It just takes one colleague telling anyone who will listen that they're overworked for this anxiety to spill over to the whole team. — AFP
WHATEVER our sector of activity, we all have a colleague who likes to complain about being overworked.
You can often see them wandering through the corridors of an open space office, telling anyone who will listen that they are “literally swamped.” But this attitude can have a negative effect, according to a study published in the journal Personnel Psychology.
The authors of this research came to this conclusion after conducting an experiment with 360 individuals. The participants were asked to read statements of fictitious colleagues returning from a conference. They were then asked to rate them on the basis of how sympathetic these imaginary characters were to them, as well as attribute professional skills to them.
The results show that people tend to judge coworkers who complain about being overworked harshly. In their eyes, a colleague who says he’s they’re “snowed under with work” or “swamped” is less likable and competent than one who doesn’t openly complain about the drudgery of their job.
Furthermore, the researchers found that participants were less inclined to help a colleague who communicated stress to them.
“People are harming themselves by doing this thing they think is going to make them look better to their colleagues,” explains Jessica Rodell, professor of management at the University of Georgia and lead author of the study, in a statement.
Workplace stress is contagious
Because in the office, it’s often fashionable to say that you’re buried under your work. The intensification of work rhythms pushes employees to develop protective mechanisms to decline any new professional assignments, all while avoiding looking like a slacker in the eyes of colleagues and superiors.
One such mechanism is to make stress levels visible by constantly complaining about having an overly heavy workload. “This is a behaviour we’ve all seen, and we all might be guilty of at some point,” points out Jessica Rodell.
But does that mean that you should keep your emotions to yourself at work? Not necessarily. It’s perfectly healthy to talk about your feelings, as long as you don’t go overboard. If you feel you’ve got too much on your plate at work, don’t hesitate to talk to your manager. They can give you advice on how to organise yourself better, or even relieve you of some of your tasks.
If you feel stressed, isolate yourself and try some mindfulness exercises. These will enable you to reconnect to the present moment, and thus step back from the negative emotions you feel building up inside you. This will prevent you from taking your stress out on your colleagues. – AFP Relaxnews
