Nearly every job comes with some degree of stress but when you work as an event manager, that stress level is often higher than for most. In fact, according to studies by CNBC, event management ranks as one of the ten most stressful jobs.
While stress can be motivating, when it goes too far, it sometimes leads to another big problem – burnout. This is an even bigger problem, but most event managers don’t even recognise the signs. That’s why experts in training event management such as Souters are even talking to trainees about burnout and recognising the signs.
What is burnout?
Burnout is a term used to cover a series of symptoms that happen when you are very stressed and can lead to health conditions such as depression or high blood pressure. It also leads to dissatisfaction with your job and often decreased productivity.
Some of the classic signs of burnout include:
- Frustration or being irritable
- Headaches, fatigue, feeling physically exhausted and poor sleep patterns
- Lacking in motivation
- Decision fatigue – unable to make decisions
- Self-doubting yourself when you do
- More mistakes
Avoiding burnout as an event manager
It is always best to prevent rather than cure a condition so the key for event managers is to know they are prone to this kind of problem and take steps to remedy it – before they ever reach the burnout stage. Another tip is to delegate their work to an events company singapore or one near them to take the stress away. Here are five ideas to help you avoid the problem.
Have a better work-life balance
The work-life balance topic is a hot one at the moment and for good reason. Working all of the time, long hours and constant stress is a huge contributor to burnout and a host of other health conditions.
That’s why it is important to have a better balance. For example, have a cut-off point for work. After this time, you don’t check emails, you don’t answer your phone and if you having a day off, you don’t do anything work-related. Manage your client expectations around these boundaries and let them know you won’t be available at specific times or days.
It is normal to experience some stress in the workplace from time to time. However, prolonged periods of stress can negatively affect your physical and mental health. While stress is a fact of life in the modern workplace, there are methods and strategies you can use to reduce stress at home and on the job. You may check Body Techniques – Workplace Stress Management to help you reset and refocus your energy so you can do your best work and regain the work-life balance you desire.
Use tools to help manage
There are loads of great project management tools out there so make sure you have a firm system in place to use them. It will help you to be more efficient but also reduce the risk of things being missed, forgotten or done incorrectly which increases rework and stress.
Don’t be afraid to delegate
When you have the word ‘manager’ in your title, this means you manage a team as well as a project – so make use of them! Delegating the right jobs to the right people is one of the key parts of being a manager in any role and is also a big part of avoiding burnout as an events manager.
Use your team’s strengths
Delegating is most successful when you give people jobs or tasks that they are naturally a good fit for. Don’t ask the least tech-savvy member of the team to handle social media marketing – get the younger team member who is always on their phone to take on the job. Or the member of staff who already has their own side hustle in marketing. Use your team’s strengths to ease your workload in a smart way.
Give yourself a break between tasks
Avoid the temptation to dash from one job to another and instead give yourself some time between tasks when you are swapping from one thing to another. Even just a five-minute break can let your brain change gear – have a walk outside, a cup of coffee, a snack. Then you are refreshed and ready for the next task.
Keep healthy and productive
Burnout is a potentially serious problem and that’s why you need to understand it and take steps to avoid it. That way you stay healthy and productive as well as enjoying your job.
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