Some believe that stress is a natural part of work. However, this is far from the truth and with three in four Australians saying that workplace stress affects their health, it’s a misconception that needs to be changed fast. Sometimes it’s as simple as a conversation with your boss but that can often be a stressful situation within itself.

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With years of experience in the corporate world, Founder of Flo Wellbeing, Mandy Millan turned to pilates as a way of healing her regular back pain from long demanding office hours. Mandy talks us through the difficult conversation of telling your boss you’re stressed at work and discovering ways to create a happier workplace.

1. Understand what is making you feel stressed.

It could be an overwhelming workload, demanding hours or even something as simple as an uncomfortable chair to sit on. The best way to identify what is making you feel stressed, is to sit down quietly after work and jot down everything onto a piece of paper. Then choose one or two things which are the main triggers of stress for you, which you can bring up with your boss.

2. Find the right time and the right person.

Your boss may not be the best person to solve the issue for you and instead it may be the HR team who can help. Depending on the size of the company you work for, it’s important to find the right person and the right time to schedule a meeting.

3. Be focused on the solutions.

Once you’ve scheduled a time to meet face-to-face with the right person in your team, then you will need to think about realistic solutions that could solve the issues that are currently making you feel stressed at work. Be open to different suggestions your boss may have and work together to find the best solution for everyone.

4. Keep it short.

The best way to discuss these situations is by being well prepared before hand. By knowing the key issues which are making you feel stressed and by already having some potential solutions, it will make the meeting flow a lot easier and you will be more likely to see a positive result.

5. Implement the solutions.

Once you’ve discussed the solutions you’re both happy to introduce, then it’s important that you stay committed and make sure changes are implemented into the workplace. It could be a good idea to schedule a meeting in a few weeks to discuss the effectiveness of the solutions you both decided would work best.

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