How to Help Someone With Anxiety at Work

March 14, 2022 - 7 min read

Maria Waida

There's no shortage of stress at work. For individuals dealing with anxiety, this daily routine of meeting deadlines, learning new tools, dealing with conflict, and trying to climb the career ladder creates a daily struggle.
You might be thinking, "But no one on my team has anxiety." Think again. According to the National Institute for Mental Health, “an estimated 19.1% of U.S. adults had any anxiety disorder in the past year”.

Source: https://www.nimh.nih.gov

According to the CDC, adults with general anxiety, 3.4% said they experience moderate anxiety and 2.7% experienced extreme anxiety. Individuals with severe anxiety sometimes have trouble completing even the simplest tasks; from going grocery shopping to getting out of bed in the morning. With around 130 million full-time employees in the U.S., chances are you probably will work with someone who suffers from anxiety at some point. Whether you know if someone on your team suffers from anxiety or not, it's always good practice to do your best to understand the disorder and help create an environment that fosters communication, collaboration, and trust.

How does anxiety affect people in the workplace?

According to a survey conducted by the Anxiety Disorders Association of America, many people with anxiety disorders find it hard to deal with tasks and responsibilities at the office.

Having an anxiety disorder can make it hard for people with a job to work efficiently. This can also affect a person's chances of being promoted or accepted for a new role. Put together, this information can put a lot of pressure on employees with work anxiety, which can then make the issue worse.

Here are some of the many consequences of anxiety in the workplace:

Loss of sleep
Poor eating habits
Missed deadlines
Decreased capacity to focus
More errors than normal
Difficulty managing teammates
A general decline in health
The development of long-term health issues
Decrease in quality of workplace culture
Decrease in job satisfaction for the person experiencing anxiety and those around them
Inability to form or maintain working relationships
Physical danger if any heavy machinery is involved (including driving a car for their commute)
Emotional outbursts and general irritability

As you can tell, this list covers multiple facets of an employee’s life, which means it can also cover multiple facets of their work too.

What are some common causes of anxiety at work?

While there can be many reasons for a person to experience anxiety, there is hope for solving environmental and circumstantial causes of anxiety at work. Whether you’re managing a remote team or in charge of your company’s HR projects, you can make an impact by simply understanding the root causes of anxiety at work. The most common factors that impact workplace anxiety include:

1. Unrealistic expectations

Whether it’s their workload or performance, if an employee feels as if the expectations put upon them are not possible, they’re likely going to get anxious over it. The goal is to make them feel that they are being challenged within their abilities while also being set up for success.

2. Long hours or odd schedules

An extra hour here or there may not have lasting effects on an individual. But repeatedly being asked to stay late or working in a culture where overwork is expected isn’t sustainable for most people, let alone those dealing with anxiety. In addition to long hours, odd schedules such as random overnights or time zone adjustments of more than two hours can also take a toll if employees don’t have a fair amount of time to adjust.

3. Interpersonal conflict

Interpersonal conflict is often created as a result of office romances or office rivalries (and sometimes both). While managers can’t stop people from engaging on a personal level, they can keep their fingers on the pulse of employee relationships and work to keep the environment friendly for everyone.

4. Poor communication

Anxiety can also be caused by miscommunication, which is why it’s so important to crystalize project management plans so that everyone knows what they’re responsible for at all times.

5. Job security fears

Mass employee exodus, talks of a company sale, or even negative industry trends can all create anxiety in the workplace. Transparency around these issues will make it easier to resolve them as they come up and nip anxious thoughts in the bud. Make sure you have a plan in place to take care of your team’s collective mental health during times of turmoil.

How to spot someone dealing with anxiety at work

1. Do your research

If you know someone on your team suffers from anxiety, take 10 minutes out of your day to do some research. What symptoms do you see? How severe is their anxiety? Do you notice specific situations that make them uncomfortable? Observing your team and understanding that they all handle things differently will help you gauge their limits and play to their strengths while they work on their weaknesses.

2. Eliminate stigma

It's simply human nature to fear the unknown. You're more likely to hear about a teammate's heart condition than you are about their mental illness. Although we're understanding and learning more about anxiety all the time, the shame and embarrassment associated with it leads more people to view it as a personal problem versus an actual disorder. This mentality is not productive in a work environment. Without being pushy, set the expectation to have open communication and understanding. Keep the floor open for personal discussions and hold regular one-on-ones so your teammates have plenty of opportunities to reach out.

