Anxiety at Work: 8 Strategies to Help Teams Build Resilience, Handle Uncertainty, and Get Stuff Done
One book, placed in its field — what this book gets right, where it goes further than the rest, and what the rest of the field adds.
Mike West, Editor · HR Leader Guide · get2great.com/guides/profile-anxiety_at_work_8_strategies_to_help_teams_build
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Anxiety at Work: 8 Strategies to Help Teams Build Resilience, Handle Uncertainty, and Get Stuff Done
One book, placed in its field — what this book gets right, where it goes further than the rest, and what the rest of the field adds.
Mike West, Editor · HR Leader Guide · get2great.com/guides/profile-anxiety_at_work_8_strategies_to_help_teams_build
The problem
Team performance and productivity erodes when it is left to instinct instead of method.
You were taught the moves piecemeal, never the whole model.
Anxiety at Work: 8 Strategies to Help Teams Build Resilience, Handle Uncertainty, and Get Stuff Done · Mike West, Editor · HR Leader Guide
The model
- 01Transparent Communication
- 02Workload Management
- 03Career Path Clarity and Development
- 04Perfectionism Management
- 05Psychological Safety and Healthy Debate
- 06Inclusion and Allyship
- 07Gratitude Expression
- 08Employee Anxiety
Anxiety at Work: 8 Strategies to Help Teams Build Resilience, Handle Uncertainty, and Get Stuff Done · Mike West, Editor · HR Leader Guide
Step 1 of 5 · Transparent Communication
Commit to a fixed update rhythm during uncertainty so people know when clarity is coming.
Misconception
Managers believe that shielding the team from uncertainty by staying quiet until they have complete answers protects people from stress.
Reality
Silence reads as threat; people escalate their anxiety in the absence of information, and 'I don't know yet, here's what I do know' calms more than a polished non-answer delivered late.
Anxiety at Work: 8 Strategies to Help Teams Build Resilience, Handle Uncertainty, and Get Stuff Done · Mike West, Editor · HR Leader Guide
Step 2 of 5 · Workload Management
Overload is usually a prioritization failure at the manager level, not a capacity failure at the worker level.
Misconception
Managers assume the workload problem is a time-management skill gap in the individual rather than a structural allocation problem they own.
Reality
Most overload comes from too many concurrent priorities, unclear sequencing, and accumulated red tape—design failures a manager controls, not a personal deficiency to be coached away.
Anxiety at Work: 8 Strategies to Help Teams Build Resilience, Handle Uncertainty, and Get Stuff Done · Mike West, Editor · HR Leader Guide
Step 3 of 5 · Career Path Clarity and Development
A shared career ladder is inert until you translate it into this employee's specific next step.
Misconception
Managers think a published promotion ladder or annual review is enough to give employees a sense of direction.
Reality
Generic frameworks tell people the rules but not their position in the game; clarity comes from personalized coaching that translates the ladder into this person's next concrete move.
Anxiety at Work: 8 Strategies to Help Teams Build Resilience, Handle Uncertainty, and Get Stuff Done · Mike West, Editor · HR Leader Guide
Step 4 of 5 · Perfectionism Management
Define 'done' upfront so employees have a finish line instead of an infinite one.
Misconception
Managers see perfectionism as a productivity asset—a sign someone cares about quality—and hesitate to intervene.
Reality
Perfectionism is frequently anxiety wearing a high-standards costume; the fear of judgment drives over-work and avoidance, not genuine quality, and it needs explicit permission to stop.
Anxiety at Work: 8 Strategies to Help Teams Build Resilience, Handle Uncertainty, and Get Stuff Done · Mike West, Editor · HR Leader Guide
Step 5 of 5 · Psychological Safety and Healthy Debate
Safe teams have more productive disagreement, not less—silence is a warning sign.
Misconception
Leaders equate psychological safety with niceness, low conflict, and everyone getting along.
Reality
Safety is precisely what makes hard disagreement possible; it is the confidence that candor won't be punished, which raises the volume of productive conflict, not lowers it.
Anxiety at Work: 8 Strategies to Help Teams Build Resilience, Handle Uncertainty, and Get Stuff Done · Mike West, Editor · HR Leader Guide
A framework to use
The 8 Strategies for Reducing Workplace Anxiety
This framework is part of the full guide. See the guide →
Anxiety at Work: 8 Strategies to Help Teams Build Resilience, Handle Uncertainty, and Get Stuff Done · Mike West, Editor · HR Leader Guide
The cheat sheet
- Transparent CommunicationCommit to a fixed update rhythm during uncertainty so people know when clarity is coming.
- Workload ManagementOverload is usually a prioritization failure at the manager level, not a capacity failure at the worker level.
- Career Path Clarity and DevelopmentA shared career ladder is inert until you translate it into this employee's specific next step.
- Perfectionism ManagementDefine 'done' upfront so employees have a finish line instead of an infinite one.
- Psychological Safety and Healthy DebateSafe teams have more productive disagreement, not less—silence is a warning sign.
- Inclusion and AllyshipAllyship is measured by what you do in the room, not what you feel outside it.
- Gratitude ExpressionSpecific gratitude proves you paid attention; generic praise proves you didn't.
- Employee AnxietyAnxiety is the pathway your practices flow through to help or hurt performance.
Anxiety at Work: 8 Strategies to Help Teams Build Resilience, Handle Uncertainty, and Get Stuff Done · Mike West, Editor · HR Leader Guide
Sources
- Anxiety at Work_ 8 Strategies to Help Teams Build Resilience, Handle Uncertainty, and Get Stuff Done
Anxiety at Work: 8 Strategies to Help Teams Build Resilience, Handle Uncertainty, and Get Stuff Done · Mike West, Editor · HR Leader Guide