ASSIGNMENT

HANDLING PRESSURE IN NEGOTIATION

SUBMITTED TO:-DR D. D. SHARMA

SUBMITTED BY: - SAPNA PATIAL

 NEGOTIATION
 
 
DEFINITION OF NEGOTIATION
 
Negotiation is one of the most common approaches used to make decisions and manage disputes. It is also the
major building block for many other alternative dispute resolution procedures.
 
Negotiation occurs between spouses, parents and children, managers and staff, employers and employees,
professionals and clients, within and between organizations and between agencies and the public. Negotiation is
a problem-solving process in which two or more people voluntarily discuss their differences and attempt to reach
a joint decision on their common concerns. Negotiation requires participants to identify issues about which they
differ, educate each other about their needs and interests, generate possible settlement options and bargain
over the terms of the final agreement. Successful negotiations generally result in some kind of exchange or
promise being made by the negotiators to each other. The exchange may be tangible (such as money, a
commitment of time or a particular behavior) or intangible (such as an agreement to change an attitude or
expectation, or make an apology).
 
Negotiation is the principal way that people redefine an old relationship that is not working to their satisfaction or
establish a new relationship where none existed before. Because negotiation is such a common problem-solving
process, it is in everyone's interest to become familiar with negotiating dynamics and skills. This section is
designed to introduce basic concepts of negotiation and to present procedures and strategies that generally
produce more efficient and productive problem solving.
 DEFINITIONS
 
For negotiations to result in positive benefits for all sides, the negotiator must define what the problem is and
what each party wants. In defining the goals of negotiation, it is important to distinguish between issues,
positions, interests and settlement options.
 
• An issue is a matter or question parties disagree about. Issues can usually be stated as problems.
For example, "How can wetlands be preserved while allowing some industrial or residential
development near a stream or marsh?" Issues may be substantive (related to money, time or
compensation), procedural (concerning the way a dispute is handled), or psychological (related to
the effect of a proposed action).
 
• Positions are statements by a party about how an issue can or should be handled or resolved; or a
proposal for a particular solution. A disputant selects a position because it satisfies a particular
interest or meets a set of needs.
 
• Interests are specific needs, conditions or gains that a party must have met in an agreement for it
to be considered satisfactory. Interests may refer to content, to specific procedural considerations
or to psychological needs.
 
• Settlement Options--possible solutions which address one or more party's interests. The presence
of options implies that there is more than one way to satisfy interests.
 

CONDITIONS FOR NEGOTIATION

 
A variety of conditions can affect the success or failure of negotiations. The following conditions make success in
negotiations more likely.
 
Identifiable parties who are willing to participate. The people or groups who have a stake in the
outcome must be identifiable and willing to sit down at the bargaining table if productive negotiations
are to occur. If a critical party is either absent or is not willing to commit to good faith bargaining, the
potential for agreement will decline.
 
Interdependence. For productive negotiations to occur, the participants must be dependent upon each
other to have their needs met or interests satisfied. The participants need either each other's assistance
or restraint from negative action for their interests to be satisfied. If one party can get his/her needs met
without the cooperation of the other, there will be little impetus to negotiate.
 
Readiness to negotiate. People must be ready to negotiate for dialogue to begin. When participants are
not psychologically prepared to talk with the other parties, when adequate information is not available,
or when a negotiation strategy has not been prepared, people may be reluctant to begin the process.
 
Means of influence or leverage. For people to reach an agreement over issues about which they
disagree, they must have some means to influence the attitudes and/or behavior of other negotiators.
Often influence is seen as the power to threaten or inflict pain or undesirable costs, but this is only one
way to encourage another to change. Asking thought-provoking questions, providing needed
information, seeking the advice of experts, appealing to influential associates of a party, exercising
legitimate authority or providing rewards are all means of exerting influence in negotiations.
 
Agreement on some issues and interests. People must be able to agree upon some common issues
and interests for progress to be made in negotiations. Generally, participants will have some issues and
interests in common and others that are of concern to only one party. The number and importance of
the common issues and interests influence whether negotiations occur and whether they terminate in
agreement. Parties must have enough issues and interests in common to commit themselves to a joint
decision-making process.
 
