Here’s a bulletin on “The dangers of fatigue in the workplace”, www.worksafebc.com/en/resources/health-safety/hazard-alerts/the-dangers-of-fatigue-in-the-workplace?lang=en (Two Pages) [WorkSafe BC, Dec-2014]
The bulletin notes that reduced sleep is the biggest contributor to fatigue. Common signs of fatigue are tiredness, difficulty concentrating and slower reaction times. Some tips for reducing fatigue include getting at least 7.5 hours of sleep a night, regular sleep routines, reducing screen time in bed and exercising regularly. The unpredictability of Covid-19 in New Zealand / globally has added to uncertainty for many of us and this may have affected sleep patterns. The article by Tony Schwartz and Emily Pine below may provide some practical tips if this is the case for you. As leaders and delivery specialists we need to be mindful of our own fatigue and signs of fatigue in our teams. For us, this is part of management controls, stakeholder management and organisational change management.
Some things to consider:
Meeting your needs first. Nourishing ourselves so that we can nourish others.
Replacing stimulants for sleep. Sleep is the best healer and booster.
Delegating isn’t doing. Resourcing appropriately and setting others up for success.
What is your sleep pattern? Where are your teams stretched? Are mistakes becoming more common?
How does this thinking apply to you as a Project Manager? What risk factors does fatigue bring? What is being done to manage / call out fatigue? Where can people go for rest? When is it OK to work?
Why is this important? Good question. A long, slow crisis like Covid-19 changes our behaviours. Sometimes quickly, like going into lockdown and other times more subtly. These subtle changes in the form of changed sleep patterns, lack of movement and active, speculative minds bring on fatigue. Checking in on what we think our routines are and observing what they actually are may help shift our behaviours. Bringing them back to pre Covid-19 levels and, in turn, reducing fatigue. Starting on this journey may be as simple as getting a few nights of 7.5 hours sleep.
For further viewing / reading:
Managing Fatigue (NZ), Prof. Drew Dawson, https://youtube.com/watch?v=ZrowMZGbcvY (13:46) [Business Leaders’ Health & Safety Forum, 6-Jul-2018]
Sleep Science, SAFTE™ Fatigue Model, https://www.fatiguescience.com/sleep-science-technology (650 words, plus great links) [Fatigue / Science, retrieved 14-Aug-2020]
Covid-19, Healthcare Workers and Compassion Fatigue, https://youtube.com/watch?v=4Fd_jrq0t2o (1:09) [Magellan Health Official, 21-Apr-2020]
Coping with Fatigue, Fear, and Panic During a Crisis, Tony Schwartz and Emily Pines, https://hbr.org/2020/03/coping-with-fatigue-fear-and-panic-during-a-crisis, (800 Words) [HBR, 23-Mar-2020]
Inviting you to have a view / read and to have a chat with me about your thoughts.
[Originally posted internally in my role as Project Management Practice Lead at The Warehouse Group.]