PPT ch09

Chapter 9:
Minimizing Stress and Avoiding

Burnout
A Guide to Customer Service Skills for
the Service Desk Professional
Third Edition
Objectives
In this chapter you will learn:
The causes of stress
Effective coping skills to reduce the negative
effects of stress in your life
Proven techniques to manage your time
wisely and achieve personal success
The connection between time and stress
management
A Guide to Customer Service Skills for the Service Desk Professional, 3e
Minimizing Stress and

Avoiding Burnout
Customer service is a stressful occupation
Good self-management skills are needed
Self-management skills The skills, such as
stress and time management, that people need
to complete work efficiently and effectively, feel
job satisfaction, and avoid frustration or burnout
Self-management skills also include the ability to
get and stay organized and continuously and
quickly learn new skills
Reducing the Negative

Effects of Stress
Stress is a normal and unavoidable side effect of
living
Stress - The adaptation of our bodies and minds
to the demands of life
Properly managed, stress is an excellent source
of motivation and can be a positive part of life
Eustress
Conversely, high levels of stress can sap your

motivation and become a negative
Distress
Reducing the Negative

Effects of Stress (continued)
Too little or too much stress can lead to
health problems
Health problems related to stress include:
Alcoholism
Back and muscle aches
Depression
Drug abuse
Eating disorders
Excessive illness
Fatigue
Headaches
Sleeplessness
Low energy and
concentration levels
Premature aging
Determining the Causes of Stress

A service desk is a particularly stressful place to work
because analysts are exposed to multiple sources of stress
Institutional
Situational
Personal
Sources of Stress
Institutional stressors - The stressors that
accompany the type of business you are in or
the state of the organization where you work
Your challenge is to figure out which
institutional stressors you want to experience
You have very little ability to influence
institutional stressors
You can, however, choose where you work
very carefully
Sources of Stress (continued)

Situational stressors - The stressors that
accompany the type of work you do
Like institutional stressors, situational stressors
exist anywhere you work
You have a greater ability to influence situational
stressors by developing a positive attitude and
skills
You can, for example, strike negative phrases
from your vocabulary or use the techniques
described in this book to become a better listener
or to communicate more effectively
Conflict with coworkers

Difficult customer situations
Heavy workload
Inability to predict or control
workload
Insufficient training
Insufficient time for training
Insufficient tools such as
incident management
systems, knowledge
management systems, and
remote control systems
Insufficient knowledge
resources such as tools,
procedures, and resident
experts
Interruptions
Lack of career opportunity
Lack of management
commitment and direction
Poor product quality in terms
of the products supported by
the service desk
Response time restrictions
Understaffing

Personal stressors The stressors that
accompany your individual life experience
Even positive life experiences can cause
stress
You have the greatest ability to influence your
personal stressors
You can determine ways to either eliminate
the stressor or minimize its effects on your life
10

Layers of stressors may cause you to feel
completely overwhelmed
Take the time to identify the real source or
sources of your stress
Ask yourself the following questions:
Do you like the business you are in?
Do you like the work that you do?
Are you happy with your personal life?
11
Developing Effective
Coping Mechanisms
Two key factors that affect how people respond
to stress are:
How much control a person has over a stressor
Whether or not a person chooses to be exposed to
the stressor
How much control a person has over a stressor:

You cannot always control what happens around
you or what other people do
There is always something you can do
You can choose whether or not to expose yourself
to a stressor
12
Coping Mechanisms (continued)
When you cannot control a situation, you have two
choices:
Change the situation
Control the way you respond to the situation
Once you accept a stressor, stop complaining about it

Complaining simply makes you unhappy and may
even magnify the stressor in your mind
Determine what you can do to minimize the effect
that the stressor is having on your life
Be positive and continuously remind yourself that you
are accepting this stressor for a reason
13
Accepting responsibility for the stress you are
experiencing is the most important step you
can take in terms of coping with stress and
avoiding burnout
Burnout - The physical and emotional
exhaustion caused by long-term stress
People often experience burnout when they
are not managing their stress day-in and dayout
14
To manage stress effectively, remember that
there is always something that you can do
Determine the best course of action to take by
staying calm and in control
If you feel yourself losing control and becoming
incapable of making a good decision, use
calming techniques:
Take a deep breath