Will to settle. For negotiations to succeed, participants have to want to settle. If continuing a conflict is
more important than settlement, then negotiations are doomed to failure. Often parties want to keep
conflicts going to preserve a relationship (a negative one may be better than no relationship at all), to
mobilize public opinion or support in their favor, or because the conflict relationship gives meaning to
their life. These factors promote continued division and work against settlement. The negative
consequences of not settling must be more significant and greater than those of settling for an
agreement to be reached.
 
Unpredictability of outcome. People negotiate because they need something from another person. They
also negotiate because the outcome of not negotiating is unpredictable. For example: If, by going to
court, a person has a 50/50 chance of winning, s/he may decide to negotiate rather than take the risk of
losing as a result of a judicial decision. Negotiation is more predictable than court because if negotiation
is successful, the party will at least win something. Chances for a decisive and one-sided victory need
to be unpredictable for parties to enter into negotiations.
 
A sense of urgency and deadline. Negotiations generally occur when there is pressure or it is urgent to
reach a decision. Urgency may be imposed by either external or internal time constraints or by potential
negative or positive consequences to a negotiation outcome. External constraints include: court dates,
imminent executive or administrative decisions, or predictable changes in the environment. Internal
constraints may be artificial deadlines selected by a negotiator to enhance the motivation of another to
settle. For negotiations to be successful, the participants must jointly feel a sense of urgency and be
aware that they are vulnerable to adverse action or loss of benefits if a timely decision is not reached. If
 procras- tination is advantageous to one side, negotiations are less likely to occur, and, if they do, there
is less impetus to settle.
 
No major psychological barriers to settlement. Strong expressed or unexpressed feelings about another
party can sharply affect a person's psychological readiness to bargain. Psychological barriers to
settlement must be lowered if successful negotiations are to occur.
 
Issues must be negotiable. For successful negotiation to occur, negotiators must believe that there are
acceptable settlement options that are possible as a result of participation in the process. If it appears
that negotiations will have only win/lose settlement possibilities and that a party's needs will not be met
as a result of participation, parties will be reluctant to enter into dialogue.
 
The people must have the authority to decide. For a successful outcome, participants must have the
authority to make a decision. If they do not have a legitimate and recognized right to decide, or if a clear
ratification process has not been established, negotiations will be limited to an information exchange
between the parties. A willingness to compromise. Not all negotiations require compromise. On
occasion, an agreement can be reached which meets all the participants' needs and does not require a
sacrifice on any party's part. However, in other disputes, compromise--willingness to have less than 100
percent of needs or interests satisfied--may be necessary for the parties to reach a satisfactory
conclusion. Where the physical division of assets, strong values or principles preclude compromise,
negotiations are not possible.
 
The agreement must be reasonable and implementable. Some settlements may be substantively
acceptable but may be impossible to implement. Participants in negotiations must be able to establish a
realistic and workable plan to carry out their agreement if the final settlement is to be acceptable and
hold over time.
 
External factors favorable to settlement. Often factors external to negotiations inhibit or encourage
settlement. Views of associates or friends, the political climate of public opinion or economic conditions
may foster agreement or continued turmoil. Some external conditions can be managed by negotiators
while others cannot. Favorable external conditions for settlement should be developed whenever
possible.
 
Resources to negotiate. Participants in negotiations must have the interpersonal skills necessary for
bargaining and, where appropriate, the money and time to engage fully in dialogue procedures.
Inadequate or unequal resources may block the initiation of negotiations or hinder settlement.
 
 
WHY PARTIES CHOOSE TO NEGOTIATE
 
The list of reasons for choosing to negotiate is long. Some of the most common reasons are to:
 
• Gain recognition of either issues or parties;
 
• Test the strength of other parties;
 
• Obtain information about issues, interests and positions of other parties;
 
• Educate all sides about a particular view of an issue or concern;
 
• Ventilate emotions about issues or people;
  
• Change perceptions;
 
• Mobilize public support;
 
• Buy time;
 
• Bring about a desired change in a relationship;
 
• Develop new procedures for handling problems;
 
• Make substantive gains;
 
• Solve a problem.
 
