Workplace Stress Trap - I Hate Work Meetings Because I Look So Dumb

How much time do you spend in meetings at work? Far too much time is the usual response. But what if you are hopeless in meetings but good at your desk and other work? What if you feel you look dumb all the time at meetings? Is this a workplace stress trap that has caught you up? If so, let's think about how often this happens and how you can deal with it.

The first reality is that most people get frustrated in meetings. The agenda seems too long; there is very little specific purpose to the meetings; there are few positive outcomes; and there are too many people sitting there. I often look around at meetings and calculate the per hour cost of the meeting. Let us imagine that there are 12 people meeting where the average cost of salary plus benefits is probably $80 per person per hour then you have a meeting that is costing nearly $1000 per hour. You would expect a lot of outcomes from this investment.

Another issue with meetings is the social dynamic that plays out. The well-known cognitive psychologist Edward de Bono says that meetings involve a lot of payback and inter-personal pressure. A person proposes a motion and then immediately makes eye contact with colleagues to gather support for that idea and motion. A sense of loyalty requires the colleague to support the motion because the person deserves support. So the value of the motion is less important than the interpersonal support. De Bono says that the most efficient meetings to cut down on the social dynamic is to either meet in a completely dark room or have all the chairs facing out from the table so that people cannot see each other. For a lot of people, this meeting social dynamic and interaction can be extremely stressful. For others, it is the hierarchical and competitive dynamic that makes them feel inadequate and dumb and adds to meeting stress; that is, looking silly in front of supervisors and bosses.

How to Escape the Stress of Meetings

If you feel dumb at every meeting you attend you have to ask the question:"Did I prepare adequately for this meeting?" Some people float into a meeting without the background reading and preparation. They are constantly trying to play catch-up because they did not get across the issues from the last meeting, failed to do the required reading, did not have follow-up discussions with other team members, and generally treated the meeting as though it was an obligation not an opportunity. So the first way to overcome the workplace stress trap of feeling dumb at meetings is to become informed.

But some people feel inadequate generally and try to compensate for their inadequacy by talking excessively and unnecessarily. A good motto is 'God gave me two ears and one mouth so that I would listen twice as much as I talked.' This is very good advice for meeting novices. Listen carefully, take notes so that you're well organized, only speak if you have something important to contribute, and be brief. Try not to speak more than a few times per meeting so that your colleagues will expect that what you have to say is worthwhile. And they will listen. In this way, you will no longer feel dumb.

From a psychological point of view, the reality is that most of us are anxious about our performance. We tend to be more negative and self-critical than positive and self-supportive. This negative self talk increases stress and anxiety and reduces our ability to relieve stress and tension. If we add to this the workplace stress trap of not feeling competent at meetings a sense of anticipatory anxiety and reduced feelings of competence and self-efficacy, we compound our feelings of inadequacy and uncertainty. The sounds like a lot of jargon but the reality is that if you want to avoid the stress of being dumb at meetings be well-prepared, be prudent and thoughtful in what you say, and believe in yourself.

Dr Jeff, a psychologist, writes about workplace stress, personal stress, interpersonal stress, and how to manage stress. On his blog, http://www.drjeffbailey.com, he answers questions from readers. He works hard to make his articles practical and helpful and all of his articles are based on sound research evidence and extensive clinical experience. Please go to his Dr Jeff blog to get your free report on stress.

Staff Productivity Plus Great Culture Equals Effective Workplace

Once you have these great people, there is a true art to keeping them productive and happy, and that art is known as “creating a culture”. While it may not sound hard, creating and maintaining a culture that meets all the requirements for all of your employees can be a balancing act to say the least! Here are some ways to build a great office culture and to keep employees happy in their job.

Office Surroundings

There aren’t many people that enjoy going to work in a pokey, dark office! That’s why the office culture starts with the surroundings in which you put your staff. When choosing an office space, look for a location with plenty of windows, large break out areas for staff to have lunch in and good heating and cooling. These things may all sound like standards, but you would be surprised! Many business owners will look for places that are low on extra space (to save money) and rarely think about the positive impact that natural light can have on their staff, never mind a good heater and air conditioner.

There are a range of options when it comes to livening up your office. Bright paintings, colourful furniture or cushions, or even funky office stationery will improve morale and lift everyone’s spirits.

Plants have also been shown to increase productivity levels in staff, decrease stress and provide an all round more positive environment in an office situation.

Team Building and Office Perks

Many people are now sold on a job, not by the remuneration they are offered, but the perks the company provides. Simple things like buying a coffee machine, keeping a stock of drinks in the fridge or a Friday afternoon off in the summer months every now and then all helps to make a business a more enticing place to come and work each day. These initiatives may only cost the business a small amount of money, but will have a huge impact on team productivity and happiness.

Team building exercises don’t need to be weekends away or huge off-site extravaganzas. Something as simple as getting a table tennis table in the office to encourage staff interaction, or even ten pin bowling once a month can do wonders for building a strong and supportive team.

