It’s mental health awareness week and I’ve been thinking about how I can support my colleagues and how they can help me during times when we feel stressed, overwhelmed or under pressure.
We spend so much time with our colleagues, often more time with them than we do with our own families. So, it makes sense to look after each other.
I feel incredibly lucky that in my workplace I have supportive managers and colleagues. And I feel that I can be very open with all of them.
We are all much more aware about mental health compared to when I first started working. But we all know there is much more we can do to support each other. So, I have put together some ideas that you may find useful.
Talk
Our colleagues often understand our roles in the workplace more than our family and friends, even if they don’t carry out the same job as you. When you work for the same business, you tend to have at least an inkling of what their day-to-day duties are and the pressures and stresses that come with it.
Often talking things through is a sense of relief and having someone who has a genuine understanding is even better. They can sometimes give you ideas about how to approach something particularly tricky or stressful. But even if they can’t do that they can listen and help to lighten the load.
Grab a coffee, have a chat over lunch. I sometimes speak to my colleagues outside of office hours if I need too. (Luckily they don’t mind and they know I would do the same for them). Nothing beats a good chin wag even if it is a difficult conversation, get it off your chest. That’s the first step.
Avoid making assumptions
This works both ways. Don’t think your colleagues will think you are struggling to do your job just because you are struggling with stress, pressure or any other mental health issue. I can bet a month’s wage that they have been feeling the same at some point and they wont judge you just as you wouldn’t judge them.
The issues may not be arising from a work situation, it could be something at home. Such as relationship, parenting or financial issues that are causing anxiety or stress.
You don’t have to discuss the actual issues if you don’t want to but talking about how you feel without judgement is incredibly helpful.
Go for a walk
Get outside. A little bit of vitamin D, some fresh air and time away from the office. Even if you don’t feel like talking about the specific issues you can take your mind off it for a period of time away from the office.
Ask for help or consider how you can help
Asking for help isn’t a weakness. I actually think it shows strength of character to be honest with yourself when you do need some help. Your colleagues may have some fantastic ideas to help you with time management. Or they may have experienced a similar situation, which they can draw upon for some practical guidance to help you through.
When a colleague comes to you when they are struggling, consider if you have had similar experiences and what you did to overcome them. No matter how small it may seem, it could be something they haven’t considered as they have been feeling so overwhelmed. It’s hard to take a step back and think sometimes. So, if you have some little nuggets of advice share them. They will be received gratefully.
Signpost colleagues to the right place for support
Sometimes you may not be the best person to provide advice. But you may know someone who can help; be that a manager or colleague who has better insight. Or an outside organisation, such as Citizens Advice or their GP. Help them to see there is support out there and that they shouldn’t be afraid to ask for it.
Mental Health First Aid
There’s some great courses out there to support Mental Health in the workplace with Mental Health First Aid being one of them. This is all about understanding and being able to point colleagues in the right direction in times of need. If you don’t have this in the workplace at the moment suggest it to your employer. Not only does it benefit you and your colleagues but also your employer too. They want their teams to be happy and healthy. So, if they have someone in the workplace who is specifically appointed to support this then it’s a win win.
I’ve been working now for almost 30 years. So, I have struggled with things in the past and helped colleagues throughout my career with a number of issues – personal and work related. So, it is absolutely nothing new.
Now that we have more awareness we just need some more ideas about what we can do to support our colleagues and the support that we need during difficult times. The main thing is to not keep it bottled up, it may feel like we have the world on our shoulders at times, but as they say a problem shared is a problem halved. So don’t be afraid to speak up.
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