WHY PARTIES REFUSE TO NEGOTIATE
 
Even when many of the preconditions for negotiation are present, parties often choose not to negotiate. Their
reasons may include:
 
• Negotiating confers sense and legitimacy to an adversary, their goals and needs;
 
• Parties are fearful of being perceived as weak by a constituency, by their adversary or by the
public;
 
• Discussions are premature. There may be other alternatives available--informal
communications, small private meetings, policy revision, decree, elections;
 
• Meeting could provide false hope to an adversary or to one's own constituency;
 
• Meeting could increase the visibility of the dispute;
 
• Negotiating could intensify the dispute;
 
• Parties lack confidence in the process;
 
• There is a lack of jurisdictional authority;
 
• Authoritative powers are unavailable or reluctant to meet;
 
• Meeting is too time-consuming;
 
• Parties need additional time to prepare;
 
• Parties want to avoid locking themselves into a position; there is still time to escalate demands
and to intensify conflict to their advantage.
 
 
• Settlement Options--possible solutions which address one or more party's interests. The presence
of options implies that there is more than one way to satisfy interests.
 
 SELECTING A GENERAL NEGOTIATION APPROACH
 
The negotiator will need to select a general negotiation approach. There are many techniques, but the two most
common approaches to negotiation are positional bargaining and interest-based bargaining.
 
Positional Bargaining
 
Positional bargaining is a negotiation strategy in which a series of positions, alternative solutions that meet
particular interests or needs, are selected by a negotiator, ordered sequentially according to preferred outcomes
and presented to another party in an effort to reach agreement. The first or opening position represents that
maximum gain hoped for or expected in the negotiations. Each subsequent position demands less of an
opponent and results in fewer benefits for the person advocating it. Agreement is reached when the negotiators'
positions converge and they reach an acceptable settlement range.
 
WHEN IS POSITIONAL BARGAINING OFTEN USED?
 
• When the resource being negotiated is limited (time, money, psychological benefits, etc.).
 
• When a party wants to maximize his/her share in a fixed sum pay off.
 
• When the interests of the parties are not interdependent, are contradictory or are mutually exclusive.
 
• When current or future relationships have a lower priority than immediate substantive gains.
 
ATTITUDES OF POSITIONAL BARGAINERS
 
• Resource is limited.
 
• Other negotiator is an opponent; be hard on him/her.
 
• Win for one means a loss for the other.
 
• Goal is to win as much as possible.
 
• Concessions are a sign of weakness.
 
• There is a right solution--mine.
 
• Be on the offensive at all times.
 
HOW IS POSITIONAL BARGAINING CONDUCTED?
 
1. Set your target point--solution that would meet all your interests and result in complete success for you. To
set the target point, consider:
 
• Your highest estimate of what is needed. (What are your interests?)
 
• Your most optimistic assumption of what is possible.
 
• Your most favorable assessment of your bargaining skill.
 
 2. Make target point into opening position.
 
3. Set your bottom line or resistance point--the solution that is the least you are willing to accept and still reach
agreement. To identify your bottom line, consider:
 
• Your lowest estimate of what is needed and would still be acceptable to you.
 
• Your least optimistic assumption of what is possible.
 
• Your least favorable assessment of your bargaining skill relative to other negotiators.
 
• Your Best Alternative To a Negotiated Agreement (BATNA).
 
4. Consider possible targets and bottom lines of other negotiators.
 
• Why do they set their targets and bottom lines at these points? What interests or needs do these
positions satisfy?
 
• Are your needs or interests and those of the other party mutually exclusive?
 
• Will gains and losses have to be shared to reach agreement or can you settle with both receiving
significant gains?
 
5. Consider a range of positions between your target point and bottom line.
 
• Each subsequent position after the target point offers more concessions to the other negotiator(s), but
is still satisfactory to you.
 
• Consider having the following positions for each issue in dispute:
 
Opening position.
Secondary position.
Subsequent position.
Fallback position--(yellow light that indicates you are close to bottom line; parties who want to
mediate should stop here so that the intermediary has something to work with).
Bottom line.
 
6. Decide if any of your positions meets the interests or needs of the other negotiators.
 
How should your position be modified to do so?
 
7. Decide when you will move from one position to another.
 
8. Order the issues to be negotiated into a logical (and beneficial) sequence.
 
9. Open with an easy issue.
 
10. Open with a position close to your target point.
 
• Educate the other negotiator(s) why you need your solution and why your expectations are high.
 
 • Educate them as to why they must raise or lower their expectations.
 
11. Allow other side to explain their opening position.
 
12. If appropriate, move to other positions that offer other negotiator(s) more benefits.
 
13. Look for a settlement or bargaining range -- spectrum of possible settlement alternatives any one of which
is preferable to impasse or no settlement.
 
