GROUP MEMBERS and THEIR ROLES:

 

 

 

1) Ivana Dasović (Leader)

 

2) Petra Urh (Secretary)

 

3) Sara Grabnar (Reporter)

 

4) Melita Matko (Time-keeper) 

 

 

                                                                                                                                                                   

 

                                                                                                                                                                                                      1)

 

 

                                                                                                                                                                                                     2)

 

 

 

                                                                                                                                                                                                      3)

 

 

 

Stress at workplace: A case study of a mother dealing with stress on senior position

 

 

 

Definition of the problem:

 

 

It is a well-known fact that everybody is under stress, but some people are more affected by it than others. Especially stress at workplace is continuously rising. Workplace by itself usually provokes stress because of the factors as overburdening, lack of time or tight terms, not specifically defined roles or assignments and others (Ihan 2005: 61). Employers are loading more and more work to employees, who work extra hours, bring work at home and do not have a regular working day (European Foundation for the Improvement of living and working Conditions, 2001, online).

 

The general satisfaction in life is for both men and women extremely related to their satisfaction not just with their work but also with their family life. In the past women only had to deal with their families and not with a career. Nowadays we can say that a woman  deals with more stress than a man, because she is obligated to manage family life and work life. In managing work and family life we know three different types of conflict: a) “Time conflict” b)      “Tension conflict” c)      “Behavioural conflict” These conflicts are solved differently: some give priority to work and family, some give priority to work but most frequently they solve this conflict with deciding they will not have a family (Černigoj Sadar 2002: 97).

 

 

Research questions:

1. What is stress?
2. What types of stress exist?
3. What causes stress?
4. What are the symptoms of stress at workplace?
5. What are the ways of dealing with stress?
6. What are the possible solutions to decrease the level of stress?
7. What other physical consequences does the stress cause and do the potential illnesses produce a new amount of stress and difficulties?
8. What kind of personality does a woman have to have so that she can manage the family and a career?
9. How do women deal with stress?
10. How does stress influence their family life?
11. What is more stressful: managing the family and a career or the sheer pressure of the stereotypes?

     

 

Distribution of tasks:

 

By reading the literature we will try to answer the research questions. Our assignments are:

• Petra will find the answers regarding the questions number 1 and 2, which are more theoretical
• Ivana will work on questions 3, 4 and 7. These are questions about the reasons for the existence of stress and its (mostly) negative consequences
• Melita will tackle the problem of eliminating stress with questions 5 and 6
• Sara will try to answer the questions from 8 to 11 on the basis of an interview (first-hand experiences)

   

Literature:

 

 

Books and articles:

·        Božič, Mija (2003) Stres pri delu: priročnik za prepoznavanje in odpravljanje stresa pri delu poslovnih sekretarjev. Ljubljana: GV izobraževanje.

·        Černigoj Sadar, Nevenka (2002): Stres na delovnem mestu. Teorija in praksa. Let. 39, št. 1, str. 81-102.

·        Dernovšek, Mojca Zvezdana (2006) Ko te strese stress – kako prepoznati in zdraviti stresne, anksiozne in depresivne motnje. Ljubljana: Inštitut za varovanje zdravja Republike Slovenije

·        Ihan, Alojz; Simonič Vidrih, Mateja (2005) Stres na delovnem mestu in spoprijemanje z njim:  kaj lahko naredim da živim v sožitju s stresom?. Ljubljana: Arx.

·        Kosović, Dušan (1987) Stres. Beograd: Nova knjiga.

 

Electronic sources:

 

 

• American Academy of Family Physicians (2006): Stress: How to cope better with life's challenges, http://familydoctor.org/online/famdocen/home/common/mentalhealth/stress/167.html#ArticleParsysMiddleColumn0006 (accessed 1 November 2007).

• eMedicineHealth (Emergency care + Consumer Health) (2006): Stress treatment, http://www.emedicinehealth.com/stress/page6_em.htm (accessed 31 October 2007).
• Potrč, Marjeta (2004) Način priprave in vsebina programa upravljanja s stresom v podjetju, Združenje Svetov Delavcev Slovenskih Podjetij, http://www.delavska-participacija.com/html/stres.html (accessed 2 November 2007).
• Tony Dobbins (2001) The management of workplace stress, European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions, http://www.eurofound.europa.eu/eiro/2001/03/feature/ie0103165f.htm (accessed 2 November 2007).

 

Glossary:

 

1.) Stressor: dogodek, situacija, oseba ali predmet, ki ga posameznik doživi kot stresni element

2.) Eustress: pozitivni stres

3.) Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder: Stres po dramatičnem stanju

4.) Distress: negativni stres

5.) Layoff: čakanje na delo

6.) Hostile work environment harassment: žaljivo obnašanje na delovnem mestu

7.) Abate: zmanjšati/odpraviti

8.) Fight-or-flight response: psihološki odziv posameznika na zunanje ali notranje spodbude oziroma grožnje (borba ali beg)

9.) Autogenic training: tehnika sproščanja, pri čemer si posameznik vizualno predstavlja predmete/osebe, ki ga pomirjajo 

10.) Tension conflict: konflikt, do katerega pride zaradi napetosti pri eni vlogi in se pozna pri izvajanju druge vloge

11.) Abseenteism: odsotnost z dela

12.) Labour turnover: pretočnost delovne sile

 

 

 

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Minutes of the 4^th meeting »Problem Based Learning Project«

 held on 2 November, 2007 via MSN

 

Present: Sara Grabnar, Ivana Dasovič, Melita Matko, Petra Urh

Absent: /

 

 

 

Agenda:

1. Action-item follow up

2. Deadlines

3. Any other business

 

 

 

Item 1:

Our individual parts of the report are taking shape slowly, we are already busy writing our parts. At the last meeting we agreed that Petra and Melita would find words for the glossary, but we ended up all contributing the words. Petra is still forming a better definition of the problem. Sara has carried out the interview with a mother dealing with stress on a senior position.

