Dealing with stress in an organization IndexI. IntroductionII. Definition of stressIII. Types of stressIV. How to manage stressV. Recognizing stressVI. The army and stressVII. SummaryI. INTRODUCTION Since the beginning of humanity there has always been some type of stress that affects the way people feel, act and deal with situations. In this article we will look at the definition of stress and what causes stress in people. Then we will look at how different people manage stress and show how not all individuals have the same stress tolerance. The next thing that will be discussed is how managers in organizations can recognize and reduce the negative effects that stress has on the worker and the organization. Finally we will consider what types of stress exist in military organizations and how they can be controlled. II. THE DEFINITION OF STRESS Robert C. Dailey, in his book Understanding People In Organizations, defines stress as “any demand made on the body that requires psychological or physical adaptation.” Many people think that stress is always something negative. However, sometimes stress can be good. Stress is part of our daily lives and can have a motivating or demotivating effect. We each have our own level of stimulation or stress that we need in our lives to avoid becoming bored.1 Others, however, have a much lower tolerance for stressful stimuli. So managers need to be able to look at each individual and decide whether the individual has a high or low tolerance for stress. Managers can only do this if they have a good understanding of the causes of stress. III. TYPES OF STRESS Stress can arise from a multitude of different reasons, but for simplicity we can divide it into two forms: stress induced by the individual and stress from the physical environment. Individual stress includes things like role conflict, role ambiguity, work overload, and responsibility to others. Role conflict occurs when performing one job significantly inhibits or reduces the ability to complete another assigned task. In this case, the person assigned to do the job will experience some type of stress as they try to figure out how to complete both tasks in the given amount of time. How much stress and whether it will have a positive or negative impact on the individual will depend on the individual's experience level. Role ambiguity occurs when an individual is unsure of what their job entails. It makes it difficult for a person to decide what their priorities are and how to manage their time. Ambiguity can arise from a