14. Compromise on benefits and losses where appropriate.
 
 
 
 
a = Party A's resistance point
b = Party A's target
c = Acceptable options for Party A
x = Party B's target
y = Party B's resistance point
z = Acceptable options for Party B
 
15. Look for how positions can be modified to meet all negotiators' interests.
 
16. Formalize agreements in writing.
 
CHARACTERISTIC BEHAVIORS OF POSITIONAL BARGAINERS
 
• Initial large demand--high or large opening position used to educate other parties about what is desired or
to identify how far they will have to move to reach an acceptable settlement range.
 
• Low level of disclosure--secretive and non-trusting behavior to hide what the settlement range and bottom
line are. Goal is to increase benefits at expense of other.
 
• Bluffing--strategy used to make negotiator grant concessions based on misinformation about the desires,
strengths or costs of another.
 
• Threats--strategy used to increase costs to another if agreement is not reached.
 
• Incremental concessions--small benefits awarded so as to gradually cause convergence between
negotiators' positions.
 
• Hard on people and problem--often other negotiator is degraded in the process of hard bargaining over
substance. This is a common behavior that is not necessarily a quality of or desirable behavior in positional
bargaining.
 
COSTS AND BENEFITS OF POSITIONAL BARGAINING
 
Costs
 
• Often damages relationships; inherently polarizing (my way, your way)
• Cuts off option exploration. Often prevents tailor-made solutions
• Promotes rigid adherence to positions
• Obscures a focus on interests by premature commitment to specific solutions
• Produces compromise when better solutions may be available
 
 
Benefits
 
• May prevent premature concessions
• Is useful in dividing or compromising on the distribution of fixed-sum resources
• Does not require trust to work
• Does not require full disclosure of privileged information
 
 
Interest-Based Bargaining
 
Interest-based bargaining involves parties in a collaborative effort to jointly meet each other's needs and satisfy
mutual interests. Rather than moving from positions to counter positions to a compromise settlement, negotiators
pursuing an interest-based bargaining approach attempt to identify their interests or needs and those of other
parties prior to developing specific solutions. After the interests are identified, the negotiators jointly search for a
variety of settlement options that might satisfy all interests, rather than argue for any single position. The parties
select a solution from these jointly generated options. This approach to negotiation is frequently called integrated
bargaining because of its emphasis on cooperation, meeting mutual needs, and the efforts by the parties to
expand the bargaining options so that a wiser decision, with more benefits to all, can be achieved.
 
WHEN IS INTEREST-BASED BARGAINING USED?
 
• When the interests of the negotiators are interdependent.
• When it is not clear whether the issue being negotiated is fixed-sum (even if the outcome is fixed-sum, the
process can be used).
• When future relationships are a high priority.
• When negotiators want to establish cooperative problem-solving rather than competitive procedures to
resolve their differences.
• When negotiators want to tailor a solution to specific needs or interests.
• When a compromise of principles is unacceptable.
 
ATTITUDES OF INTEREST-BASED BARGAINERS
 
• Resource is seen as not limited.
• All negotiators' interests must be addressed for an agreement to be reached.
• Focus on interests not positions.
• Parties look for objective or fair standards that all can agree to.
• Belief that there are probably multiple satisfactory solutions.
• Negotiators are cooperative problem-solvers rather than opponents.
• People and issues are separate. Respect people, bargain hard on interests.
• Search for win/win solutions.
 
COSTS AND BENEFITS OF INTEREST-BASED BARGAINING
 
Costs
 
• Requires some trust
• Requires negotiators to disclose information and interests
• May uncover extremely divergent values or interests
 
Benefits
 
• Produces solutions that meet specific interests
• Builds relationships
• Promotes trust
• Models cooperative behavior that may be valuable in future.
 
AN INTEGRATED APPROACH
 
Naturally, all negotiations involve some positional bargaining and some interest-based bargaining, but each
session may be characterized by a predominance of one approach or the other. Negotiators who take a
positional bargaining approach will generally use interest-based bargaining only during the final stages of
negotiations. When interest-based bargaining is used throughout negotiations it often produces wiser decisions
in a shorter amount of time with less incidence of adversarial behavior.
 
DYNAMICS OF NEGOTIATION
 
Examining the approaches to negotiation only gives us a static view of what is normally a dynamic process of
change. Let us now look at the stages of negotiation most bargaining sessions follow.
 