3. Be mindful

Always be mindful of the anxiety — whether you're delegating tasks or planning a team building event. You want to challenge your teammates, not put them in a situation that will make them feel uncomfortable or heighten their anxiety. For example, if your employee experiences anxiety in social situations, it's probably better to have someone else facilitate large meetings or meet with important clients. Have an open dialogue and discuss their goals and limits. Anything they really want to accomplish by the end of the quarter? What skills are they looking to strengthen? Make these a priority when planning out objectives, OKRs, and work-from-home policies.

4. Be encouraging

People with anxiety should be encouraged to test their limits where appropriate and celebrate their achievements, no matter how small. You should be their champion in helping them hit those milestones and gain confidence in their work. Encouraging transparency and openness is key, so when something is really bothering them or if their anxiety intensifies, they won't be afraid to come to you.

How to manage anxiety at work on a personal level

While managing other employees with anxiety can be challenging, it’s a whole other story when it comes to managing your own. First, figure out what is causing your anxiety in the first place. Talk to your doctor about how you’re feeling and options for moving forward.

The cause of your anxiety may be obvious without the need for a medical professional's opinion. For example, a recent company downsize that laid off most of your department may leave you with more work than you can reasonably handle. It’s natural to feel anxious at a time like this, but that doesn’t mean you should let the problem continue, especially if it’s affecting your wellbeing day-to-day.

Once you’ve identified the factors contributing to your anxiety, you can work to address it from a physical, mental, and spiritual level. You may choose to incorporate more stress management practices into your daily routine or ask for help from family and friends.

Assuming you feel comfortable, it’s also a good idea to let your coworkers know what issues you’re experiencing. They may be able to provide solutions for you. Or, at the very least, they’ll likely be able to relate to your experience and let you know that they’re there to support you.

Other practices related to self-care are also incredibly helpful for managing anxiety at work at a personal level. Using your paid-time-off days, getting enough sunlight, and maintaining a routine that includes nourishing foods, mental relaxation, and physical movement in some way are all great places to start.

Managing anxiety on your team

Between approaching deadlines, quarterly objectives, and personal career goals, most, if not all, employees deal with some type of anxiety at some point. However, those who experience it daily, doing the simplest tasks, only thrive in an environment that is knowledgeable, non-judgmental, mindful, and encouraging across the whole team. As a manager, it's up to you to set the precedent for an open and honest relationship that encourages growth and success.
Does your team seem to be clashing? Here's your guide to managing people with contrasting personalities.

Maria Waida

Maria is a freelance content writer who specializes in blogging and other marketing materials for enterprise software businesses.

