Stress & Burnout

Any occupation without authority or ability to exert control, a necessity for perfection, pressure of deadlines, role ambiguity, role conflict, role overload, crossing of organizational boundaries etc give rise to stress. Project managers are subject to a lot of stress in their jobs.

It cannot be declined that line management is responsible to provide resources on the project but the responsibility of bringing the project to completion by a prescribed deadline rests with the project manager. A project manager may be told to increase work output while work force is simultaneously being cut. Project managers are expected to get work out on schedule but are often not permitted to pay overtime.

Project managers are subject to stress due to several different facets of their jobs. This can manifest itself in a variety of ways such as :

• Being tired
• Feeling depressed
• Being physically and emotionally exhausted
• Burned out
• Being unhappy
• Feeling trapped
• Feeling worthless
• Feeling resentful and disillusioned about people
• Feeling hopeless
• Feeling rejected
• Feeling anxious

Stress is not always negative, however. Without certain amount of stress reports would have never get written or disturbed, deadlines would never be met, and no one would even get to work on time. But stress can be a powerful force resulting in illness and even fatal disease, and must be understood and management if it is to be controlled and utilized for constructive purposes.

The mind, body and emotions are not the separate entities they were once thought to be. One affects the other sometimes in a positive way and sometimes in a negative way. Stress can be harmful when it is prolonged beyond what an individual can handle. So in a project environment how much prolonged stress can a project manager handle comfortably? is a very important question for management and project manager himself.

A project manager who is aware of the stress management techniques can face this challenge objectively and make it a rewarding experience. Stress management is a very important skill a project manager should learn by getting suitable trainings.