Take a sip of water
Use positive self-talk
Use positive imagery
15
Stress is a normal part of life
You cannot eliminate it altogether
You can learn to identify the causes of stress
in your life and develop effective coping
mechanisms
You can also learn to use stress as a positive,
motivating force
16
Learning to Master Change

Advances in technology have dramatically changed when,
where, and how people work and live
Todays business economy is shifting more and more
toward technology-related services and knowledge work
Success in todays business world belongs to people who:
Embrace change
Are ready and willing to reinvent themselves as needed to
contribute to the companys goals
Companies want people that can quickly abandon

outdated tools and methods
Career opportunities go to people that look to the future,
anticipate coming changes, and quickly adapt
17

(continued)
Tips for mastering change include:
Recognize learning as the labor of the
Information Age
Develop flexibility
Speed up
Develop project management skills
18

(continued)
Recognize learning as the labor of the Information Age:
Technology changes quickly and it doesnt take long for
technical skills to become obsolete
Take the time to continuously update and improve your
technical skills as well as your business, soft, and selfmanagement skills
Develop flexibility:
Expect on any given day to be asked to do something new,
something youve never done before, perhaps even
something you will never do again
Develop the ability to quickly figure out what needs to be
done and do it
If you need help, ask for it
19

(continued)
Speed up:
Approach all of your work with a sense of urgency
The goal is to get it done, get it done right, and get it
done quickly
Strive for excellence and do it fast
Develop project-management skills:

Anyone who has to juggle more than one task at a
given time can use project management skills
Good project management skills take time to develop
and can improve only through experience
Project management skills are highly transferable and
will serve you well now and in the future
20
Getting and Staying

Mentally and Physically Fit
Coping with stress and mastering change takes
physical and emotional energy
Stressful situations, left unchecked, can lead to
illness
Fight-or-flight reaction - A set of physiological
changes that occur when the mind, upon perceiving a
stressful event, triggers an alarm that mobilizes the
body for action
Today, people are not aware of their bodies minuteto-minute responses to stressful situations
In time, this tension can accumulate and lead to
serious health problems
21
Getting and Staying Mentally

and Physically Fit (continued)
Techniques for staying fit include:
Exercise
Drink plenty of water
Practice good nutrition
Avoid the use of stimulants
Get a good nights sleep
Align your workspace ergonomically
Take breaks
Let your sense of humor shine through
Commit yourself to relaxation
Set realistic goals
22

Exercise - Provides a way of releasing the
muscle tension that can accumulate from stress
Drink plenty of water - It increases your energy
level and mental capacities
Practice good nutrition - Eating the right amount
of food at the right time helps you sustain energy
level and maintain an even temperament
Avoid the use of stimulants Stimulants
exaggerate all of the bodys stress responses by
causing a surge of adrenaline and other
hormones
23

Get a good nights sleep Healthy habits, a bedtime
schedule, and a bedtime routine help overcome the
physical and mental effects of inadequate sleep
Ergonomically align your workspace - A poorly designed
workspace can cause physical symptoms
Ergonomics - The applied science of equipment design
intended to maximize productivity by reducing operator
fatigue and discomfort
Repetitive stress injuries (RSIs) - Physical symptoms
caused by excessive and repeated use of the hands, wrists,
and arms, or from performing tasks using force, strenuous
actions, awkward postures, and poorly designed equipment
Carpal tunnel syndrome A RSI that affects hands and
wrists and is linked to repetitious hand movements
24

25

Take breaks - Working nonstop often leads to fatigue
and burnout
Take time throughout the day to rejuvenate yourself
Let your sense of humor shine through Laughter

helps you relax when you are feeling tense and can
restore your sense of optimism and self-confidence
Commit yourself to relaxation A relaxing activity is
one that leaves you free of tension and refreshed
both physically and mentally
A relaxing activity should consume you to the extent
that you temporarily forget about your stressors and
focus on your personal well-being
26