#Wellbeing at Work #Team Collaboration

Leadership 10 min read

A Definitive Guide to Managing Different Generations in The Workplace

Having different generations in the workplace is common these days. In most cases, team members of varying ages work together on the same project or task. Others may even manage multiple generations of workers at the same time. This article aims to help people who work with and manage different generations in the workplace by developing a fair strategy that takes their unique qualities into account. We’ll also explain how to avoid making mistakes and dealing with multi-generational issues that may be new to you so that your entire team can feel comfortable at work. How generational diversity looks in the workplace The generational gap occurs when people are born at different times. It can affect how people behave and think at work. For example, members of the silent generation are typically portrayed as being very conservative, while baby boomers are likely to have more liberal fiscal tendencies. Although everyone is an individual with a unique personality type regardless of age, you may see common traits associated with each generation play out right in front of you. There is a lot of common ground between different generations in the workplace. Most of us like to feel valued at work. We also enjoy feeling as if we're making a difference and doing something meaningful for ourselves and others. And yet, teams with generation gaps can face challenges that relate to their ages while collaborating. Why? Having different generations in the workplace means that company culture and communication is not one size fits all across the board. Don’t force people to fit in the same work environment. Instead, set up guidelines that will allow everyone to feel comfortable. Another solution is to consider what values and habits each generation has to offer in a team setting. That’s not to be confused with stereotyping. Putting each generation into a box often encourages counterproductive assumptions. While it's true that working with different age groups can be challenging, it can also teach employees about differences in their abilities and attitudes. Here are the generations you may see in the workplace today and what defines them: Generation Z Gen Z is focused on core values of being smart, funny, and witty. They may also consider diversity to be an important consideration for hiring, especially at the management level. Gen Zers want to work with like-minded individuals who share similar goals and values. This generation's managers should help them develop and grow by providing them with the right support and resources. Millennials Performance is very important to millennials. They are more concerned with the quality of their work than the number of hours they put in. To ensure that they are being treated fairly, managers should communicate honestly with their employees. The idea of an “always-on” work culture is not acceptable to most. Generation X Gen Xers are known to be individualistic, having been former latchkey kids. They may also prefer to manage their work and physical and psychological space in a more flexible manner. As a result, they often prefer to work with less supervision and are more comfortable communicating with others through various forms of media such as email and Facebook. Flexibility and a solid work/life balance are non-negotiable for this generation. Baby boomers Baby boomers are known for their work ethic and goal-oriented processes. They value face-to-face interaction and traditional recruitment methods. Structure, reliability, and flexible work policies are all ideal for this group. Acknowledgment for their skills and hard work will go a long way with this generation, although most employees would likely be grateful for that too. While we’ve mentioned some tips for each already, it's important to listen to the different work styles of multi-generational employees and communicate with them through various channels regardless of their age. Even the smallest details can make a significant impact on their work experience. Take onboarding for example. While some generations may prefer to receive information via email, others may ask to see printed copies of pamphlets and manuals. How do you manage a generation gap in the workplace? There are many differences between generations. While many people can agree that working together is beneficial, others believe it can be problematic. Managers must ask themselves: with the rise of multi-generational work environments, how do we work together seamlessly? Regardless of our age or experience, everyone wants respect. In order to succeed, older generations need to respect their younger colleagues and vice versa. While it may seem like a challenge at first, managing different generations in the workplace has its benefits. Generational diversity can help people develop new ideas and improve their work. It can also make managing other types of diversity and inclusion an action step rather than an idea. As you begin to develop your strategy, it’s wise to work with the group on issues that affect everyone. For example, creating stress-relieving fundamentals can help businesses retain employees and attract new ones companywide regardless of age. What are the challenges of working with different generations? Intergenerational conflict has been a growing issue over recent years. Concerns over climate change and political unrest have, in some cases, made conversations between different age groups a bit standoffish at best and downright hostile at worst. When there are many different generations in the workplace, there is a real risk of conflict and misunderstanding. Make sure you have a clear communication plan with everyone’s preferences laid out ahead of time. You’ll also need a documented and fair system for how you’ll address missteps between team members. Another one of the challenges of working with different generations