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The World Health Organization (WHO) notes an unprecedented level of anxiety among people at the level of entire companies and countries. Anxiety, fear, sadness and anger are the most common reactions of people to the situation around the coronavirus[1]. At the same time, most of the negative emotions are caused not so much by the danger of contracting the virus as by the expectation of economic consequences such as disruption of plans, instability of financial flows, anxiety for the future.
It is necessary to regularly conduct stress management events, trainings and webinars in order to reduce stress at the workplace.
Based on the current situation caused by the pandemic of the coronavirus COVID-19 and taking into account the preferences of employees of the Public Services Agency and other organizations providing public services, identified during a survey conducted by our joint project with the Public Services Agency under the Ministry of Justice, funded by the European Union, a series of webinars were organized.
The two-week course of webinars included 4 topics, which consisted of video presentations, individual assignments, exercises and tests. The following issues were discussed at these webinars:
1. Stress management – the formation of skills of resistance to stress, the way out of stressful situations without conflicts, stress audit and transformation of stress factors and conflict resolution, free communication without stress and conflict.
2. Crisis management – the development of managerial skills in stressful and non-standard situations, creating crisis development plans, instilling positive thinking and the ability to take advantage of problem situations.
3. Effective communication in a crisis – skills for successful negotiations and teamwork, public speaking during a crisis, processing information materials.
4. Time management – improving knowledge and practical skills in the field of psychology of time management, perception of information in time, information hygiene, managing your resources, development of skills for setting goals, objectives and planning under stress.
“We were invited in to participate in the webinar of the well-known psychologist Boboyor Turaev. I was glad of this invitation, since during my studies I was able to attend his trainings, and it was very impressive. This time the seminar was dedicated to crisis communications, stress tolerance, time management. The main topic was harmony in the quarantine conditions caused by the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic. Talking about psychohygiene, psychoimmunity, conflict genes – psychologist “opened eyes” of the participants. What seemed to us to be the norm in everyday life, relationships turned out to be completely not the norm. After the webinar, there was something to think about, revise the to-do list, reboot and start all over again. Thanks to the organizers and trainer!” – said Ravshanova Mohidil, specialist in public relations and mass media of Kashkadarya regional administration.
Within the framework of the trainings, more than 240 employees (93%-male, 7%-female) of Public Services Agency/Public Services Centres improved their skills in managing stress and developing resistance to stress, organizing work efficiency, improving communication skills, and mitigating the effects of negative factors on the psychological and physical condition of employees under quarantine caused by the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic.
To manage crisis situations in the country and organizations, it is necessary to improve the emotional state of each person, to develop a team work culture, enlighten and promote crisis management, stress management, observance of mental hygiene, conflict management and a healthy lifestyle in educational institutions.
[1] According to a study by Ellen Peters, director of the Center for Research at the University of Oregon
