Most working adults’ stress stems from their jobs or workplace.
Job stress has been reported to be responsible for billions of dollars in business losses every year.
Stressed workers are more likely to engage in self-sabotaging activities like smoking, excessive drinking, inactivity, unhealthy diet, and relationship trauma.
Job-related stress can lead to medical expenses, depression, and workers’ compensation claims.
Thankfully, facility managers can now help manage and reduce stress at work through implementing an easy-to-use maintenance software called a Computerized Maintenance Management System, or CMMS.
Managing Work-Related Stress Like a Professional
According to the American Institute of Stress (AIS), job stress is the leading source of stress among working adults today, and that number keeps rising every year.
Based on numerous collective reports, job-related stress has many contributors.
The most common is the daily scheduling and communication challenges with other people while on the job and juggling and prioritizing one’s daily workload.
Stress-related health concerns are increasing in numbers.
Some of the health risks caused by stress include hypertension, heart disease, obesity, arthritic flairs, diabetes, memory loss, and depression.
Experts state that many of these risks can be reduced with proper workplace stress management tools and procedures.
So, what solutions can a facility manager put in place to help reduce stress at work for themselves, their workforce, and clients?
We’ve covered some simple tips and solutions that can be easily implemented across any industry, but especially across leisure, sports, and entertainment.
Allocating the Workload
Find a solution to help automate work allocation tasks.
One solution is a Computerized Maintenance Management System, or CMMS.
This will empower your employees and field staff to prioritize important tasks and improve proficiency easily.
A succinct work allocation solution saves time and provides clear instruction that will reduce confusion between members of the team working on the same goal or project.
Facility managers should understand that the process of allocating roles and responsibilities on a project is vital to the success of a project.
However, if employees are not sure about their roles on a project, there should be an avenue for clarification either from their supervisor or client.
This will endure that allocation of resources is efficient.
Simplify the Chain of Communication
It is essential to simplify the chain of communication when working on a project.
A facility manager needs to develop a consistent process to ensure that everyone has the same understanding of what you are doing from start to finish.
They say knowledge is power, but what do you do when finding the right person to ask or where to look for updates isn’t always clear.
It’s important to have a strategy for how requests are handled from start to finish.
Don’t forget to set expectations upfront about timelines and communication updates.
Using a CMMS will allow you to schedule work requests ahead of time, which can save a major headache.
A CMMS can help create a chain of approvals based on work order types, priority or location.
If there are no clear lines of communication between all parties, it can cause confusion and stress.
Automate your Maintenance Schedules
When project managers create a schedule for routine maintenance and set clear expectations, everyone involved understands what to expect, when to expect it and can make strategic, operational plans themselves.
Every person in a facility has a different goal.
Some people want to complete maintenance, while others want to track metrics or reduce costs.
Regardless of what you’re trying to achieve, Computerized Maintenance Management Software, or a CMMS, makes it easier to accomplish.
Having CMMS software in place is the best way to simplify maintenance and reduce stress.
This will empower employees, field staff, and contractors to be more productive.
Tracking Your Materials and Inventory
Have you ever been caught in a situation where your team ran out of the material they needed?
Who was the last person who put in the material order?
Was that order ever even placed? When was it last ordered?
Trying to run through the possibilities of what occurred can be quite stressful.
Avoid these troubles by having your team track all inventory and materials within a Computerized Maintenance Management System.
Set up alerts through the system when inventory is low automatically through the software system.
Your team will love you for it!
Reinforce Safety Procedures and Security
Does your company practice security drills regularly, for physical location emergencies?
It can be as simple as a fire drill or more complicated, such as a severe weather drill.
You should always have your team practice the steps to deal with whatever situation might arise.
From brick-and-mortar businesses to online superstores and digital services, there are a number of tasks that need to be routinely addressed, sometimes daily if not weekly, or monthly.
But it’s easy to get distracted with the trifles of the day.
Automating the routine, with a CMMS, will have a positive impact on business and team members.
When unexpected situations arise, the team can react quickly to mitigate any damage.
This allows everyone to do their job more proficiently because they are not stressed by unforeseeable problems or situations.
This makes for a more secure situation all the way around, from facility management to field staff, to the consumer.
Promote Work/Life Balance
Aside from implementing change within an organization, such as an improved software solution like a CMMS, all team members including managers must practice a healthy work/life balance and promote it within the company.
Facility managers must make time for exercise, family, and self-care.
A healthy work/life balance can be supported at an organizational level as well. For example, shut down early before the holidays to enforce valuing family time.
Be flexible with schedules to accommodate individual needs.
Be clear about the demands of a job during the hiring process, so employees who are hired know what is expected from them.
Over to You
In today’s facility management, there are many challenges to overcome.
One of the biggest is how to reduce stress for employees and consumers.
By simply making a few procedural adjustments, facility managers can reduce stress in no time.
Managers can reduce stress significantly in various industries with a work-order management software solution (Computerized Maintenance Management System or CMMS).
The software allows companies to maintain a comprehensive maintenance schedule that focuses on proactive measures rather than costly reactive remedies.
