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When the pace has been picked up and everyday life spins at its highest pace the increase of sick leave caused by stress will increase. And those affected are your most valuable loyal employees that turn themselves inside out to deliver at work and in their private lives.

Sick leave due to stress of unhealthy work environments has increased to the double in the past ten years and is now the most common reason for sick leave in Sweden, and women are overrepresented in the statistics.

Facts from Försäkringskassan:

  • Sick leave due to stress has increased by 359% in the years 2010-2017
  • 25% of those that have been burned out is at risk of relapse, which means that 1 in 4 people fall back into sick leave
  • 10% of elite athletes are on sick leave due to stress
  • Stress-related illness costs Sweden 70 billion in socio-economic losses every year
Isabelle Svärd talking at Agila Sverige about her own signs of stress in 2017 and how she used agile tools as a tactics when returning to work life.
Video can be found here. (In swedish)

Once a person has been burned out, it can take up to 10 years to recover, it is one of the longest recovery periods, even longer than some cancer diagnoses. Therefore, it is extremely important to detect and slow down this development in time. As a fellow human being and as a leader, it is important that you see signs of unhealthy stress.

These are some examples of signs of unhealthy stress.

Aggressive tone and behavior
Aggressiveness and short tone are signs that the brain has turned on its flight and fight behavior, to protect against dangers, and should be taken seriously. Sit down in a quiet room alone with the person and describe how you experience their behavior, without judging it, and then ask how the person is feeling.

Sleep problems
If a person repeatedly shares that they have slept poorly, have difficulty falling asleep or wake up very early in the morning and cannot fall back asleep, these are signs that the stress has gone way to far. When a person doesn’t sleep, it  means our natural recovery system has stopped working.

Stomach problems, weight gain or weight loss
When flight and figh behavior is activated, several of our physical functions are turned off. Including the stomach and metabolism. If a person complains of stomach problems or has increased or decreased weight quickly, it may be due to prolonged stress.

Concentration problems
Just like above, the brain’s capacity will be gradually reduced. One behavior that can be noticed is if someone starts to forget about meetings, tasks or doesn’t contribute in the same way as before.

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Our health is the most important thing we have. Our health is something that we as people, leaders, colleagues, employees and employers should hold as our highest priority. It is not enough to offer a wellness allowance, there must be room for wellness, reflection and recovery during work hours.

My work causes me both stress, anxiety and feelings of not being enough. And how is it right that I need my private time to compensate for that? I believe that my work hours should include everything I need to be able to do my job in the best possible way. For me, this means that I need space between meetings to process what has been said and time to prepare for the next meeting. I need time alone for my thoughts and reflections to be able to work out the best solution to a problem, create a good setup for the next meeting, or think about how to handle a situation.

As a leader, I owe those that follow me to think before I act. I owe them to be prepared for a meeting, to reflect on situations before I make decisions and think trough how I will handle a conflict. I also need space to learn new things, to read about research and new methods of leadership, team and psychological safety. This is important for me to be able to do my job, in the way that I want to do it.

I also need time when the brain can recover and turn off all impressions and thoughts. Where I have the opportunity to connect to my body that carries me through my work day. For me, it is yoga, which I often practice at lunchtime or before I go home. For you it might be a walk in the park, a horse back ride, a run around the nearby lake or to walk your dog. The important thing is that you know exactly what you need to have a sustainable work situation. Regardless, we all need recovery as part of our work day to be able to get through it, and the next day, and the next.

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We are exposed to an incredible number of impressions in one day. We are met by advertising on the way to work, pictures on instagrams and ads on facebook, emails about fantastic offers and news from all over the world. At work, we are often met by policies, attitudes, expectations of others and performance reviews. Not being able to sort in this and finding your own meaning and purpose can create stress, uncertainty and a feeling of being overwhelmed. The importance of being able to lead yourself, and others, to create a sustainable lifestyle has never been as big as now.

 

Your values ​​and your why

I see the personal leadership as something that needs to grow when you find your own values ​​and purpose. “Start with why” was founded by Simon Sinek, he says that organizations need to start by establishing why they exist before they can start talking about how and what they do. It is fully applicable to the personal leadership as well,  you need to find your own “WHY” before you know what to do and how.

To find your own WHY, you first need to know your values. What is most important to me? You can do this by listening inwards, by turning off all impressions and expectations from the outside world. To ignore the template that society is trying to put us all into and listen to yourself. There is much talk about meditation and that it is the only way to listen inward, but I think that when you do something that you love, whether it is to meditate, yoga, paint, walk your dog, ride or run, it is your opportunity to hear your inner voice . The one who says what you really like and value. The key is to listen and above all to trust what that voice is saying. Trust yourself, that you know best what is right for you.

Based on your values, the why is easier to find. My WHY statement is:
“I empower myself and the people around me so we can become the best people that we can be”.

