ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses sources of stress in project management and presents techniques that can be applied to maintain high levels of individual and team performance. ‘Performance’ is the key word in this discussion. The ability to identify stress factors (stressors) and create compensatory mechanisms is not just an approach to assist the project manager in ‘feeling better’. Rather, the emphasis is grounded in the observation that stress impacts project performance, on both individual and team levels. The chapter begins with a definition of stress, followed by a description of the impact that the stress response has on performance. A selection of stress management approaches are then presented, to provide a menu of techniques that can be applied in the project environment. Next, stress-contributing attributes of project work are identified, and specific stress management guidelines offered for each of these attributes. The chapter concludes with a discussion of best practices for making personal changes, because any personal initiative directed towards improving one’s ability to modulate project stress will involve embracing personal change – abandoning less functional approaches to coping whilst simultaneously being willing to try something new.
