Stress Management In Information Technology

The daily impact of information technology on our lives continues unabated. As computer capacities and innovations increase, it seems that this influence will continue to grow at an ever increasing rate in the coming years. More and more people use a computer at work. Most people have mobile phones, email addresses, use atms and take for granted the ability to have information on hand at the touch of a button. And this will only grow. While there are many advantages of having on-demand information, one of the unwanted aspects of information technology is the stress that comes with it, that has sometimes been dubbed 'technology stress'. This article will discuss the types of stress that information technology brings and ways to management stress in IT.

In the workplace, information technology is believed to cause a number of concerns. The major cause of stress is the rapid change in technology. By way of example, a software package that is used as the operating system for all a companies computers releases 3 or 4 updates a year. Each time the employee can either learn about the new updates or feel like they are falling behind. This leads to pressure on people. They feel that their ability to do the job may be impacted by the change. This could lead to feeling that their job security is at risk.

The secret to managing this stress is twofold. The first is acceptance that change happens and is rapid in the industry. The second is a training program that is sanctioned by the company. It is in the interests of the employers and employees, that the employees are up to date with these changes so training should be encouraged. Time should be set aside and a training program should be created for each employee. In many companies this is the case. Many governments give tax breaks to companies that have employee training programs.

Another form of stress in working environments might be described as technoangst. By way of example, some people would feel that it would be ludicrous to send a work colleague who is 5 metres away an email, when you could just call over to them. But this is often the case. People do not communicate and interact with colleagues as they used to. Information technology has changed the structures of organisations. Some people could feel alienated by this. The key is to get involved in the changes. Help to make the decisions rather than feel that they are dropped onto you.

People with no computer experience or training could feel concerned about their chances of getting future employment. Again, someone with no training or is technophobic has to work through this and change. They need to get training. It is important that governments acknowledge the influence of IT and institute training programs to educate people.

On a final note, working in IT calls for a high degree of accuracy over long periods of time. A small lapse could lead to bad information being used to make a poor decision. This outcome can create stress on the employees responsible and be disastrous for the company. To manage this stress there has to be an outlet. This could be to play sport, have a hobby or just to have a good holiday. This is a personal choice so the outlet will vary but it is important to have one.

We now live in an information age so IT is here to stay. This brings extra pressure on people to adapt but adapt they must do. That is the only stress management technique available to them. This adaption should be facilitated by employers. They should realize that training is their contribution to the technique.

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