We Are All In This Together: Stress Reduction and Team Building Activities for Modern Library Organizations

Theresa McDevitt, Indiana University of Pennsylvania, and 
Jen Jones, University of Pittsburgh, Greensburg

Abstract
In the last two decades changes in technology and communication have left libraries dramatically changed, work roles altered, required skill sets diversified, and prospects for the future of libraries and library services increasingly uncertain.  These can be highly stressful times for library employees.  Research studies document the negative impact of stress on the physical and emotional health of library employees and on productivity in the workplace.  This article will explore the negative  impact of workplace related stress on employee health and productivity and suggest a  series of engaging activities adapted to the library setting that can be used to help employees identify the symptoms of work related stress and develop positive methods of coping, build community, and make libraries better places for both employees and users. 

Keywords: library personnel; well-being; stress; stress reduction; team building

Introduction
Libraries have been stereotyped as hushed storehouses of dusty books with tranquil atmospheres where users could come and immerse themselves in the knowledge of the ages. It has often been supposed then that employees in such settings would find much satisfaction and little stress in their work. Just as this image of the traditional library is inaccurate, the view that library employees are not troubled by work related stress is also far from the truth. Even before the internet revolution, surveys indicated that libraries could be stressful places to work. Transformational changes that have occurred since that time have exacerbated the situation. This article will provide a short review of literature relating to the causes and negative impact of stress in library workplaces, the benefits of effective stress reduction and team building to reduce unhealthy stress, and techniques that organizations and employees can use to build community and reduce stress. It will close with successfully tested ready-to-go activities that could be used for professional development workshops.
Sources of Stress
Which employees perceive their jobs as more stressful: fire fighters or library workers? According to a study published in 2006, it is library employees who should start reaching for their yoga mats and practice their reflective breathing because they perceived themselves to be more stressed out than fire fighters. Researchers have noted that library employees reported undesirable levels of stress for decades, even before the development and popularization of Internet communication technology. In 1987, Charles Bunge was finding stressed library employees and doing a brisk business in stress reduction workshops. When participants in his workshops were asked about the source of stress and frustrations in their work places, they indicated many causes including: patrons, workload, supervisors, schedules, lack of positive feedback, colleagues, lack of information and training, conflicting demands, technology and equipment, physical plant, unchallenging work, uncertainty, and budget issues. Sandra Champion declared technostress already a problem in 1987. In her article, she revealed that even at that time “virtually all operations in information management have undergone dramatic change due to technology” and that the result was “technostress.” While some level of stress can be a positive, motivating force long-term, chronic, and prolonged stress leads to burnout which is both mental and physical depletion accompanied by feelings of helplessness and hopelessness, which can then evolve into negative attitudes toward oneself, others, and the workplace. As White and Roose, as well as Haack and Jones, all report, library employees experience extreme stress to the point of burnout in their 1987 and 1984 articles. Other articles from the 1980s noted that reference librarians reported being overstressed and experiencing burnout in both public and academic libraries.
The electronic information explosion and the shifting information storage, retrieval, and use that have accompanied it have had a transformational impact on the libraries and library work that continues to the present day. Any existing stresses have been joined by new ones relating to constantly changing technology, shrinking budgets and staffs, more diverse personalities in terms of generations, training, and work requirements. All contribute to an even more stressful environment for employees whether they are employed in special, academic, or public libraries. 
Articles from the 1990s to the present have discussed the shifting landscape of libraries and new stresses that accompany them. Shupe and Punge, in an article which explored the psychological impact of changes on library employees, noted dramatic changes in nearly every aspect of library work, space and equipment. The authors described employees in the new library as “leading a class, managing a chat reference service, or working at an information commons help desk,” things that would not have been the case just two decades ago and experiencing stress caused by “role ambiguity.” The authors report that the new work requires new skill sets and constant retraining and that friction arises when newer employees are hired with very different skill sets and work responsibilities than longtime employees. Other authors note that stressors in the new library are similar to those in many professions, including perceived lack of control of work and job restructuring, increased routine-oriented and repetitive work due to changing technologies, patron or client demands, feelings of inadequate job knowledge, and job insecurity. 