is compensation. Different phases of an employee's life may affect their compensation and benefits package. Younger employees may also be focused on training opportunities or flexible work days since their entry-level wages are assumed to be low. On the flip side, older generations may expect and take pride in handling more complex or senior-level tasks. This is because their compensation packages tend to be higher and would match the workload. Understanding how compensation levels also affect how different generations think and feel about each other in the workplace will help managers better understand their teams. How should you handle generational issues in the workplace? If you’re of a younger generation and you are placed in a management position, there’s a chance that you’ll be overseeing older, more experienced (and sometimes more qualified) colleagues. To navigate this, you’ll need to establish trust in yourself and in others. This is especially true for anyone working under you who already has experience in leadership. If you’re of an older generation and you are placed in a management position, understand that there may be younger employees who have a different way of problem-solving or communicating than you do. Speaking of communication, how team members communicate is different for different generations. For instance, younger team members tend to use more slang and abbreviations in their messages. Older team members are more likely to use emojis in their communications. These seem innocent at first but can create rifts between members if not acknowledged upfront. For example, an older team member sending a thumbs-up emoji may seem like a friendly confirmation that they’ve received a message. But to a younger team member, it may come off as condescending or even angry. Getting everyone on the same page about communication style will go a long way towards resolving and even preventing issues like this. The same applies to your communication with the rest of the team. Sticking rigidly to your own preferred means and style of communication can alienate others, even as a team leader. Try to modify your message to suit the needs of whichever generation you’re speaking to in that moment. But no matter how much you prepare, you may find that you make a mistake here and there. When that happens, simply remember to be understanding and graceful with how you handle the situation. How to create a strategy for motivating different generations in the workplace 1. Do your research Understanding what makes other generations tick can help avoid division and conflict. There are many different ways to work and each generation has its own needs and wants. For example, many Generation Xers are known for being devoted to helping older adults and their children. So incentives revolving around health insurance benefits or anything else that directly supports the goals they have for their loved ones is a major plus. On the other hand, members of Generation Y enjoy being sociable outside of work and believe it is important for their careers. Opportunities for networking are more often than not a success with this group. 2. Consider the viewpoints of each team member Despite best intentions, there are many ways that ageism and cognitive bias toward different generations can show up in the workplace, such as stereotyping co-workers based on how they dress or their social media usage. If you notice or hear about intergenerational stereotyping among your colleagues, don’t be afraid to start a dialogue about it. Emphasize the idea that, instead of assuming that everyone is the same, employees should try accepting others based on their merits and contribution to shared projects. 3. Strategically place different generations on projects together so that their work complements one another For example, baby boomers can pass on their knowledge and experiences to Generation Y with digital tools and systems that Generation Z sets up for them. Remember that successful multi-generational teams are built on the strength of their individual performers. One way you can manage this step is by using a project management tool such as Wrike. In Wrike, users can signify which employees possess what skills and assign them to projects accordingly. This can also be used to view individual employee workloads across all active projects. 4. Never assume that an employee will have certain skills or abilities just because of their age This assumption most often shows up when technology is involved. Give everyone the opportunity to demonstrate what they are capable of and go from there. 5. Go out of your way to help employees bond with teammates of different generations Monthly mentoring sessions are a great example of this. This will encourage employees to share knowledge and be more open to learning from one another. By the way, mentoring doesn’t necessarily have to be one older person coaching a younger person. You can throw out conventions and offer mentorships led by the younger generations in the office too. If mentoring doesn’t apply to your field, try building up a social calendar. Plan team-building activities and happy hours so people can get to know each other. Team members will get the opportunity to appreciate each other more outside of email and Slack. Finally, find the similarities and preferences the different generations do share and use them to form the basis of your managerial choices. For example, if both your millennial and your Generation X employees prefer one-on-one performance feedback, adding that to your strategy will help. In conclusion At the end of the day, the key to understanding and respecting other generations is to accept that they are different from you. It’s always important to acknowledge individual strengths, weaknesses, and skills, regardless of how old a team member is. With the right strategy, you can reap the benefits of a multi-generational workforce and build a stronger foundation for long-term success.