By: Ralph Garofano

Career Women: Regulate Your Menstruation With Menstrulax

Every woman irrespective of race and culture has to undergo menstrual cycle once a month until menopause. During the menstrual cycle, all women suffer from various symptoms and pain. A healthy woman will have menses once in 28-30 days. However, many women suffer form irregular menses that cause various problems. You will not be able to give birth to a healthy child if you have problem in your menstrual cycle. Irregular problem with the menstrual cycle is often associated with hormones in the body. Many women prefer to take hormone medicines to regulate the menses cycle. Sometimes, this may lead to several other problems in the body. Apart from irregular periods, women may suffer from excessive or poor bleeding during their period. Menstrulax is an excellent herbal remedy for all menstrual problems.

Menstrulax contains 100% motherwort extracts. This herb has been used in Chinese medicine for many years to cure women problems. This herb relaxes the smooth muscles and hence, it can be effectively used as a medicine to treat irregular periods. The studies show that when the extract of this herb is given during labor, possibilities of hemorrhage are reduced. This herb prevents the uterine infections and it acts as a uterine tonic. The ancient treatments used this herb as an effective medicine for menstrual and menopause problems.

Many women suffer from anxiety and stress during their periods. This is very natural as there will be drastic changes with the hormone levels in the body. Motherwort contained in Menstrulax acts on nervous system and induces passivity. The working women face great problems in their workplace during their menses as they lose their temper very easily during their periods. By taking Menstrulax pills everyday you can stabilize the hormone levels in your body in a natural way and stay calm during your periods.

Erratic menstrual flow is a common problem that is experienced by almost every woman. When the blood flow is heavy, you will have lower energy levels because of the loss of blood. Lower discharge means that there are some problems with the uterus. Motherwort contained in Menstrulax is capable of stabilizing menstrual flow. Thus, you will not experience heavy or less blood flow during your menses when you take this capsule. Since optimal levels are maintained, you do not have to worry about loss of excess energy.

The heart conditions are stabilized by the extracts of motherwort. Palpitation is a common problem that is experienced by many women during their menses. This arises because of increased stress as well as hormonal changes. The increased heart rate resulting in palpitation should be controlled and this job is perfectly done by Menstrulax.

Unlike hormonal treatments, Menstrulax contains 100% natural extraverts from naturally cultivated motherwort and it does not cause any harm to the body. However, you have to avoid taking these pills during your pregnancy. There are no side effects with the pure natural extracts. You can take two capsules of Menstrulax every day to stabilize your menstrual cycle and stick to your regular schedule without worrying about your periods.

By: Jingyu bai

Herbalspan specialises in traditional Chinese Herbal Medicine and herbalspan stocks whole range of chinese herbs and herbal products.

Causes Of Domestic Violence And Its Impact In The Workplace

There are many causes of domestic violence, and situations range across all socioeconomic levels and backgrounds. It may seem that an abused woman’s place of work may be a relief or an escape for them; unfortunately, abusers can further victimize their partner, even while they are at work. Victims are vulnerable because their abusers know where and when they go to work, as well as their phone number and e-mail address. Domestic violence offenders have been known to visit their partner’s place of business in an attempt to harm or harass them. Victims cannot escape, because their jobs are necessary to their financial survival and their only hope for independence.

Domestic violence can be physical, sexual, or psychological battering; all of which are devastating. Many times one suffers from more than one of these types of abuse from their partners. The causes of domestic violence have been studied, and typically, abuse escalates and intensifies over time. It has been found that 74% of women who are abused in the home experience continued abuse at their place of work. Abusers can use workplace property to stalk and threaten their victims. Not only is this a dangerous situation for the victim, but it creates a dangerous environment for co-workers with a violent individual wanting to do harm in their midst.

There are things that employers can and should do to help. They can have policies in place to help protect victims from abuse, and have specific guidelines allowing co-workers to recognize the signs of abuse to let them know how to help. If resources are made available, someone who may be hesitant to ask for help will know what to do. There are outside help and support groups, and employee assistance programs can be initiated. A domestic violence policy should be a part of an employer’s guidelines to encourage open communication, and to guide supervisors for proper procedures when there is an employee recognized as a victim.

Practical strategies can be implemented to protect a victim in the workplace including having a secure work environment, offering schedule flexibility to a victim, or changing their work location. An employer can also be supportive by providing escorts or having a ‘buddy system’ for accompanying individuals to their cars or transportation home. Security personnel or receptionists can be provided with photographs of the abuser to allow screening and protection for the victim. Telephone and e-mail screening, or the changing of phone numbers or e-mail addresses can also help avoid harassment.

The emotional support from an employer is a critical element for a victim because they know that they can get help. In addition, the practical policies at a place of business can look after a victim daily, allowing them every possible chance to maintain their job and be safe while they are at work. The causes of domestic violence may not be prevented, but by providing a safe and accommodating environment for an employee, an employer offers a productive and safe work situation.

Grace Enderlein is a freelance writer and editor.“Causes of Domestic Violence and its Impact in the Workplace” notes the continued abuse for domestic abuse victims in their place of business, and what employers can do to help.We also provide help against sex trafficking of women and girls and strives for the prevention and awareness of the causes of domestic violence with their programs.

Is Unconscious Bias Negatively Affecting Your Workplace?