Commonly noted in articles are stresses that relate to new technology and the concomitant need for new skills and knowledge. In addition to new databases, catalogs, circulation systems, and information delivered in new ways via the mobile device of the month, the constantly evolving new modes of communication are also a cause of increased stress. Email, chat, Facebook, and other social media as means of communicating between library employees and those they serve has become commonplace. While they offer new ways of communicating, they can also contribute to miscommunication and information overload. Modern library employees may find their work lives driven by such communication and their home lives easily invaded by it. Thousands of emails can lead to a feeling of information overload and 24/7 connectivity can lead employees to be able to, and to feel obliged to, work from home to keep up, reducing their ability to relax even when not at work. Library employees can feel overwhelmed by this shifting landscape. 
Workload is also expanded when academic librarians must qualify for tenure and promotion where writing articles and papers, presenting at conferences, and doing community service is added to already overloaded job responsibilities. Is it any wonder that library employees report feeling an uncomfortable level of stress?
Negative Impact of Stress.
Stress is a perception rather than something that exists independently of individuals. It is the individual’s reaction to outside influences. It has always been and always will be a part of life and is not necessarily a bad thing. Stress can have positive consequences bringing a spark to life, motivating employees to reach their potential, and lead to happy, well-balanced employees and productive organizations. Stress becomes a problem when it leads to excessive anxiety, and becomes overwhelming, and employees are no longer able to cope. High levels of stress can lead to “distrust, rejection, and depression” and “frustration at work and health problems such as headaches, high blood pressure, and heart disease” as well as employee burnout. Many studies have looked specifically at burnout for librarians in both academic and public library settings. Stress and burnout for library employees not only have negative impacts on employee health and well-being, but also have negative consequences for the performance of the organization in losses in “productivity, morale, safety, and health-related expenses from difficulties with excessive anger, concentration and memory problems, and poor decision making to heart disease sexual difficulties and substance abuse” and high rates of “absenteeism, staff turnover, tardiness, accidents or even medial claims from both physical and psychological injuries.” In addition to low morale at work, workplace stress also affects home life happiness, which can turn into a negative downward spiral, both personally and professionally. 
Reducing Stress through Positive Communication, Communities, and Supportive Teams
Unhealthy levels of work related stress are so common to modern life and so destructive to individuals and organizations that thousands of books have been written to help manage them. Experts note that techniques to manage stress include relaxation training, taking time to maintain a healthy lifestyle, developing positive attitudes toward inevitable changes, time management, and realistic goal setting, and other ways to increase feelings of control over the work situation. Perhaps most important is to improve communications with co-workers and develop a support system with peers and management. A solid support system helps individuals make it though difficult periods by providing empathy, help in problem solving, and the opportunity to provide the same assistance to others. When a stressed out “group” of separate individuals transform into a positive “team” of engaged participants, both staff members and the organization becomes healthier. The research of Williamson, Pemberton, and Lounsbury  verifies that having a teamwork disposition is related to job and career satisfaction and reducing employee turnover. Moreover, these qualities contribute to librarians’ ability to cope with change, decreasing the level of debilitating stress and leading to an organization where library employees can provide patrons with exceptional service. Blazek and Parrish suggest in their essay on burnout that managers who providing opportunities such as the team building activities provided in this essay to develop a positive and participative work environment which leads to reduced ambiguity and conflict will be happy with the outcome.
The activities offered in this essay provide a start in addressing the issue of communication and support, which Blazek and Parrish identify as one of the top three contributors to burnout. The workshop attends to important factors of burnout that Tsigilis, Koustelios, and Togia identify as “emotional exhaustion” and “depersonalization” as well as job satisfaction in the work environment. Thus, the workshop serves two purposes – to reduce stress through enjoyment during the workshop and to reduce stress by providing participants with team building and communication skills that will be learned during the workshop.