Negotiators have developed many schemes to describe the sequential development of negotiations. Some of
them are descriptive--detailing the progress made in each stage--while others are prescriptive--suggesting what
a negotiator should do. We prefer a twelve-stage process that combines the two approaches.
 
STAGES OF NEGOTIATION
 
Stage 1: Evaluate and Select a Strategy to Guide Problem Solving
 
• Assess various approaches or procedures--negotiation, facilitation, mediation, arbitration, court, etc.--
available for problem solving.
• Select an approach.
 
Stage 2: Make Contact with Other Party or Parties
 
• Make initial contact(s) in person, by telephone, or by mail.
• Explain your desire to negotiate and coordinate approaches.
• Build rapport and expand relationship
• Build personal or organization's credibility.
• Promote commitment to the procedure.
• Educate and obtain input from the parties about the process that is to be used.
 
Stage 3: Collect and Analyze Background Information
 
• Collect and analyze relevant data about the people, dynamics and substance involved in the problem.
• Verify accuracy of data.
• Minimize the impact of inaccurate or unavailable data.
• Identify all parties' substantive, procedural and psychological interests.
 
Stage 4: Design a Detailed Plan for Negotiation
 
• Identify strategies and tactics that will enable the parties to move toward agreement.
• Identify tactics to respond to situations peculiar to the specific issues to be negotiated.
 
Stage 5: Build Trust and Cooperation
 
• Prepare psychologically to participate in negotiations on substantive issues. Develop a strategy to handle
strong emotions.
• Check perceptions and minimize effects of stereotypes.
• Build recognition of the legitimacy of the parties and issues.
• Build trust.
• Clarify communications.
 
Stage 6: Beginning the Negotiation Session
 
• Introduce all parties.
• Exchange statements which demonstrate willingness to listen, share ideas, show openness to reason and
demonstrate desire to bargain in good faith.
• Establish guidelines for behavior.
• State mutual expectations for the negotiations.
• Describe history of problem and explain why there is a need for change or agreement.
• Identify interests and/or positions.
 
Stage 7: Define Issues and Set an Agenda
 
• Together identify broad topic areas of concern to people.
• Identify specific issues to be discussed.
• Frame issues in a non-judgmental neutral manner.
• Obtain an agreement on issues to be discussed.
• Determine the sequence to discuss issues.
• Start with an issue in which there is high investment on the part of all participants, where there is not
serious disagreement and where there is a strong likelihood of agreement.
• Take turns describing how you see the situation. Participants should be encouraged to tell their story in
enough detail that all people understand the viewpoint presented.
• Use active listening, open-ended questions and focusing questions to gain additional information.
 
Stage 8: Uncover Hidden Interests
 
• Probe each issue either one at a time or together to identify interests, needs and concerns of the principal
participants in the dispute.
• Define and elaborate interests so that all participants understand the needs of others as well as their own.
 
Stage 9: Generate Options for Settlement
 
• Develop an awareness about the need for options from which to select or create the final settlement.
• Review needs of parties which relate to the issue.
• Generate criteria or objective standards that can guide settlement discussions.
• Look for agreements in principle.
• Consider breaking issue into smaller, more manageable issues and generating solutions for sub-issues.
• Generate options either individually or through joint discussions.
• Use one or more of the following procedures:
• Expand the pie so that benefits are increased for all parties.
• Alternate satisfaction so that each party has his/her interests satisfied but at different times.
• Trade items that are valued differently by parties.
• Look for integrative or win/win options.
• Brainstorm.
• Use trial and error generation of multiple solutions.
• Try silent generation in which each individual develops privately a list of options and then presents his/her
ideas to other negotiators.
• Use a caucus to develop options.
• Conduct position/counter position option generation.
• Separate generation of possible solutions from evaluation.
 
Stage 10: Assess Options for Settlement
 
• Review the interests of the parties.
• Assess how interests can be met by available options.
• Assess the costs and benefits of selecting options.
 
Stage 11: Final Bargaining
 
• Final problem solving occurs when:
• One of the alternatives is selected.
• Incremental concessions are made and parties move closer together.
• Alternatives are combined or tailored into a superior solution.
• Package settlements are developed.
• Parties establish a procedural means to reach a substantive agreement.
 
