If you're asked to create a PowerPoint workplace stress training, don't panic. Conducting workplace stress training is just like any other training session. Focus on your audience and their needs, and the rest will take care of itself. After all, you don't want to add to your own stress level by stressing about your PowerPoint!
PowerPoint Workplace Stress Training
As you construct your training session, here are some useful tips, techniques and websites to help you with your PowerPoint.
Keep Your Audience in Mind
First, think about your audience. Are they new to stress management? What particular stressors affect your workplace?
Brainstorm a list of workplace stressors. What type of environment do you work in? What are the typical stressors affecting your colleagues?
Surveying your coworkers is another technique to gather enough pre-training information to create a superb PowerPoint training. Many tools, such as Constant Contact, offer free trial versions of their survey tools. You can easily create a quick, multiple-choice style survey and study the results to ascertain audience needs.
State Your Goal
Before you sit down to write your training session, what's the goal? The audience needs direct the training goal.
One typical goal for PowerPoint workplace stress training is awareness and management of stress. Helping colleagues manage daily stress improves productivity. It also improves overall health, well being, and cooperation among employees.
Organize Your Training
Typical workplace stress training begins by defining stress. Although it may seem odd to define stress, giving a name to those feelings of racing heart, muscle tension, clenched fists and snappy moods brings the problem out into the open. Next, you may wish to present the results of your survey. Many people are surprised to learn what stresses their colleagues. Oftentimes when people experience problems at work, they keep it to themselves, or feel they are alone. When they see that many of their coworkers feel the same way, they open up, and the problem can be discussed without fear of mockery.
Engage the Group
If your employer fosters a collegial, dialogue-oriented team culture, then engaging the group in problem-solving is an excellent option. Use your PowerPoint to list thought-provoking questions. If you are presenting to a large group of people, break into smaller groups, dyads or teams, and brainstorm typical stressors. Have the breakout groups share their responses with the larger group. Later, if you decide to employ this technique again, scramble the groups to ensure everyone participates.You may encounter hostility during your presentation. Bear in mind that anger is one sign of stress. The group may express hostility and skepticism. Try to focus on the positives. Avoid dwelling on what stressors exist in the workplace, and move on to stress management techniques.
Don't Be a Talking Head
There's nothing worse than a PowerPoint training consisting of a fancy, overly designed PowerPoint and someone reading from it in a monotone. Visit websites to learn how to design an engaging PowerPoint. Go easy on the animations and keep text simple and clean. Use your PowerPoint as a talking point for training, not as a crutch.
Provide Solutions
You can't change the company, reorganize, or hire more people to take workplace stress off those attending your training. What you can do is provide your training group with tips and techniques to manage stress. These may include:
- Guided relaxation
- Stress relief toys
- Transcendental meditation
- Eating a healthy diet, such as the American Heart Association Diet
- Learning yoga
- Taking herbs to ease stress-related anxiety herbs for anxiety.
Samples Workplace Stress Training PowerPoint
Copying someone's workplace stress training PowerPoint is a no-no, but you can view many online for inspiration and ideas:
- If you work in an emergency services department, such as police, fire, ambulance, disaster management and similar services, the World Health Organization keeps a copy of their stress training PowerPoint, online. If contains many valuable resources.
- Jim Grizzell provides dozens of stress-related PowerPoints online at the Cal Poly at Pomona school websites.