These pleasurable activities, which test participants’ baseline knowledge of the essentials of managing stress, offer reflection and practice with methods of coping, and encourage the development of a supportive community of employees who will recognize the benefits of cooperation, leading library employees to be better able to deal with their stressful work lives and contribute to a more productive organization. An added benefit of this workshop is that participants will find the activities enjoyable thereby reducing stress while having fun. We encourage library teams to develop their own activities, as well, for the purpose of stress reduction or for specific project and strategy development  or cultivating relationships with campus and community constituencies.
Activity # 1: Stress Management Squares and Healthy Stress Management Techniques Discussion
•	Description: This activity will begin with an icebreaking activity, (based upon the Hollywood Squares game) in which players are asked to answer questions relating to the essentials of managing stress. It is designed to engage participants by challenging them to answer questions exploring healthy ways to manage stress. After the game, the workshop leader will lead a discussion on healthy stress management techniques. 
•	Materials and Preparation Needed: To play this game you will need playing cards with questions and multiple choice answers relating to the essentials of managing stress, individually wrapped life savers of two different types to be used as place markers, and tic-tac-toe boards with spaces large enough to use life savers as place holders. The boards might have three to five spaces across, depending upon how long you want to spend on the activity. Prepare cards with questions drawn from material that will be discussed after the activity, or from literature dealing with workplace stress and stress management techniques such the Center for Disease Control and Prevention’s Stress at Work. You should prepare twenty cards (one set for each two teams), one game board for each set of two teams, and obtain at least fifteen candy pieces for each team. 
•	Time Required: Five to ten minutes for the icebreaker (depending upon how long it takes for a group to win). The following discussion might last from 30 minutes to an hour.
•	Icebreaker Activity: Divide participants into teams of at least two and up to four. Each team will take turns asking and answering the questions on the cards. When a question is answered correctly, the team can place a candy piece on the game board. When they answer incorrectly they skip a turn. When a team wins, ask them to call out that they have a winner. 
•	Post-Activity Discussion: Following the activity there should be a guided discussion that will serve as an introduction to the essentials of stress management. A film might also be used. 
Activity # 2: Stress Management Think/ Share /Compare 
•	Description: Library employees share many of the same stress-causing experiences and can assist each other in coping by sharing their proven stress management techniques. In this session, participants will think, share, and compare their most stressful work-related experiences and their most effective methods of managing the stress relating to them.
•	Materials and Preparation Needed: Facilitator should prepare open ended questions relating to stressful library work encounters and effective methods of dealing with them. The questions can be on PowerPoint slides, but that is not necessary. Paper for each of the groups to write on is also nice to have, as is some method of recording suggested stress management techniques such as large paper or PowerPoint slides. 
•	Time Needed: Fifteen minutes to an hour depending upon how many questions you have and how large the group is. 
•	Activity: The facilitator will ask the prepared questions and then ask participants to turn to their neighbor and discuss their answers. Paper should be provided in case they want to take notes. When they have completed their discussion, the facilitator should ask, “Would anyone like to share what they discussed?” As the discussion proceeds, the facilitator should make a list of stress management techniques and add his or her own suggestions. If unhealthy suggestions such as violence, over eating, drinking, or gambling are suggested, the facilitator should gently question whether or not there might be negative consequences associated with those coping strategies and try to replace them with more positive methods of coping. If participants mention a positive method, they should be asked for more information so the group members might be able to use the method themselves after the session.
•	Post Activity Discussion: After the conclusion of the Think/Share/Compare activity, the facilitator should provide some information on healthy methods of stress reduction that might not have been mentioned. The facilitator should also compile the list of coping methods and make it available to the group at a later time.