Stage 12: Achieving Formal Settlement
 
• Agreement may be a written memorandum of understanding or a legal contract. Detail how settlement is to
be implemented--who, what, where, when, how--and write it into the agreement.
• Identify "what ifs" and conduct problem solving to overcome blocks.
• Establish an evaluation and monitoring procedure.
• Formalize the settlement and create enforcement and commitment mechanisms: Legal contract
• Performance bond
• Judicial review
• Administrative/executive approval

Definition of Stress : 1
In medical terms stress is described as, "a physical or psychological stimulus that can produce mental
tension or physiological reactions that may lead to illness." When you are under stress, your adrenal gland
releases corticosteroids, which are converted to cortisol in the blood stream. Cortisol have an immune
suppressive effect in your body.
 Another Definition of Stress
According to Richard S Lazarus, stress is a feeling experienced when a person thinks that "the demands
exceed the personal and social resources the individual is able to mobilize."
 Your body tries to adjust to different circumstances or continually changing environment around you. In this process,
the body is put to extra work resulting in "wear and tear". In other words, your body is stressed. Stress disturbs the
body's normal way of functioning.
Most of us experience stress at one time or another. Without stress, there would be no life. However, excessive or
prolonged stress can be harmful. Stress is unique and personal. A situation may be stressful for someone but the
same situation may be challenging for others. For example, arranging a world level symposium may be challenging
for one person but stressful to another. Some persons have habit of worrying unnecessarily.
Stress is not always necessarily harmful. Hans Selye said in 1956, "stress is not necessarily something bad – it all
depends on how you take it. The stress of exhilarating, creative successful work is beneficial, while that of failure,
humiliation or infection is detrimental." Stress can be therefore negative, positive or neutral. Passing in an
examination can be just stressful as failing.
Sometime we know in advance that doing a certain thing will be stressful, but we are willing to doing that. For
example, while planning a vacation to a hill station you know that it would be stressful at certain times. But you are
willing to face those challenges.
People often work well under certain stress leading to increased productivity. Many times you do not know in
advance and the stress periods may be sudden. The situation may not be under your control. Too much stress is
harmful. You should know your level of stress that allows you to perform optimally in your life.

Types
1. Acute stress
Acute stress is usually for short time and may be due to work pressure, meeting deadlines pressure or minor
accident, over exertion, increased physical activity, searching something but you misplaced it, or similar things.
Symptoms of this type of tension are headaches, back pain, stomach problems, rapid heartbeat, muscle aches or
body pain.
2. Acute Stress
Acute stress is common in people who take too many responsibilities and are overloaded or overworked,
disorganized, always in a hurry and never in time. These people are generally in positions of importance at their
workplace and stressful lifestyle is inherent in them.
Symptoms of this type of stress are prolonged tension headaches, hypertension, migraines, chest pain and heart
disease.
3. Chronic Stress
This type of stress is the most serious of all the 3 stress types. Chronic stress is a prolonged stress that exists for
weeks, months, or even years. This stress is due to poverty, broken or stressed families and marriages, chronic
illness and successive failures in life. People suffering from this type of stress get used to it and may even not
realize that they are under chronic stress. It is very harmful to their health.

 CAUSES
Whenever our body feels something not favorable, then it tries to defend itself. If this situation continues for a long
time, then our body is working overtime.
There are several causes of stress. For example, you are under stress when you are worried about something,
worried about your children, worried about the illness of your father, worried about your job security, or worried about
your loans or similar things.
You may be under stress due to several causes. Look at the following causes of stress.

1. Causes of Stress at Home

 o Death of spouse, family, near relative or friend.
o Injury or illness of any family member.
o Marriage of self or son or daughter or brother or sister.
o Separation or divorce from partner.
o Pregnancy or birth of a new baby.
o Children's behavior or disobedience.
o Children's educational performance.
o Hyperactive children.
o Sexual molestation.
o Argument or heated conversations with spouse, family members or friends or neighbors.
o Not sufficient money to meet out daily expenses or unexpected expenditure.
o Not sufficient money to raise your standard of living.
o Loss of money in burglary, pick-pocketed or share market.
o Moving house.
o Change of place or change of city or change of country.
2. Causes of Stress at Work
o To meet out the demands of the job.
o Your relationship with colleagues.
o To control staff under you.
o To train your staff and take work from them.
o Support you receive from your boss, colleagues and juniors.
o Excessive work pressure.
o To meet out deadlines.
o To give new results.
o To produce new publications if you are in research area.
o Working overtime and on holidays.
o New work hours.
o Promotion or you have not been promoted or your junior has superseded you.
o Argument or heated conversations with co-workers or boss.
o Change of job.
o Work against will.
o Harassment.
o Sexual molestation.
3. Other Causes of Stress
o Fear, intermittent or continuous.
o Threats: physical threats, social threats, financial threat, other threats.
o Uncertainty.
o Lack of sleep.
o Somebody misunderstands you.
o Setback to your position in society.

