Stress Management: What We Can Learn From Perceivers

There are certainly some folks out there who like operating from only rigid guidelines. Though it’s important to know what is expected of you in the workplace, many people stress over strict requirements. For that majority, Perceivers could impart wisdom on better handling such stress.

Even though it may appear that the Perceiving type is a little loose in dealing with work priorities, there’s a lot going on behind the scenes. Unless taken to the extreme, their open-ended approach to the world is simply a direct focus on process, not product.

Slowing down to savor the process of any task can be rewarding. Employees get back in touch with what fulfills them in their chosen work. They also become reacquainted with their reasoning, their reflective skills and their innate creativity. There’s no better stress reliever than a return to what matters to the Self at work.

Taking the time to skillfully ponder a project of interest is an esteem booster that the Perceiving type knows all too well. Their sense of accomplishment comes from what they learned along the way, before ever turning a project in. By allowing for spontaneity, Perceivers “keep their options open and use their time to explore problems as they come,” as stated in a previous article on Judgers and Perceivers’ contrasting approaches to business goals. By this exploration, Perceivers are following their gut about the project’s Plan A, but are lining up Plans B and C just in case! They intuitively feel less stress when they are developing ideas alongside other ideas.

What of those tasks simply too obligatory and painful, even in the best of work atmospheres? In their casual mindset, the Perceiving Type creatively looks for and finds ways to make the uncomfortable less so. This is not antithetical to having a good work ethic -- they are making meaning in their environment, even for the mundane. They are finding ease. Perceivers can “toss it off” better than most, and by doing so, teach the valuable lesson that acceptance may be the best key to stress-relief.

So inject some change-up in your workforce. To begin, be open to new information, much as the Perceiver has an adaptable way of being in the world. Then promote an environment that allows for employees to get mindful about finding answers. Build in one extra day for individual exploration of any topic requiring eventual outcome -- with no pressure! (Only hearty motivation to later share what was discovered in the process). Specifically mention that the due date requirement (be it a presentation or report), is separate and doesn’t have to address what was pondered during this ‘grace day’. The bet is that good insight will have found its way into the final product.

Some workers will run with this extra day and just stress out more! A good manager and trainer should always try to arrest stress in its tracks, so even in this situation, the aim is to transform this likely foreign exercise into the same enjoyable thing it is for Perceivers.

Have a brief discussion with anyone appearing to be doing the same old internal stressing. Guide those you are supervising ‘to look for some thread of significance in the topic and then run with it.’ Encourage your workers to enjoy this freedom, and to even address the issue with the imagined authority that they could see their findings enacted! (Those findings may just make their way into the end-product and employees should feel a genuine sense from management that their work will be given due credit and respect.)

Encourage anyone too meek to try this experimentation on their own to pair up with someone of their choosing. Have them choose someone they click with, to loosen any typical feelings of constraint. And if someone prefers to reflect on the nearby park bench or at the coffee shop, go ahead and allow it.

As managers, throw away preconceived notions of the feasibility of this exercise. It may seem futile, but try it anyway. You may be surprised and enlightened over what you did not know about your staff and your company. Perceivers seek out extra useful information all the time. This keeps stress at bay by adding options and dimensions to their lives.

The Perceiving type also, at their core, are emergent individuals. Each chore, deadline and requirement are all part of a bigger coming into being in their job title, their role, their life. As such, their work life can be extremely therapeutic. Their good ability at handling stress can go a long way toward a more productive work and life, and managers need to take heed of this knowledge.