The vice president of personnel was given a crown and
honored as Miss Pink Slip (she had to make some of the difficult termination arrangements and then was herself one of the first people terminated). In condition, office jokes about the situation were encouraged: “What are they going to do about it, fire us?” Pink achievement awards were given out to selected employees to affirm that, despite the downsizings, their per¬formance was appreciated.

The purpose of all of this tongue-in-cheek humor was to laugh in the face of adversity. As Bevan says, “We created an environment that said that humor was okay and that humor was what was going to get us through this thing.” Expand your team’s range of control. A significant amount of stress research shows that the more control people exert over difficult work situations, the more they are able to cope with those situations. In the work environment, you can help regulate stress by looking for ways to place control in the hands of your team.

Teach coping skills. Supply members with books and guides which provide suggestions and guidelines for self-managing stress. An additional approach might involve looking for low-cost stress management workshops that members can take after hours or on the weekends through local adult education programs, colleges or community health agencies. Periodically audit stress factors in your environment. Conduct an audit to identify factors that may be creating stress for your team. This doesn’t have to be a tedious or expensive process.