Set realistic goals - Realistic goals are attainable.
The most successful people have written short- and longterm goals as well as professional and personal goals
At work, ask your supervisor or team leader to help you
establish reasonable goals along with a timetable for
reviewing your accomplishments
Make sure you understand your teams goals and how
your personal goals fit in with them
Not having goals can also lead to stress
Goals give you a purpose in life
Knowing where you want to go and what you want to do in
life allows you to focus your energies and avoid, or more
easily tolerate, distractions along the way
27

Case Study: Ergonomically aligning your
workspace
The placement and use of your chair, monitor,
keyboard, and mouse are related and must be
aligned properly with each other and with you
Chair Adjust until your back is erect, slightly
back, and firm against the backrest
Thighs and legs should be relaxed and feet
should be flat on the floor
28

Monitor - Directly in front of you at, or just below, eye level
When sitting straight with your head erect, the monitor
should be no more than 24 inches away from your eyes
Keyboard and mouse - Keep your wrists straight and

avoid resting them on hard surfaces
Press keys gently
Grip the mouse (when used) loosely
Consider an ergonomic keyboard or wrist wrest
Telephone - Either directly in front of you or at less than a

25 degree angle and no more than 10 inches away
29

Headset - Should keep your head and neck in a neutral
position and free your hands for activities such as
keyboarding
Do not use a headset that encourages you to tilt or hang
your head
Lighting The brightness of your workspace can greatly

affect your well-being
Too much lighting: Reduce glare by spraying an antiglare
coating on the glass surface or by installing an antiglare filter
Too little lighting: Use adjustable task lighting on the desk
that provides directed lighting to supplement the overhead
lighting
Make a conscious effort to look out a window and

experience natural light periodically throughout the day
30
Managing Your Time

Service desks are high-activity places to work
and some days can be very hectic
Analysts who manage time wisely are able to feel
in control during exceptionally busy times and
stay motivated during slow times
Good work habits, such as getting and staying
organized, enable you to:
View work as a challenge to be enjoyed
Maintain physical and mental fitness on the job
Achieve personal success
31
Getting and Staying Organized

Techniques for getting and staying organized
Create a beginning of day checklist
Create a What I Need to Know list
Create a What Coworkers Need to Know list
Keep up with paperwork
Log all incidents and service requests in real
time
Check the status of your open tickets regularly
32
Getting and Staying

Organized (continued)
Strong organizational skills are the hallmark of an
excellent service provider
How you manage your workload will influence:
Customer satisfaction
Your relationship with other service providers
Your personal stress level
Create a BOD A beginning of day (BOD) checklist is a

list of tasks an analyst performs at the start of each
workday
Create a What I need to know list - A list, placed in clear
view, of important telephone numbers, file names, dates,
etc. that analysts need on a fairly regular basis
33
Getting and Staying

Sample BOD checklist
Greet coworkers
Check and respond to voice mail and e-mail messages
Check the status of incidents or service requests you own via
the incident management system
Follow up on any critical issues from the previous day
Create or update a To Do list for the day
Straighten your desk
Note any current major (systemwide) incidents
Check to see if any major changes happened overnight that
may be causing incidents
Take a deep breath
Get ready for anything
34
Getting and Staying

Create a What co-workers need to know list A
list of important information co-workers may need
to know if an analyst is out of the office for a
period of days or weeks
Keep up with your paperwork - Paperwork
completed in a timely fashion takes less time
because information is fresh in your mind
Your coworkers and your supervisor or team
leader appreciate your maintaining up-to-date
paperwork because then they have the
information they need to do their work if you are
not available
35
Getting and Staying