Activity # 3: Puzzled Collaboration 
•	Description: Collaboration and mutual support in organizations is key to high performance and stress reduction. Stress and frustration can lead to the creation of cliques in the workplace, scapegoating, and divisiveness. Respect and inclusion lead to a more productive workplace and happier employees. Often unknowingly, companies set up internal competitions that pit people and units against each other as they vie for promotions and survival. Thus, organizational structures may facilitate closed groups which breeds negative relationships and stress. This activity serves as a metaphor to illustrate a phenomenon of sharing, or failing to share, resources in workplaces. Participants will become acutely aware of the negative impact of non-inclusion on workplace productivity. It can be used as an activity to introduce a discussion on the importance inclusion and sharing valuable intellectual capital. The activity also creates awareness of taken-for-granted cultural implications such as individualism and competition, which may not always be the most appropriate response in the workplace. 
•	Materials and Preparation Needed: At least four inexpensive toy puzzles which require assembly (e.g. tinker toys, or simple pictures cut into puzzle pieces); more puzzles may be needed depending on group size. Photocopies of diagrams which illustrate the completed picture and plastic containers to hold pieces (one for each puzzle). Written description for one special group that states “Your group has been selected as the special group. You are not permitted to move from your location, and you may not ask for puzzle pieces. The only way that you may acquire pieces is if people from other groups offer them to you. If another person asks if you need a piece you may say ‘yes.’ You are not permitted to tell others that you do not have any pieces. If someone asks if you have any pieces to trade, you simply answer ‘no.’” The puzzle pieces are mixed up and randomly placed in the containers so that no group has the pieces necessary to complete their puzzle as pictured (do not tell the participants about this; they will discover it during the activity). One group has a container without pieces and is given special written instructions described above which are known only to that team).
•	Time Required: Ten to fifteen minutes for activity. 
•	Activity: Participants are divided into groups and given a container with puzzle pieces and a diagram, but they are not permitted look at the pieces or picture until all pictures and puzzle pieces have been distributed. They are instructed to complete their puzzle and are given about seven minutes to assemble the puzzles. Some groups may realize they have to get pieces from other groups. If not, when they realize that they do not have all the pieces needed to assemble the puzzles the facilitator may ask “Did anyone tell you were not allowed to share?” This will prompt the group to look outside their team to other groups to look for the pieces needed to finish their puzzle. Instruct the groups to yell out when their puzzle is finished so the facilitator can verify it. All of the teams that started with pieces will complete their puzzles. They will assume that the activity is finished and not realize that the special group was unable to complete their puzzle. When the puzzle assembly has been completed, call the groups together for a discussion.
•	Post Activity Discussion: The facilitator should ask for comments on the activity by leading with questions. The first question “What was special about your group?” should be directed to the special group. Then discuss how and why they were excluded and unable to complete their puzzle and had to depend on the compassion and generosity of other groups. Ask this group how they felt. Other questions to raise include: Who are these groups in the workplace and society? How can we make a stronger effort to reach out to them? How does this activity mirror the silos in organizations with regard to how information is shared or restricted? Why didn’t it occur to people to share? What are the consequences of not sharing? How does this relate to wasted human capital, social capital, and relational wealth? It could conclude with a brainstorming session on what can be done to avoid such losses in the future.

Activity# 4: Juggling Life
•	Description: This activity has been widely used by corporate trainers as a team building initiative icebreaker or to illustrate continuous improvement. However, the activity may be quite helpful in introducing a discussion of identifying causes of and reducing stress. In this activity, participants will juggle multiple soft objects as a group and discover ways to turn a dizzying conundrum of life’s complexity into something manageable.
•	Materials and Preparation Needed: Eight soft items in varying sizes and weight, such as bean-bag stuffed animals, rubber chickens, and stress balls, etc. are needed (participants should only see one object in the beginning of the activity). A watch with a second hand or a stop watch is also useful (for the facilitator) though other time keeping methods might be used.
•	Time required: Fifteen to thirty minutes.
