Dear friends,

This has been copied from a powerpoint presentation, and there are gaps throughout… Good for doing some quiet scrolling/thinking/stocktaking…

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Stress is a normal occurrence of life. Every work situation, every family situation, when we are on the road, or the sports field we experience stress in our life. The day -to-day stress adds flavor to our lives and we often thrive on this stress.

However continual change brings new dynamics into our lives.

We are not sure where we stand anymore.

What changes are going to happen in the future?

How will this affect my life. my job, my family?

We were comfortable with our job but now we are told we will have to operate differently, smarter with greater productivity.

Flight or Fight

When stressed we react in one of two ways. We may go into flight or fight mode.

Fight Mode

We experience increasing threat and stress levels in our lives and prepare ourselves to meet the threat by standing our ground and preparing to fight. We become tense, angry and demonstrate these feelings to people around us. The problem is exaggerated because we seldom go into real fight mode because our society does not work that way. We may easily identify the fighter in our staff because we see and hear their behavior.

Flight Mode

There is another stressed group in DNRE who are just as tense, but we may not be aware of their tension. These are the people who go into flight mode under stress. They may actually make themselves absent when stressful situations occur. They may feel genuinely sick and so be absent more often or perhaps be at work but repress all those feelings and push them down into their souls out of sight. All that anxiety is there but pushed out of sight in some way.

The stress will not go away but we can learn to handle it better.

 · Maintain Good Emotional Health

Many feelings and much stress is going to be generated in the future. We will manage this process if we look after ourselves and maintain good emotional health.

Exercising for Less Stress and Emotional Fitness

The stress response is nature’s way of preparing the body for action. Physical action is most useful for dealing with modern day stresses. Slotting a regular exercise period into your day will release built up tension and satisfy the body’s need for action.

Exercise can help you feel good, calm you down, or generate creative ideas.

It acts as a distraction and gives you a break from your worries.

It raises your fitness and so helps you cope with every day demands as well as crisis.

Competitive sport raises the level of achievement and gives a positive feeling. Be careful it does not become a new stress.

Looking at Relaxation

Relaxation and meditation is a way of producing a quiet body and calm mind.

People who normally live with a high degree of tension are more likely to experience problems when any extra stress occurs.

These people can lower their general level of tension by regular relaxation and so cushion themselves against overstress.

 · How Not to Become a Victim of Change

1. Monitor your self talk.

2. Talk over the issues that concern you with your partner, a friend or a counselor.

3. Take stock of your skills, abilities, achievements, hopes & personality.

4. Be forward looking and set some goals for yourself.

5. Be constantly on the lookout to turn threats into challenges and opportunities.

6. Look after yourself by paying attention to diet, exercise, recreation & rest.

7. Remember the changes in your life that you have already negotiated.

8. Have confidence in your ability to learn new skills and to adapt to new situations.

9. Take time in the midst of all this to do something that you enjoy.

10. DO NOT be a victim of change.

 · Be Aware of Self Talk

Thoughts

We interpret events with a series of thoughts that continually flow through our mind. This is called “self talk.”

Mood

Our feelings are created by our thoughts. All experience must be processed through our brain and given a conscious meaning before we experience emotional response.

Some stress is caused by irrational negative self talk.

We Can Feel Better By :

* Recognizing that our self talk is irrational.

* Disputing it inside our head.

* Throwing it out.

* Vigorously repeating 1-3 whenever we are troubled by that irrational thought.

By doing this we gain control over our thinking and cease to be troubled by its emotional

consequence.

Some Common Thinking Errors

All or nothing error -Black and white thinking.

Over generalization.

Disqualifying the positive.

Mind reading.

Fortune telling.

Catastrophising.

Emotional Reasoning.

Labeling.

Ten Common Irrational Beliefs

1. I must be loved and approved of by every significant person in my life.

2. I must be completely competent in all I do if I am to be worthwhile.

3. Some people are bad, wicked or evil and they should be blamed and punished.

4. It is absolutely terrible when people and things are not how I would like them to be.

5. Human unhappiness, including mine, is caused by factors outside my control.

6. I should worry about all that is unknown uncertain or potentially dangerous.

7. It is easier to avoid than to face life’s difficulties.

8. I need someone stronger than myself to depend upon.

9. My problems were caused by events in my past and that why I have problems now.

10. Happiness can be achieved by inaction, passivity and endless leisure.

Do a Worst Case Scenario

Too often we wake in the early hours of the morning worrying about all the things that

might happen.

