease – This is as simple as providing constructive feedback to employees without belittling them. No one ever learns by being verbally assaulted over an issue. Instead, taking time to work through/ explain a potential problem helps an employee when they tackle the same issue again in the future.
  • Management Needs to Lead by Example – Yelling at employees, slamming the phone down on the desk in anger, and demanding unrealistic expectations are the actions of an office diva/ dictator. Don’t do these things! Instead, treat others as you want to be treated. A manager who believes that he has “earned” the right to treat employees in this manner, due to time spent working for the firm, is a manager leading his employees into a personal (daily) Hell. Don’t be this person.