•	Activity: Participants stand in a circle about an arm’s length apart. They are given a piece of duct tape and asked to place it on the floor where they are standing and then to put one foot on the duct tape. The facilitator will be part of the circle. The facilitator states that a sequence will be established by tossing one of the soft objects across the circle. To establish the sequence it is important that the participants do not toss to the person directly to the right or left. The participants must also remember who threw the object to them and who they threw the object to so the sequence can be remembered. Once the object has been passed to everyone, the last person tosses it back to the facilitator. The facilitator asks if everyone remembers who they threw to and received from; pass the object around again if needed to verify the sequence. Once this is confirmed, the facilitator says that they will pass in this sequence, but it will be timed. Perform the activity and state the time. The facilitator will now take out the other seven items and go through the timed activity stating that all of the objects will be thrown one after the other, and that the rule of the activity is to stay in the same sequence. The activity ensues with objects flying. When all of the objects return to the facilitator, time is noted and a question is asked, “The rule of this activity is to stay in the same sequence; how could you have done this faster?” The team discusses alternative ways to pass the objects, which could range from focusing on catching, saying the name of the person they’re throwing to, bundling all the objects together with something that they have such as a jacket, bag, or piece of rope to pass the objects at the same time, etc. Let them explore these ways, and each time ask the same question, “How could this be done faster?” Ultimately they will see that the rule only stated that they had to remain in the same sequence; remaining on their piece of tape was not a rule. The facilitator can guide them to this conclusion if necessary, but only in a manner that allows the participants to discover this on their own. Eventually, the participants will reorganize themselves in the order of the sequence so that the person who they threw to will be directly beside them. If they haven’t figured out that they can bundle the objects, the facilitator can guide them to this conclusion as well. The final stage to get the best time involves the facilitator standing in the middle of the circle with the group members standing around with an outstretched hand. The facilitator with all the objects in hand spins around so that all the hands touch the objects in the right sequence. The final time is 2 seconds, which is a great improvement from the original time. Again, it is important for the group to arrive at this conclusion, which can be guided by the facilitator.
•	Post Activity Discussion: The facilitator should discuss how these objects represent things going on in their lives. They might also ask the group “How many things do you juggle both at work and in your personal lives?” “Are you ever stuck on your tape (metaphor), and can you think-outside-the-box to explore other ways to manage life or eliminate rules or other patterns that are keeping you in a certain place that you could let go?” The facilitator should also point out that juggling things in life involves other people. Could they ask others for help instead of getting frustrated? Could they delegate certain tasks to other people? This activity generates a lot of smiles and laughter. Ask the participants if they can find ways to incorporate fun into their lives, or find ways to make their mundane tasks more enjoyable.
Activity # 5: Keeping Calm with Challenging Patrons Game 
•	Description: Every library employee is faced with stressors caused by interaction with problem patrons or library users. Angry or negative interactions with such individuals can tarnish the library’s reputation for positive public service and have a negative impact on the health and well-being of the library employee, so it is useful to explore ways to keep their cool even with the most challenging clients. This activity is a role playing game in which library employees are asked to role-play scenes in which employees deal calmly, or not, with hostile patrons and call upon what they have learned about keeping calm, managing stress, and working as a team to help them in these challenging situations. 
•	Time: Fifteen minutes to one hour depending upon how many scenes are acted out.
•	Materials and Preparation Needed: The facilitator should prepare one to five scenarios of common “frustrated library client” situations to be handed out to role playing participants. An example might be. “A library employee is working at the circulation desk on a Saturday afternoon. Just as the library is closing, a patron approaches the circulation desk with books to check out. When the circulation desk employee tries to check out the books, they find that the patron has fines or overdue books on his record and the system won’t allow him to check out the books. When the circulation employee informs the patron that he cannot have the books then, the patron flies into a rage and insists on seeing a supervisor. Since it is Saturday afternoon, no supervisor is available. ”
•	Game Play: Ask for volunteers from the group to act out the scenarios. Each scenario should be followed by a discussion of how the employee reacted, what could have been done better, and what methods of keeping calm and stress management might have been used by the employee. 