Log all contacts real time - Writing customer and
incident or service request data on a piece of paper
during the contact and then logging the information
later is an unproductive practice
Logging contacts real time ensures that other analysts
know an incident or service request exists and enables
service desk managers to know and show when the
service desk is short-handed
Check the status of your open tickets daily - Learn to

create online reports or run queries that list all of the
tickets you own so that you can stay organized
36
Coping with Deadlines

Deadlines are a normal part of life and can be
a positive, motivating force
The best way to cope with deadlines is to:
Clearly define the work to be done
Be realistic about what you can accomplish
each day, week, and year
Overcommitting is a major cause of stress

and can diminish your ability to do highquality work
37

(continued)
Avoid procrastination - Putting off a task until the
last minute can cause you to miss a critical
deadline or produce a low-quality product
Break large tasks into smaller ones and try to
complete the task a little bit at a time
Set a time limit and work on a task for at least that
period of time
By breaking large tasks into smaller ones, you will
know a lot sooner whether you can meet your
deadline and can then inform your supervisor or
team leader
38

(continued)
Manage your priorities - Create a To Do list that
shows all of the tasks you are required to
complete
Assign a priority to each task
Check for a balance of priorities
When faced with too many A tasks, consider the
following:
Who asked me to complete this task?
What is the risk if I dont complete this task? What
is the value if I do complete this task?
When am I expected to have this task done? What
is my deadline?
39

(continued)
Simple priority scale
A Urgent: Must do today
B Important: Should do this week
C Do when time permits
D - Delegate
40

(continued)
Use your peak productivity times Determine
if you are an early bird or a night owl
If possible, schedule your work to take
advantage of the time during which you
function best
Eliminate time robbers Avoid activities that

take up time and do not add value to the work
you perform
41

(continued)
Use the following techniques to avoid time robbers:
Log contacts as they come in
Avoid distractions
Avoid gossip and excessive socializing
Ask for help when you really need it
Keep your desk and files organized
Suggest constructive ways to make
improvements
Automate recurring tasks
42

(continued)
Companies are increasingly asking employees
to do more work, often with fewer resources
People who manage their time well can meet
this challenge because they prioritize their
work and stay focused on producing the
desired results
People who manage their time well also tend
to experience lower levels of stress and
burnout
43
Understanding the
Time/Stress Connection
Time management involves making an endless series of
small and large decisions about what you will accomplish
each day
Inappropriate decisions, such as those that result in
wasted time, can lower self-esteem and increase stress
levels
People who maintain a positive attitude, manage their
priorities, and use time wisely, feel good at the end of
each day because they know they have done their best
Time and stress management skills are tightly linked
People who are highly stressed may be contributing to
that stress by making poor decisions in terms of how they
use their time
44
Understanding the Time/Stress

Connection (continued)
Teach and help others so that they can in turn help you
Let your boss or coworkers know when you are feeling
overwhelmed or dont know which of your tasks take
priority
Let people know that your plate is full rather than miss a
deadline or let them down because you run out of time
Calmly ask for clarification about what you should
consider your priorities or state what you can do
I was planning on finishing the month-end report this
morning. Does this task take priority over that?
Im working on a deadline today. Can I get that information
to your tomorrow?
45

Failing to plan ahead is another common contributor to
peoples stress
Minutes of planning prior to an event can often mean the
difference between feeling stressed and confused when
the event arrives, or enjoying the event to its fullest; or at
least feeling in control of the event
Highly stressed people often feel they dont have time for
time management or for training in stress management
Remember you choose the stress you experience each
and every day
Practicing good time and stress management will help you
take control of your life and achieve your full potential
46

If you choose a career in the service desk
industry, an exciting and rewarding profession
awaits
It is a rapidly growing and ever-changing field
that offers tremendous opportunities to people
who like working with technology and enjoy
helping customers
To seize these opportunities, you must hone your
soft- and self-management skills, along with your
business and technical skills
47

