How to Work Under Pressure Effectively: A Guide for Managers

Whether they need to meet tight deadlines or deal with an urgent task, employees often have to work under pressure.

In fact, pressure situations at work can be stressful for employees and demotivate them. This can affect their productivity and performance.

To help your employees stay calm and productive even when working under pressure, use these 3 tips.

Tip #1: Break down large projects into smaller tasks

If your team is working on a large project, it’s best to break it down into smaller tasks. 

This allows your employees to work on the project step by step, making it easier to tackle.     

With each task your team members complete, they’ll be one step closer to achieving the project’s final goal. This will help them maintain motivation throughout the project. 

In fact, this approach allows employees to focus on one manageable piece at a time, which reduces the risk of burnout.  

To keep your employees productive, track the time they spend on tasks.

For this purpose, use a simple time tracker such as Clockify to record their time spent on tasks. 

All they need to do is choose the task they’re currently working on and start the timer — as simple as that. 

Once your team members are done tracking time spent on tasks, you’ll be able to see how long it took them to complete the tasks.

This way, you can assess whether your employees are efficient enough.

By breaking projects down into smaller chunks, you can keep track of your team’s progress more easily. 

Tip #2: Encourage your team members to take breaks

To ensure your employees stay physically and mentally healthy when working under pressure, advise them to take breaks.

According to research on the efficacy of micro-breaks, taking breaks from work alleviates fatigue and increases vigor. 

As Psychology Today’s article defines it, a microbreak is a rest from work that can last anywhere from 2 to 10 minutes.

These microbreaks may include:

• Stretching,
• Taking a short walk around the office,
• Relaxing by listening to music, or
• Taking a few deep breaths.

Customer insights leader Neha Pokharna shares that resting from work also improves employee focus:

“Taking breaks rejuvenates employees’ minds. Even small breaks significantly improve focus and productivity levels.”

To work in regular work/break intervals, your team members can use Clockify’s Pomodoro timer.   

This way, they’ll make their work more manageable and improve concentration. 

By encouraging your employees to rest from work, you’ll reduce employee stress and help them work under pressure effectively. 

Tip #3: Maintain open communication

If your employees aren’t sure how to handle pressure, create an environment where they can talk freely about their struggles. This will make them feel safe and less stressed. 

One way you can foster open communication in the workplace is to organize regular check-ins. This allows employees to share if they’re having difficulty dealing with a high-pressure situation at work.

CEO of a manufacturing company, Jake Munday, adds that check-ins allow managers to better understand how employees are feeling and provide support if needed: 

“By checking in regularly, you can assess stress levels and reassure your staff that help is available.”

Moreover, open communication allows employees to bond more easily. This helps them feel more relaxed when they need to ask for advice or assistance regarding their tasks.

For example, let’s say an employee makes a mistake while working on an Excel report and doesn’t know how to fix it. In this case, they may consider asking a more experienced teammate for advice on how to solve the problem. This can reduce their stress by far.

As a manager, you can also help employees grow their ability to work under pressure by offering useful mental health resources like:

• Counseling services,
• Webinars and training on how to overcome pressure in the workplace,
• Guides for maintaining well-being, and others.

When you foster open communication and support your employees, you help them deal with pressure. This way, they’ll be able to do their job better. 

Improve your team’s productivity with Clockify

As a powerful productivity tracker, Clockify offers a bunch of features to help your team members work more efficiently.

With Clockify, your employees can:

• Track their work hours across projects,
• See tracked time in Clockify’s Calendar and compare it with events in Google Calendar or Outlook,
• Use Clockify’s Dashboard to see their most tracked activities, and
• Analyze their tracked time in Reports. 

With these records, employees will get a better idea of where their time goes.

This way, they’ll know if they spend it wisely — or if they need to make improvements.

Track your team’s productivity and help them excel.