Sit down, with your partner and write down your position if the worst happened. The

worst is not as bad as we imagine if we put it down on paper rather than letting our

imagination play with it.

Be Aware of What is Happening Inside us

We need to acknowledge to ourselves the:

Emotional

Mental

Physical

Behavioral

changes within us

And be aware that these may be causing responses with my partner and my children.

Are they scared? What changes do we have to make? Do I feel guilty? Do they blame

me? Are they applying emotional pressure?

Significant change, over which we have little control, will produce similar feelings

and response as we experience at the death of a person close to us.

This is particularly so for people who face significant change in their work place

We respond in Different Ways

* Irrational Fear. Not knowing the future we imagine the worst.

* Rumor Listening. We listen to every rumor and every piece of information.

* Enormous feelings are generated inside of us which may make us feel less responsive.

* We may say nothing. Putting our feelings aside we ignore what is going on around us.

* We may feel frustrated. We wish to talk about what is going on but have nowhere to express it.

* We may withdraw. We may think that we are the only one feeling this way.

Managers May Misunderstand Us

Interpret silence as acceptance

Believe that no communication signifies staff are happy.

Feel they must motivate us.

What May Happen to the Team?

We may have limited capacity to absorb information.

We may be unable to respond for some time.

We may respond in unthinking ways

We may deny the reality to protect ourselves from the pain.

We may hide our feelings.

We may leave unresolved the emotion underlying our state of mind.

We may tend to avoid all change

We may become paralyzed in our decision making.

PERSONAL NEEDS

PHYSICAL

Food

Water

Shelter

PSYCHOLOGICAL

Safety

Security

Comfort

SOCIAL

To love and be loved

Companionship

Friendship

Mutuality

SPIRITUAL

Sense of meaning

Purposefulness

Peace of mind

The Shock Stage

 · Gather as much information as possible

 · Remember you will have an insasiable appetite for information

 · The change cannot be all bad

 · Give yourself time to absorb the news

 · Confront the ghosts

Retreat

 · Give recognition to the values of the past

 · Create rituals to farewell the old ways

 · Work at understanding what is going on

 · Cross the bridges as they come

 · Take small steps at a time

Reaction

 · Attempt to identify your specific concerns

 · Reflect your concerns with others

 · Give yourself time

 · Recognize the feelings concerning the changed

 · Get involved

Passive Acceptance

 · Avoid being a victim

 · Avoid getting stuck in the mud

 · You may need more skills

 · The steam is starting to get up

 · We feel ambivalent

Exploration

 · We are getting some energy

 · This can be a chaotic stage

 · We may be at different stages on the road

 · Set short term goals

Coping With Change

“Would you tell me, please, which way I ought to go from here?” asked Alice. That depend a great deal on where you want to get to” said the Cat. I don’t much care where” said Alice. Then it doesn’t matter which way you walk” said the cat. (Alice In Wonderland)

We should be concerned about the future because we will have to spend the rest of our lives there.

( Inventor Charles Kettering)

Change will be part of our lives. We are not sure by how much, but we are receiving the messages that the future will be significantly different from the past. The social psychologists give the analogy of a river. The past being periods of still streams accompanied by rapids and white water. The future they predict will be white water all the way.

Endings lead on to transitions. we are hearing that change will be occurring the future and we have seen many changes in the past. We go through a psychological process in our corporate and individual lives wen we encounter change.

 · Disorientation

 · Disintegration

 · Discovery

 · Disorientation

* The shock Stage

The first response to substantial change in our lives is often shock.

The changes may appear incomprehensible

We may have difficulty believing that what is happening is reality.

Typically we respond by shutting down, hoping this will all go away.

We may experience irrational fears.

Rumors multiply, fueled by inaccurate information.

The upheaval going on inside leads us to be responsive on the outside.

Our manger may interpret this our passive response as acceptance. “All is well”

We may be subject to pep talks.

We cannot obtain enough information.

Common Expressions

Business as usual.

That’s life

It will be over soon

I don’t understand

How We describe this Experience

bewildered, dazed, offended, alarmed, ambushed, staggered.

* The Retreat Stage

After the initial shock we may have a tendency to idealize and romanticize the old ways.

We may become nostalgic about the past yearning for a return to the old values.

The fear of the future may lead us to desire to seek refuge in the old ways.

We seek guarantees that things will be all right before we move on .

We will evaluate and judge the new against the old standards.