 

 

 

Item 2:

Discussion: Our deadline for our individual tasks had to be changed because Petra would be absent this weekend.

Decision: Our new deadline is on Monday 5 November.

 

 

Item 3:

Discussion: We discussed the context of our seminar work. We will all have to read carefully the whole report so that it will be unified in style, grammar and the subject that is written in.

Decision: We agreed that will be done from 5 to 7 November, then we will give it to our language teacher so she can review it. 

 

 

   Minutes taker: Melita

      Chair: Ivana

 

 

 

The next two meetings will be held on Monday, 5 November and Tuesday, 6 November 2007 at 2 PM at FDV library.

 

 

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Minutes of the 3^rd meeting »Problem Based Learning Project«

 held on 25 October, 2007 via MSN

 

Present: Sara Grabnar, Ivana Dasovič, Melita Matko, Petra Urh

Absent: /

 

 

 

Agenda:

1. Action-item follow up

2. Glossary

3. Deadlines

4. Any other business

 

 

 

Item 1:

At the last meeting we agreed to read the literature so that we can start writing our report. This assignment is successfully being completed and the report is slowly gaining its shape.

 

 

Item 2:

Discussion: We discussed the glossary. Petra and Melita offered to find the relevant words for it.

Decision: We agreed with their offer.

 

Item 3:

Discussion: As it is known, deadlines are always recommended to finish the work in due time. That is why we determined the deadlines for our individual parts of the report.

Decision: The decision was to use the week from 29 October to 3 November to write the report. Our individual tasks are planned to be done until 3 November.

 

Item 4:

Discussion:

After the meeting, which we had with our subject teacher, we discussed our definition and Petra volunteered to correct it or better to complete it.

Decision:

We all agreed.

 

   Minutes taker: Ivana

      Chair: Ivana

 

 

 

The next meeting will be held on Friday, 2 November, 2007 at 2 PM at FDV library.

 

 

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Minutes of the 2^nd   meeting »Problem Based Learning Project«

 

 held on 19 October, 2007 at Ivana`s apartment

 

Present: Sara Grabnar, Ivana Dasovič, Melita Matko, Petra Urh

Absent: /

 

 

Agenda:

1. Action-item follow up

2. Changing the title of the topic

3. Task distribution

4. Any other business

 

Item 1:

At the last meeting we agreed to find all accessible literature. This assignment was successfully completed.

 

 

Item 2:

Discussion:

Ivana suggested we change the title of our topic to Stress at workplace – Case study: mother dealing with stress on senior position.

Decision:

We agreed on the new title mainly because we were advised that it is better to have a title in a declarative form.

 

Item 3:

 

As far as the interview and the literature are concerned we agreed that:

• Sara does the interview with her boss, who was (and still is) exposed to stress. She will try to answer the questions from 8 to 11 from the research list 
• Petra finds answers to questions 1 and 2
• Ivana tackles the questions 3, 4 and 7
• Melita answers the questions 5 and 6

 

 

Item 4:

Discussion:

Regarding our case study Sara had contacted her boss and arranged the interview meeting. We discussed the suitable questions for the interview.

Decision: We will all read our assigned literature, individually form questions and pass them on to Sara.

 

 

 

 

       Minutes taker: Sara

       Chair: Ivana

 

 

 

 

The next meeting will be held on Thursday, 26 October, 2007 at 2 PM at FDV library.

 

 

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Minutes of the 1^st  meeting »Problem Based Learning Project«

 

held on 11 October, 2007 at FDV library

 

Present: Sara Grabnar, Ivana Dasovič, Melita Matko, Petra Urh

Absent: /

 

Agenda:

1. Distribution of the tasks

2. Literature

3. Any other business

 

 

Item 1:

Discussion:

We discussed the topic, narrowed our choice and formed our definition. We also formulated some research questions.

Decision:

Our topic is “What kind of stress do mothers on managerial positions deal with?”

We decided to read some literature on our subject so that we can discuss it in more detail at the next meeting.

 

Item 2:

Discussion: During the meeting we did an Internet search and discovered that FDV library has very few books needed.

Decision: We will look for more books in our local libraries.

 

 

Item 3:

Petra proposed that we meet again on Thursday, 18 October, 2007 at 2 PM at FDV library.

Decision: We all agreed. 

 

 

 

The next meeting will be held on Thursday, 18 October, 2007 at 2 PM at FDV library.

 

 

 

Minutes taker: Petra

Chair: Ivana

 

 

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1) Honour, J. (2006) How to beat your stress easily, http://www.thestressreliefsite.com (accessed October 15, 2007)

2) Fairfax media (2007) Brief meditation boosts attention, curbs stress, Reuters, http://www.stuff.co.nz/4231529a19716.html (accessed October 15, 2007)

3) GIS (2004) Crazy stress, Misc, http://www.kf6nvr.net/blog/archives/cat_work.html   (accessed October 15, 2007)

 

 

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