Thirty percent of Caucasians admit that they have a racial bias toward African-Americans. But, are those numbers accurate? Social scientists studying “unconscious bias” say that number is low. In fact, some studies have found that 88 percent of Caucasians have a pro-Caucasian or anti-African American unconscious bias.

Unconscious bias is the concept that individuals can have a bias at an unconscious level that influences decision-making in ways that the individual is unaware. In other words, individuals who have an unconscious bias make decisions based on stereotypes with no idea that they and their decisions are biased. Social scientists have empirically demonstrated that unconscious bias exists in our society. In fact, the bias begins as early as age three when we are taught to categorize the world around us. Categorization allows us to make sense of new information, but it also leads to stereotyping. That stereotyping results in discrimination when people rely on those preconceived notions in making employment decisions.

Marianne Bertand (Chicago Graduate School of Business professor) and Sendhil Mullainathan (MIT professor) conducted an experiment to determine if employers were discriminating against job applicants with African-American sounding names. Bertrand and Mullainathan sent out nearly 5,000 resumes to 1,300 job openings in Chicago and Boston. Every employer received four resumes: an average Caucasian applicant, an average African-American applicant, a highly skilled Caucasian applicant, and a highly skilled African-American applicant. The companies to which the resumes were sent stated that they were aggressively seeking diversity. Yet, the study found that applicants with Caucasian sounding names were 50 percent more likely to get an interview than applicants with African-American sounding names. They also found that lower skilled Caucasian applicants received more interviews then highly skilled African-American applicants. The study revealed that employers have an unconscious bias when they see an African-American sounding name which causes them to react negatively toward that applicant’s resume.

The most well known unconscious bias study is “Project Implicit.” Psychologists at Harvard, the University of Virginia, and the University of Washington developed Implicit Association Tests (“IAT”) to uncover an individual’s hidden stereotypes. The test requires subjects to rapidly classify words and images as good or bad while sorting images that are (depending on the bias in the question) African-American or Caucasian. Unconscious bias is exposed by how long it takes the subject to pair the words and images. Subjects who have an unconscious bias towards African-Americans will take longer to associate African-American images with good or positive words. Millions of people have taken the IAT. The IAT has found that there is widespread unconscious bias against African-American, even among individuals who believe that they have no racial bias.

The IAT has ignited a vigorous debate. And, the test has many critics. Richard Banks (Stanford Law Professor) criticizes the IAT claiming that “it is not clear that researchers have uncovered any evidence of unconscious racial bias that influences what happens in the world. The IAT may not measure real world unconscious racial bias at all. It may just measure awareness of cultural associations out in the world.” William von Hippel (University of South Wales) says that “we still do not really understand what [the IAT] reveals.” Banks’ and von Hippel’s criticisms of the IAT are consistent with those of other unconscious bias critics who argue that unconscious bias findings reveal nothing about how an individual will act. Critics say that people can consciously override their biases, but the research finds that implicit biases are a powerful predictor of how individuals actually behave. As Andy Poehlman (a Yale graduate student who has tracked more than 61 studies) explained, an unconscious bias “doesn’t control our behavior in a be-all and end-all kind of way, but it flavors our behavior in a pretty consistent way.”

Unconscious bias is increasingly being used in employment litigation to prove discrimination. Unconscious bias has been a central issue in Dukes v. Wal-Mart Stores, Inc., the largest class action discrimination lawsuit in history in which two million women are suing Wal-Mart for gender discrimination. The Court’s receptivity to unconscious bias arguments in the Home Depot class action and the FedEx class action resulted in those cases settling for huge amounts, $87.5 million and $53.5 million respectively. Unconscious bias is being raised in class actions against several other Fortune 500 companies such as Best Buy, Johnson & Johnson, Cargill, Merrill Lynch, General Electric, American Express, MetLife, and Morgan Stanley.

Employers also are addressing unconscious bias allegations in their dealings with the EEOC, the governmental agency that enforces the federal employment discrimination laws. The EEOC explains that intentional discrimination “includes not only racial animosity, but also conscious and unconscious stereotypes about the abilities, traits, or performance of individuals of certain racial groups.” The EEOC clearly warns employers to be attuned to the subtle and unconscious ways that race and color stereotypes and bias can negatively affect all aspects of an individual’s employment. The EEOC is focusing its enforcement efforts on eradicating unconscious bias. The agency even filed suit against Walgreens alleging that unconscious bias was influencing employment decisions at the drugstore chain.

There is considerable debate about whether and to what extent unconscious bias affects employment decisions. To date, employers appear to be handling the issue by claiming that unconscious bias does not exist. Perhaps, employers should learn from Wal-Mart, Home Depot, FedEx, and Walgreens (i.e., companies who failed in their arguments that unconscious bias does not exist) and instead, audit their processes to ensure that unconscious bias is not at work in their companies.

Shalanda Ballard is an employment defense attorney who has practiced in all facets of employment litigation. Ms. Ballard was named in the National Register's Who's Who and in Law & Politics Magazine as a Rising Star. She has spoken at continuing legal education conferences and employment law seminars. Ms. Ballard also writes an Employee Rights Blog at www.employeerightsblog.net.