If you are under stress, then you should know how you can get stress relief.
Handling pressure
Almost everything that can be recommended to relieve pressures in our lives comes down to one of three responses:
1.    Receive pressure - handle it and work with it.
2.    Reject pressure - eliminate or avoid it.
3.    Reduce pressure - shrink it and revise its negative impact.
1. Take time before you react. Study any give situation carefully, think about it and come up with a plan.
This is better way to respond than being hasty.

2. Prioritize tasks, focus on tasks which are linked to your most immediate objective.

3. Direct your energy toward situations where you can affect the outcome and don’t spend time
worrying about what you cannot change. Successful people focus on tasks which they can control and
let go of the rest.

Winners narrow their efforts only to what will help them win. So recognize what you can control and
what you can’t.

4. Take the help of others. You can seek the input of other people before reaching any decision. You
may also delegate some tasks to others if you have a tight schedule. Decide which tasks can be
delegated to other people and do so.

"Office Spa: Stress Relief for the Working Week", a book by relaxation expert Darrin Zeer, also offers
some tips—everyday items to keep at your desk to make your working hours a little less stressful.

5. Learn how to deal with different kinds of people at work - complainers, aggressive people etc.
Develop your listening skills in order to interact better with people and pay attention to improving your
communication skills.

6. Stop looking at the clock. When you have to meet a tight deadline, then instead of constantly looking
at the clock, focus on the task at hand. Do the task with full concentration. Break bigger tasks down into
smaller ones, try to finish the most urgent tasks first and then the low-priority ones. Assign time frames
dedicated solely for each particular task.

7. Think positively at all times. Maintain mental discipline by not allowing thoughts of failure into your
head.

8. Keep Your Mind In The Present. Winners maintain mental focus in the present. The here and now is
where you perform, not the regrets of the past or the uncertainty of the future. Focus on what you are
doing, when you do it.

You can keep your mind in the present by concentrating fully on the task at hand while you are
performing it. In order to improve your concentration while performing tasks, check out my articles:

If you are focused on the present, you can avoid fears and doubts.

9. Focus on the task and not the outcome. Achievers keep their eye on the journey and not the goal.
Having objectives is helpful, but when you execute, stay focused on the process. You cannot
completely control the outcome as it can depend on many other factors, some of which may not be in
your hands.

10. Enjoy yourself: Relaxation is important if you want to perform any task well. If you are stressed out,
then you may not be able to give your 100%. So enjoy the task you are doing, and you will feel relaxed
and enthusiastic about it.
 2.
11. Water bottle. Eight glasses of water a day are recommended by experts. Keep a bottle at your desk
to stay hydrated and avoid fatigue and sluggishness—two major signs of dehydration.

12. Tea. The most consumed beverage in the world, tea can increase energy, stimulate brain activity
and increase information retention.

13. Healthy snacks. Keep some healthy food at your desk for days when you can’t dash out for lunch.
Some good snacks include: cereal bars, dried fruit,pudding.

14. Learn tips to manage stress. We all have to face stressful situations at one time or the other. People
who can nicely manage stress levels, do what is needed to be done while staying calm and composed
under pressure will most likely overcome obstacles in their way to achieve worthwhile success. Check
out my articles for some help in this regard:

Understanding Stress & Stress Management:

 Csikszentmihalyi, M, 1991, Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience, HarperCollins, New York
 Goldberger, L, Breznitz, S (Eds), 1993, The Handbook of Stress, Free Press, New York
 Mandler, G., ‘Thought, Memory and Learning: Effects of Emotional Stress’, The Handbook of Stress,
Goldberger, L, Breznitz, S (Eds), 1993, Free Press, New York
 Russ Dewey, personal communication
 Steptoe, A, 1997, Stress and Disease, The Cambridge Handbook of Psychology, Health and Medicine,
Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK.
 Taylor, S.E., 1999, Health Psychology (Fourth Edition), McGraw-Hill, Singapore

 www.laurentandbenon.co.in/