Stress and stress-induced depression hit many knowledge workers, and yet it is still a taboo. “I am stressed” has become something we hear every day, and it has almost become prestigious to say so; it shows that we are busy, important people. On the other hand, it is a bit embarrassing to be really stressed and not being able to handle it.
The sad thing is that when it comes to the people, who are really stressed, we don’t hear it. We do not see it; we do not talk about it.
We feel awkward when people are stressed or come back from sick leave. We try not to talk about it. It is so much easier with a broken leg; we can carry stuff for them, hold the door, get coffee etc., but what do we do with a person with stress?
I have been sick with stress and it took nine months to come back. It was the second time and it had to hit me hard before I took it seriously.
I believe strongly in taking openly about stress and depression. It is the only way we can learn from it; the way we can make it okay to say “I need help!”.
In this talk I will discuss the taboo and explore why it hits knowledge workers so often, as well as come with tips and trick to prevent it.
People in the software industry are trained in programming, testing, design, documentation, and requirement management.
That makes our work very much based on blacks and whites: Does it compile? Will the test pass? Does it fulfill the requirements?
Bits and bytes, 0s and 1s, verified or not, yes or no, right or wrong.
Communication, on the other hand, is a spectrum. We are not trained to be effective in our communication and yet much of our work requires collaboration with others.
In this workshop we want to give you a space where you can learn effective communication techniques and have time to practice. You will learn to listen, not to respond, but to hear what is actually being said. We will provide you with tools to give and receive feedback. We will help you express what you want and what you need.
We want to inspire you to have the courage to be yourself as you communicate in an effective manner.
Structure:
The morning is focused on listening. The afternoon is focused on stating what you want and feedback.
The day is a series of the following: a bit of information, practice in pairs or triads, de-brief and discussion with the group.
Gitte Klitgaard is an agile coach, hugger, friend, and much more. She lives and love agile. She took the oath of non-allegiance. Why fight over methods when we can use the energy to help people?
Gitte wants to change the world by helping people make the right product, doing it right and very important: have fun doing it.
Her preferred tools are listening, intuition, and caring. And for the teams: the retrospective. Inspecting and adapting is essential. You can say that her heart is in retrospectives.
She has a great interest in how people function, how the brain works, what motivates us, how we can feel better about our selves, how to be perfect in all our imperfections.
She is a geek and passionate about a lot :)
