Blame? Who's to blame?
Featured in the Stress Management at Work training manual
By Mary Richards
Category: Personal Development
Credit price: 3 download credits (Single user)
You feel insecure in your job, so you blame the management. You didn’t get promoted, so you blame your boss. You’re late for a meeting, so you blame the previous one – it overran. Blame is a popular solution to many of the problems we face at work. But does it ease the pressure? Sadly, no. The reality is that it actually makes it worse. Blame is an attempt to deflect pressure in the short term. In the long term it increases the pressure and often induces stress. This training activity shows that pressure can be reduced by taking productive action rather than apportioning blame.
You begin this training activity using questions and discussions, which relate to their own experiences, through which participants learn about the role of blame. Working in two groups they experience a blame situation and conclude that blame increases pressure. Finally, in groups of four or five, they work on an exercise which reinforces the learning points and explores positive alternatives to apportioning blame.
Who is it for: This training activity is intended for use by trainers to illustrate the key role that blame has in raising pressure and increasing stress. The training activity goes on to give participants the opportunity to explore positive alternatives to placing blam
- Themes:
- Balanced workload,
- Pressure at work,
- Stress,
- Stress management,
| Resource Type: | Activity |
| Min Group Size: | 4 |
| Max Group Size: | 20 |
| Typical Duration: | 03:00:00 |
| No of Pages: | 13 |
Resources: View standard resources for Fenman training activities
Additional resources: A watch or timer.
Purpose: This training activity is intended for use by trainers and is particularly useful for those who feel stressed because ‘everything is against them’; those who readily use blame to explain their situation; or those who work in organisations where a ‘blame culture’ has developed. Although not essential, some of the learning points may be easier to convey if participants have worked through ‘Which perspective will you choose?’
Download the training activity, Blame? Who's to blame? as featured in the Fenman training manual; Stress Management at Work