Leadership 5 min read

Ask the Industry Expert: "What Soft Skills Do I Need as a Project Manager?"

In our Ask the Industry Expert column, we put your burning PMO questions to Wrike’s Chris Hare, Industry Principal, PMO, who shares her extensive knowledge and expertise on how to uplevel project delivery at your organization. In this edition, Chris shares her tips on how to make an impact as a project manager in the current market. Q. I’m starting out as a project manager. The statistics out there about project failure are scary, what personal skills do I need to be successful? What soft skills should I cultivate? I can understand what you mean! The stats are scary — according to PMI's Pulse of the Profession for 2021, the failure rate of projects with lost budgets is 35% globally — but project failure, although rife in the annals of statistics, doesn’t have to be an option. But I get it — how do you avoid the pitfalls and slay the groundswell of data that has been betting on your demise for years? So many factors can influence success, but in my 15 plus years as a project manager, program manager, director of project management, and now an industry principal/SME for PMOs, I can say unequivocally that the most pivotal factor is the underdog story that stars you as the project lead. Your role possesses the behemoth task of managing the varying skills, talents, dynamics, and everyday temperaments that is the inherited path of getting assigned a working team on a project or program. That said, it’s no wonder that according to the PMI’s 2020 Pulse of the Profession survey, a preponderance of the in-demand skills that organizations are looking for in PMs are largely leadership-based. With the criticality of soft skills that project leads must draw from, which ones are most critical to embody for project success? Well, the PMI has recognized the need for this, and has grouped personal competencies into the following six units, which can be found in their “Project Manager Competency Development Framework - Third Edition”: Communicating: Effectively exchanges timely, accurate, and appropriate information with stakeholders using proper communication methods. Leading: Guides, inspires, and motivates team members and stakeholders to manage and resolve issues to achieve project goals and objectives. Managing: Effectively administers projects through the implementation and usage of the appropriate personnel, intangible, and other types of resources. Cognitive ability: Applies an appropriate amount of discernment and judgment to guide projects in ever-changing and evolving environments. Effectiveness: Produces desired outcomes by using proper resources, tools, and techniques in project management tasks and activities. Professionalism: Promotes and embodies ethical behavior, such as responsibility, respect, fairness, and honesty in project management. Easier said than done, right? While driving principles like these are good guideposts, here are five quick-win strategies that you can implement right away: Be transparent in all things you do — including mistakes you’ve made and what you’ve learned from them. Expand your skills outside the realm of your current role. Find certifications or courses that are an adjunct to your skills that will help bolster your knowledge base and allow you to learn empathy for others in that role. Take on internal or pro bono projects to show your aptitude for leadership and expand your realm of project expertise and working network. Come to every meeting prepared with an agenda. Send the agenda prior to the meeting and include it in the meeting invite itself. Generously share knowledge. Find mentees who may want to learn more about your role and serve as an ad hoc mentor. Congratulations and best of luck on your new journey as a PM! Chris Hare is an award-winning author and certified program and project management professional with 16 years of experience working for such companies as Adobe, Patagonia, and Guitar Center. Her tenure includes managing hundreds of successful projects for a myriad of client- and agency-side organizations, PMO permutations, and methodologies. At her current role at Wrike, she lends her industry thought leadership and subject matter expertise through product innovations, events, mentor groups, and blog columns. Have a question you’d like Chris to answer? Send us an email!