•	Post Activity Discussion: When the role playing activity has been completed, the facilitator should ask the group to share with the group real-life challenging interactions they have encountered, and how they dealt with them. They might share with the group how they were able to deal successfully, or not so successfully, with a challenging patron. If the interaction was successful, they will provide other employees with tools that they might employ. If it was not, other employees and the facilitator might ask the group for suggestions on how they might have employed stress management techniques to better cope with the situation.

Activity # 6: Calming Quotations
"When we long for life without difficulties, remind us that oaks grow strong in contrary winds and diamonds are made under pressure." – Peter Marshall (2012) 
•	Description: One way that organizations try to help employees deal with stress is by displaying stress management motivational posters that deal with topics like slowing down, enjoying life, caring for others, or not taking our problems so seriously. In this group activity the participants will hear calming quotations, suggest their own favorites, and then vote on ones that can serve as a shared stress management motto for the group.
•	Materials and Preparation Needed: Prepared list of calming, relaxing quotations and large paper (one for each group) on which to write these and other suggested quotations, and sticky dots (three for each participant).
•	Time Required: Fifteen to thirty minutes.
•	Activity: Participants are broken into groups of six to twelve and seated in a circle. Volunteers are solicited to read prepared quotations that inspire calm and might help to reduce stress in the workplace. After these are read, individuals in each group are asked if they have any favorites (or can find any by searching the internet on any devices they might have handy) that might help all employees maintain calm in their hectic ever changing workplace. All prepared readings and suggestions solicited from the group are written on large sheets of paper (one for each group). When all quotes are written on the papers, each participant is given three dots and asked to get up and walk around and read the quotations on all sheets of paper and put their dots on the three quotations that they think are the most inspirational and might most effectively serve as a means of reducing stress. 
•	Post Activity Discussion. Lists should be examined to determine if there is consensus on some quotations. If there is, the most popular ones can be made into posters and posted in employee meeting rooms, lunch rooms, or other employee areas. The entire list should be compiled and made available to all participants so they can select their own favorites and post them in their own offices for inspiration during stressful times.

Post Workshop Refreshment and Reflection 
•	Description: A nice way to end a workshop is with refreshments and reflection. While participants are enjoying refreshments, ask everyone to sit in a circle to engage in a general reflection Ask participants to identify a “snapshot” of the session – something that they enjoyed and found memorable. The facilitator may want to pass around an object, such as a beanie baby used during the session, for people to hold while they are talking. Our experience has shown that people feel more comfortable sharing while holding an object. Another reflection opportunity is a simple survey that might include questions to discover what worked and what didn’t, what participants might like for future sessions, and to provide participants the opportunity to share any information they might not have wanted to provide in a the group setting. This should be done anonymously and immediately following the workshop, rather than sending a post-session questionnaire. The following provides a sample of some questions related to content and style that may be asked of participants with responses ranging on a scale from “strongly disagree” to “strongly agree” with room for explaining the response.
o	Did the presenter(s) effectively facilitate the session?
o	Am I able to apply ideas from the session to my workplace?
o	Was the environment conducive to adult learning?
o	Have I improved my communication skills?
o	Have I improved my ability to work in a team environment?
o	Did I experience stress reduction during the session?
o	Will the skills I learned during the session help to reduce stress in the workplace?
The activities described above have been utilized in academic and corporate settings with great success. Participant responses include statements such as “I learned excellent team work and communication techniques,” “the activities effectively illustrated ideas,” “I enjoyed the interaction with my co-workers,” “I’ve learned to work together,” “communication is key!” and “I had fun in this session.” 
Conclusion
It is likely that technology, modes of communication, work load and the economic landscape will continue to shift, causing stress for many library employees. High levels of stress can have a destructive impact not only on employees’ health and well-being, but also on the success and productivity of the organizations in which they labor. When work continues to add stress in people’s lives, it is important to take time to develop team and communication skills that will help invigorate people to tackle work tasks better with the understanding that “we’re all in this together.”