Employee fatigue during periods of high intensity on projects

A workplace hazard, fatigue can be defined as “the inability or decreased ability to respond to a situation, due to previous excessive mental, emotional, or physical activity.”

It is frequently cited as the most important cause of decreased productivity and efficiency of employees. It can, and often does, result in reduced vigilance during work, poor judgment and decision-making ability, along with loss of awareness and distraction during critical and complex tasks.

Fatigue can be due to overstimulation, in cases of periods of high-intensity project work, in which employees may be exhausted, stressed, nervous, overloaded, and experiencing potential burnout. The question is, how do you overcome this fatigue and still ensure optimal employee performance while protecting their health? Here are some tips:

1. Anticipate

A project manager should always anticipate that no matter how talented and brilliant their team may be, halfway through a project interests tend to wane and fatigue sets in. Long, endless work hours, nagging business questions, and constant deadline hurdles that annoy the client are sure to take their toll. A smart move would be to anticipate this and create a response before the situation starts to negatively affect the project team as a whole.

2. Evaluate

Note and evaluate employee performance to identify and pinpoint problems. Attendance, punctuality, attitude, work coming in and out, commitments and deadlines all need to be reflected to measure the efficiency and effectiveness of the project team. An honest, transparent, and understanding relationship with employees will go a long way to benefiting the entire project where employees feel comfortable reaching out and asking for your help long before they reach their breaking point.

3. Accept

Recognize the point where fatigue becomes evident in employee performance. The importance and impact of a period of high-intensity, high-demand work should not be dismissed or downplayed. Accept employee complaints and give due recognition for extra efforts followed by appropriate rewards.

4. tackle

Anticipating, evaluating, and recognizing a potential problem are critical to getting started. These must be followed by the implementation of practices that combat fatigue before it causes lasting damage.

Now some practical suggestions:

– Always keep a positive outlook and assess and include the emotional and physical health and well-being of employees in regular project status reports.

– Adopt and maintain a workload scale that meets project requirements but is not exceeded.

– Incorporate positive reinforcement, express gratitude and appreciation to your employees which helps boost their morale.

– Don’t discount rewards and time to rejuvenate. Communicate them clearly to the team and then move on.

– Encourage sharing of roles and responsibilities within the workforce to create team harmony, adjust work times and allow appropriate time off when needed.

– Allow recreational activities to de-stress, maintain and maintain an aura of joy, while ensuring optimal employee performance. Even a team lunch at a nice restaurant once every two weeks can help.

Job stress and the eventual onset of fatigue are inevitable in demanding jobs, but by investing time and effort in properly planning an effective combat approach, one can not only preserve coherence and harmony in the work environment, but you will also get benefits for you and your team. both.

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