3 ways for managers to reduce Back to School stress
40-62% of the workforce is about to hop on a stressful roller coaster.*
I’m talking about back to school.
Schedules change, illnesses resurface, and emotions can spin like Disneyland’s Tea Cups.
Back to school is the most stressful time for working parents & caregivers, and as a manager and leader of people, you’re in a position to reduce their stress.
Here are 3 ways to help your people over the next 4-8 weeks.
1) Seek To Understand
Deliberately, and empathetically, connect and understand what’s changing for your people.
What’s changing about their family’s schedule?
What’s shifting with morning & evening needs?
What are they most worried about as kids transition back to school?
This isn’t about problem solving or finding solutions for them.
This is about holding space to help them feel supported as they try to do their best work with a circus running in the background.
Acknowledge alarms are going to be set to earlier times, more coffee might be consumed, workout schedules will shift.
Get curious, hold space, and enable your people to make the adjustments that will help them thrive, not just survive.
2) Watch Meeting Times
School schedules are all over the place.
My son starts at 8:10, and ends at 3:10, and I’m responsible for pickup every day.
A 3:30 meeting start time is out of the question for me.
Check in on scheduling needs and you’ll reduce the stress of your people by avoiding (as much as you’re able) meeting times that conflict with school drop off and pick up, particularly the first few weeks of school.
3) Plan & Respond With Grace
It seems to be clockwork every school age child gets sick 2-3 weeks after they return to school.
Plan to enable work from home and anticipate there will likely be doctor’s appointments in coming weeks that will suddenly come up and be inconvenient.
In these moments, our reaction matters greatly.
Two options:
1. Compassionate leadership response: “I’m so sorry to hear they're sick, that’s not fun at all. Don’t worry about a thing on this end, and thank you for letting me know! Keep me posted on how things are going and what I can do to make your life easier right now.”
2. Guilt-ridden leadership response: “I’m sorry to hear. Will you still be able to dial into the 2:00 because we really need to keep things on track with ops.”
To be clear, I’ve been guilty of both.
Experience has also taught me which response yields stronger connection, performance, and employee retention in the long run.
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Start these conversations this week.
Forward this to your peers and talk through additional ways you can support your people over the next few weeks.
As always, Comment below and let me know what’s on your mind!
*40% of the workforce is a parent, and 18-22% are caregivers, landing us with 40-62% of our workforce about to hop onto a stressful roller coaster.
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