Exercise WHY statement

To write your WHY statement, follow these guidelines:

  • Simple and clear
  • Only one sentence
  • Language you use yourself
  • Work both at work and in private
  • Write several until you find the right one

Safety and learning

To feel that your purpose is being fulfilled and developed, our sense of security and learning is important. The human instincts are the same today as they were in the stone-age and our brain is divided into three motivational systems. The model created by Paul Gilbert consists of the red threat system, the blue drive system and the green soothing system.

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konverteringsoptimerin och hypoteser på lantmännen

I september höll jag en endagskurs hos Lantmännen i Konverteringsoptimering & Digital Design, som även inkluderade user research, användbarhet och effektstyrning och agil metodik. Den här dagen var starten på en serie utbildningar för Lantmännens centrala IT och marknad samt alla webbansvariga för respektive varumärke.

Tanken på en gemensam grundutbildning föddes i våras av Anette Lovas som är centralt ansvarig för alla Lantmännens 35 EPI-webbar.

I min roll som centralt IT ansvarig för alla EPI-webbar såg jag en möjlighet att bidra med en gemensam kompetensplattform i modern utfallsdriven webbutveckling för att ge alla möjlighet att inte bara förvalta respektive webb, utan också förbättra löpande på ett effektivt sätt. Vi behövde lära oss att använda rätt data som beslutsunderlag för att skapa användarnytta och driva affärsvärde även online. Mia var given som kurshållare för den första delen av utbildningarna med sin erfarenhet inom konverteringsoptimering och effektstyrning samt att hon de senaste åren har hållit många liknande utbildningar på Crisp.

Webbansvariga i våran organisation arbetar väldigt mycket ensamt ute i organisationen och har få gemensamma kontaktytor. Utbildning är också ett sätt att mötas och diskutera hur vi på Lantmännen ska arbeta med våran onlinenärvaro, hitta synergier och utnyttja varandras olika kompetenser. “

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Det här den första artikeln i en serie av artiklar som handlar om olika ramverk för att generera och skapa hypoteser för att uppnå  mätbara effekter.

Vad är gamification?

Gamification (eller spelifiering på svenska) betyder att man använder spelrelaterade element eller drivkrafter i något som inte är ett spel. Vanliga exempel på det är till exempel olika lojalitetsprogram där man får poäng för varje gång man handlar. Eller virtuella tjänster som där användaren kan få uppdrag som ger poäng när man utför dom.

Hur funkar gamification?

Syftet med gamification är att öka motivationen att göra någonting, det ska också finnas regler som ska följas – och det ska vara frivilligt. Det kan också vara ett sätt att skapa en förändring gentemot något som användaren själv vill, till exempel att träna mer eller äta mer hälsosamt. Det måste dock INTE finnas en vinnare och en förlorare – men det ska finnas någon typ av outcome – och det ska vara någonting som gör det roligt och som användaren känner att de vill göra om.

Exempel på gamification

Vanliga spelelement som kan (men inte måste) användas är:
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Att användarnytta och kundnöjdhet är viktigt för att bygga långvariga relationer och öka Life Time Value (LTV), det vet vi. Många företag ser det som ett strategiskt val att prioriterar arbetet med att öka kundnöjdheten.

Här är färska siffror från Oracle i deras rapport “2012 CX Index Report Europe Why Customer ‘Satisfaction’ is No Longer Good Enough”.

Key findings include:
• 70% of shoppers have stopped buying goods or services from a company after experiencing poor customer service
• 64% have, after experiencing poor customer service, gone straight to a competing brand to make a purchase
• 81% are willing to pay more for a better customer experience Clearly the subject of CX is front of mind for many executives.

In the recent Forrester report The State of Customer Experience 20121, 93% of respondents said customer experience is on their company’s list of
strategic priorities, with 28% stating it is their top priority. This is an inevitable reaction to the forces of globalisation, which has made it a difficult and risky proposition for organisations to compete on price or product alone.

Tyvärr räcker det inte att slå på för fullt i ena ändan av användarupplevelsen – man borde man göra mer än så. Man borde inte bara arbeta på att ha bättre kundtjänst och öka servicen kring sin produkt – man borde också förbättra produkten så att kunden inte behöva ringa kundtjänst för att lösa sina problem. Vad man borde göra är att ta reda på hur kunden verkligen upplever produkten, och arbeta med att förbättra användarupplevelsen i grunden. Här listar jag 10 punkter som kan vara en hjälp på vägen i det arbetet.

1. Minska smärtan och öka den positiva upplevelsen

Ta reda på vart smärtan är som störst i användandet av produkten genom till exempel användbarhetstester. Gör de billiga åtgärderna först – och sedan de dyrare. Här kan man använda sig av en matris för att prioritera de billiga och mest effektskapande åtgärderna först. Lösningen på problemet ges ofta av den användbarhetsexpert som utför användbarhetstestet. Lösningsförslaget sedan tidsestimeras av den som ska utföra ändringen för att man ska kunna värdera kostnaden och effekten för affären kan ofta sättas av produktägaren eller kunden.
Matris för prioritering

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