In this stage we desire to get together in small groups and reminisce

Common Expressions

The way we did it in the past is best, We’ve always done it this way,

I will only lose out, I might be old fashioned but

How We describe this experience

Spurned, ditched, stranded, nostalgic, stubborn.

We may feel numb.

Disintegration

* The Reaction Stage

In this stage people feel grumpy and complain. We express this in self-doubt, anxiety, frustration, and anger at the change. In this process we may align ourselves with like minded people. Where the organization has strong values about the “right attitude” or keeping up appearances, this stage may be prolonged.

In the reaction stage we resist or even fight against the change.

We may feel disillusioned and dissatisfied with work. We don’t feel like coming to work. We may even feel sick and have sick leave. We talk about “us” and “them.”

Common Expressions

The organization doesn’t care about me.

They always, we never, if only

I gave everything and look what I got -nothing

Words Which describe the experience

Indignant, agitated, resentful, distressed, hurt.

I feel like: bailing out, blowing up.

In this stage we are polarized between hew old and the new. We have tendency to feel over whelmed and exposed. The need for safety is replaced with the need for more stimulation and excitement.

We feel angry due to our inability to control the cause of the distress, and become tired of hearing about change.

* The Passive Acceptance Stage

Resignation is a low grade of passive acceptance. There is no longer energy to fight or resist the change, however there is not yet the enthusiasm or commitment required to fully embrace the new. People may stay in this stage for years.

There is tendency to follow instructions without engaging the purpose.

Common Expressions

No one ever talks to me about what to do.

I’m just doing my job

I work and do my job, nothing more.

I’ll weather the storm.

Words which describe the Experience

Left to my own devices, written off, sweating it out.

rolling with punches

People in this stage are resigned to the changes but with a sense of helplessness.

They lack initiative

Discovery

* The Exploration Stage

This stage is characterized by rapid expansion, resulting in chaos and confusion. This is the most individualistic stage in the acceptance of change. Many possibilities are being generated but are not yet focused into a share team vision.

There is a willingness to learn and make collaborative plans.

Common Expressions

What are the ground rules here?

What do I do?

There is too much to do

Words Which Describe the Experience

Floundering, confused fuzzy, frustrated.

Renewed exploration leads to exploration in uncharted territory with likelihood of anxiety, panic and a desire to know the rules.

* The Challenge Stage

In this stage the potential of the new is fully realized. The team relationships are reality based and provide a solid basis for personal creativity.

The formal, personal and collective levels of relationships are integrated. People focus ion the task at hand and get on with the business. Work is an enjoyable challenge and people are willing to work together to achieve a common aim.

Common Expressions

It’s great to be part of the group

This is exciting and demanding

Words which Describe the Experience

Harmonized, consolidated, unified, fulfilled, challenged.

Managing the Shock Stage

 · Provide accurate information

 · Explain what to expect with change

 · Help people think through the advantages

 · Suggest actions that will be useful

 · Allow time for the implications to sink in

 · Discuss and confront fears and doubts

 · Minimise surprise

 · Attempt to make changes fit the existing organisation

Managing Retreat

 · Give recognition to the values of the past

 · Create rituals to farewell the old ways

 · Involve key people in decision making

 · Keep changes simple to understand

 · Take small steps in presenting the implications

 · Confront the holding on to the past

 · Recognize and reward those who move on

Managing Reaction

 · Create forums to express the negative

 · Allow concerns to be shared

 · Offer a neutral period

 · Allow people to take up authority and responsibility

 · Allow people to own the feelings they have

 · Acknowledge feelings empathetically

 · Don’t give into pressure

 · Involve people in dialogue

Managing Passive Acceptance

 · Support people making the changes

 · Support vision and planning sessions

 · Provide training to learn new skills

 · Support development of self esteem

 · Provide formal support and structures

 · Remain flexible and open to new ideas

 · Confront victim positions

 · Provide avenues of appeal and review

Managing Exploration

 · Provide a focus for enthusiasm

 · Provide training needs for new skills

 · Set short term achievable goals

 · Follow through with projects

 · Resolve conflicting role expectation

 · Strengthen interpersonal relationships

Managing Challenge

 · Set long term goals

 · Concentrate on team building

 · Validate and reward initiative

 · Support integration of objectives

 · Deepen commitment

 · Offer new and worthwhile experiences

 · Be adaptable and flexible

Managing Change

The shock stage

Retreat

Reaction

Passive Acceptance

Exploration

Challenge

Challenge

 · We are able to set long term goals

 · We can concentrate on the team

 · We feel a deeper commitment

 · We hope we have arrived

Mark Blackwell.