Leadership 10 min read

What is the Employee Lifecycle Model?

2022 will demand deeper HR action on employee wellbeing, even more so than 2020. In this article, we’ll explain how the employee lifecycle model can improve the employee experience and why project management may just be the key to perfecting your company’s lifecycle strategy. Keep reading to discover how to help breed longevity, success, and excellent employee engagement with just a few simple tools. The employee lifecycle model explained The employee life cycle is a conceptual framework that explains the various stages of a worker's career. It helps track the employee's progress through various stages and provides employers with an opportunity to analyze data. This tool also visualizes the different stages an employee goes through during their time at an organization, from initial awareness to the day they leave. The employee lifecycle model may also be called the HR life cycle or simply the HR cycle. Different phases & stages of the employee lifecycle model The employee lifecycle model is about more than just the employment period of an individual. Similar to the customer journey, the employee journey from first contact to offboarding has its own unique set of phases and stages. HR personnel and team leaders should get familiar with each one because it will inform how they interact with employees (and potential employees), depending on where they are in the life cycle model. Paying attention to these details will ensure that each individual is valued and set up for success, whether they’ll be working in-person or remote. Here is what they are, along with why they’re important and the actions to take during each phase to ensure success. 1. Attract The first step in the employee lifecycle is all about attracting the right people. Your relationship with potential candidates begins when they first learn about your brand. This is why dedicating a portion of your employee lifecycle model to recruitment and reputation is so important. Not only does this help build a great product and consistent service, but it also helps retain and attract top talent. Action: Evaluate your recruitment materials with fresh eyes. Make sure social media accounts, landing pages, and physical marketing materials accurately reflect your brand while maintaining business continuity. 2. Recruit The creative recruitment stage is the second part of the employee lifecycle. It involves getting people looking forward to employment and developing a recruitment plan. This step-by-step process starts with the job ad, finding creative ways to demonstrate what your company does and what it values, and eventually leading to the hiring of a new employee. An emphasis on career development, brand prestige, and a healthy work environment is hugely important. Action: Map out potential career development tracks for leads so they get a sense of what the next one, three, and five years may look like at your company. Emphasize upward mobility, work-life balance, and companywide culture. 3. Onboard The onboarding process is a process that begins when a new hire accepts an offer of employment. It involves getting used to the organization's systems and expectations. Everything from the first day of the new hire's career to getting them up to speed with the systems, processes, and expectations of their role falls under this category. On average, onboarding may last anywhere from an hour to a week and is often the shortest portion of the employee lifecycle model. Action: Create an onboarding workflow that is easy for the new hire to follow and involves at least one executive-level manager on a personal level to better enrich the process. 4. Retain In this employee lifecycle model phase, employers must develop and meet the needs of the talent acquired in the previous three steps. You can choose to focus on keeping your top performers while improving on the strengths of others. The goal should also be to create a culture that encourages continuous improvement and development at every level. Action: Set up and regularly maintain systems for employee feedback both formally and informally. 5. Develop Now that you’re retaining a high percentage of staff, it’s time to further develop their skills, help them achieve their career goals, and support continued growth in all areas. This can be done through organized programs, scholarship opportunities for those going back to school, in-house mentoring, and skill development workshops. Having a clear path forward for the next few years will also help employees see how their own personal development will influence the success of the entire company. Action: Make a plan for what you’ll do to help employees grow and how you’ll do it. 6. Separate Separation means either one or both parties have decided to call it quits on your collaboration. But that doesn’t have to be a bad thing! This is an important step in the employee lifecycle and can be helpful if you practice great offboarding techniques. Offboarding is a process that helps an organization improve its employee experience. It’s also a way to build a better relationship with its former employees. As part of a larger strategy, separation and offboarding are often used to shape the last impressions of the employees before they leave. The goal is to make them feel like they are left with a satisfying last impression that may interest them in returning to or recommending your business to other potential employees in the future. Action: Like onboarding, offboarding should follow a template workflow that is easy to follow and loops in someone higher up in the company to help them leave on a good note. Advantages of an employee lifecycle strategy An employee lifecycle strategy makes a company's time with an employee easier and less stressful. It also helps evaluate an employee's performance over time. For managers, mapping out the employee journey helps you improve both your reputation and talent retention. It will also go a long way toward improving employee health and wellbeing while they are with your company. As you know by now, developing and training employees is an essential part of the employee lifecycle. It can help them improve their skills and knowledge, and it can also benefit the business by ensuring top talent stays in your business. Maintaining an effective employee lifecycle strategy can help boost employee engagement and provide them with the necessary training to excel in their roles. How to measure and improve the employee lifecycle It may be challenging to capture data on the employee lifecycle journeys at first. However, key indicators such as average employment duration and anonymous employee feedback surveys will go a long way. Another useful metric is the retention rate. A simple formula to determine the retention rate of an employee is by dividing the number of people working for you by the end of the year. As you measure progress over time, consider documenting your efforts the same way you track tasks for team management. It’s important to describe your HR activities in the form of a flow chart or a chart during the employee lifecycle. Doing so helps map out your employees' journeys and gives you more context when analyzing KPIs. As you map out your HR journey, pay attention to the questions that you cannot answer completely. These will help you identify areas of concern that can affect the employee experience. This list will also provide great ideas for survey questions down the road. How Wrike can help manage your employee lifecycle journey Project software like Wrike can help HR professionals and team leaders improve the efficiency of their work by allowing them to focus on the needs of their employees without sacrificing productivity in other areas. HR project software is commonly used for various tasks, such as planning, onboarding, and employee training. In Wrike, teams can collaborate and communicate across departments at every stage of their employee lifecycle journey. Another advantage of using Wrike is that it can help increase teamwide productivity. It eliminates the need to manually update email chains and other time-consuming tasks, which can easily decrease the quality of life for employees on the job. Agile HR methods are flexible and can help you get started with a project without missing a beat. Wrike's robust project management software can also help you track and manage multiple tasks, including creating one task for each individual. It can also create and track project budgets for recruitment activities and employee enrichment programs. If you’re working as a team to improve your employee lifecycle model, Wrike's ability to create to-do lists with public and private tasks makes it easy to add collaborators while still keeping tasks with the sensitive information in compliance. You can also attach deadlines to individual tasks so that everyone stays on track. Use Gantt charts to map out the tasks and dependencies across multiple projects. For example, you can simultaneously interview multiple candidates while still polishing your recruitment materials for other roles at the same time. Wrike will even help you identify areas of concern that may affect the timeline and resources. If a person or resource is strained, you can easily spot the bottlenecks before they happen, which is especially useful in complex organizations with hundreds of employees to monitor and engage. And as the use of electronic employee scheduling and applicant tracking systems increases, it's clear that project management software like Wrike will be a must-have in the near future. Ready to improve employee wellbeing? Get started organizing your new employee lifecycle strategy today with Wrike’s free trial.

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How to Help Someone With Anxiety at Work

How does anxiety affect people in the workplace?