In developing these skills, you lay the foundation
for a successful career, regardless of your
chosen profession
You also develop the life skills needed to
handle even the most challenging situations
whether in your professional life or in your
personal lifewith confidence and enthusiasm
Be optimistic
With your skills, the future is bright!
48
Chapter Summary
Customer service is a stressful occupation
and analysts need to develop good selfmanagement skills, such as stress and time
management
To deal effectively with the stress in your life,
take the time to identify the real source or
sources of your stress
Develop a plan of action and a stress
management program that will work for you
49
Chapter Summary (continued)

Two key factors that affect how people respond to stress
are:
How much control they have over the stressor
Whether or not they choose to be exposed to the stressor
Even when you feel a situation is out of your control, there

is always something you can do
You can change the situation or you can control the way you
respond to the situation
Accepting responsibility for the stress you are

experiencing is the most important step you can take in
terms of coping with the stress and avoiding burnout
50

The rate of change in todays business world keeps
accelerating, and it is not likely to slow down any time
soon
Learn to embrace change and be willing to reinvent
yourself as needed to contribute to your companys
goals
Take personal responsibility for your career

Keep learning, develop flexibility, speed up, and
develop project management skills
By accepting responsibility for your future, you can
minimize much of the stress and fear that comes from
putting your well-being in the hands of someone else,
such as an employer
51

Coping with stress and mastering change takes
physical and emotional energy
Take time, every day, to think about your physical
and emotional needs, and devote time to fulfilling
those needs
Companies are increasingly asking employees to

do more work, often with fewer resources
People who manage their time well are able to
meet this challenge because they prioritize their
work and stay focused on producing the desired
results
52

Good work habits, such as getting and staying
organized, enable you to:
Feel in control
Make good time management decisions
When you manage your time well, you will

experience lower levels of stress and burnout
Time and stress management are tightly linked
Practicing both will help you take control of your
life and achieve your full potential
53

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Chapter 9:

Minimizing Stress and Avoiding

Minimizing Stress and

Reducing the Negative

Conversely, high levels of stress can sap your

Reducing the Negative

A Guide to Customer Service Skills for the Service Desk Professional, 3e

Determining the Causes of Stress

A Guide to Customer Service Skills for the Service Desk Professional, 3e

Sources of Stress (continued)

Sources of Stress (continued)

Conflict with coworkers

A Guide to Customer Service Skills for the Service Desk Professional, 3e

Sources of Stress (continued)

Sources of Stress (continued)

How much control a person has over a stressor:

Once you accept a stressor, stop complaining about it

Take a deep breath

A Guide to Customer Service Skills for the Service Desk Professional, 3e

A Guide to Customer Service Skills for the Service Desk Professional, 3e

Learning to Master Change

Companies want people that can quickly abandon

Learning to Master Change

A Guide to Customer Service Skills for the Service Desk Professional, 3e

Learning to Master Change

Learning to Master Change

Develop project-management skills:

Getting and Staying

Getting and Staying Mentally

A Guide to Customer Service Skills for the Service Desk Professional, 3e

Getting and Staying Mentally

Getting and Staying Mentally

Getting and Staying Mentally

A Guide to Customer Service Skills for the Service Desk Professional, 3e

Getting and Staying Mentally

Let your sense of humor shine through Laughter

Getting and Staying Mentally

Getting and Staying Mentally

Getting and Staying Mentally

Keyboard and mouse - Keep your wrists straight and

Telephone - Either directly in front of you or at less than a

A Guide to Customer Service Skills for the Service Desk Professional, 3e

Getting and Staying Mentally

Lighting The brightness of your workspace can greatly

Make a conscious effort to look out a window and

Managing Your Time

Getting and Staying Organized

Getting and Staying

Create a BOD A beginning of day (BOD) checklist is a

Getting and Staying

Getting and Staying

Getting and Staying

Check the status of your open tickets daily - Learn to

Coping with Deadlines

Overcommitting is a major cause of stress

Coping with Deadlines

Coping with Deadlines

Coping with Deadlines

A Guide to Customer Service Skills for the Service Desk Professional, 3e

Coping with Deadlines

Eliminate time robbers Avoid activities that

Coping with Deadlines

Coping with Deadlines