In many industries, pressure on leaders is increasing: changing business models, new technical tools, more personal leadership due to physical distance, etc. This is pushing many leaders to or beyond their limits, especially when working from home. How are you coping with stress? We present four helpful online self-tests.
Working from home, we feel cooped up; digital meetings make us miss personal and physical encounters with others more and more; we don’t get enough physical exercise; strategic issues weigh on us, etc. Added to this is the expectation that managers should offer more frequent check-in meetings with their employees due to the physical distance, which many find strange and burdensome. It is therefore not surprising that a recent study by the consulting firm DDI concludes that the majority of managers exceed their stress limits on a daily basis during the pandemic. In 2020, 15,000 managers worldwide were surveyed about their stress levels. Nearly 60% of leaders felt exhausted at the end of a working day. A good quarter of those surveyed said they wanted to leave the company within a year. These facts speak for themselves – stress levels are extremely high and the risk of overload and excessive stress is high.
Work-related and personal stress factors
Even though we like to tackle challenges, create added value, and perform well, where is the healthy balance? And what are the things that cause us stress and put us under pressure? We can distinguish between work-related and personal stress. Stress that is directly related to management work manifests itself in the following aspects:
- Sustained, repeated workload
- Limited decision-making authority
- Lack of recognition and appreciation
- Lack of fairness
- Incompatible values
Stresses related to individual managers and their self-management are reflected in the following elements:
- Performance-based self-esteem
- Excessive pursuit of perfection
- Excessive identification with one’s own area of responsibility
- Lack of social integration
- Limited relationship skills
- Depressive tendencies
Even if we claim that only one or a few of the above factors apply to our own life and leadership situation, this can lead to increased stress levels, especially in the current pandemic situation. A stress test is recommended in order to assess personal stress levels in a more structured way.
Free, anonymous, and practical stress and strain test
From the large number of stress and burnout tests available, we have selected four useful self-tests. All four online tests are free, anonymous, and easy to use. You can view and evaluate your results yourself without having to provide any personal information. Each test takes between 5 and 15 minutes to complete.
1. Stress check from “Stress no Stress”
This comprehensive website on dealing with stress offers services for both individuals and companies. This stress test was developed in collaboration with the Institute of Work and Organizational Psychology at the University of Bern.
The stress test covers various dimensions that reflect both the professional and private spheres. It is clearly structured and easy to use. The results are displayed in an easy-to-understand traffic light system. If necessary, the individual results can be analyzed in more detail. The stress check is highly recommended for accurately assessing your own stress levels and identifying a possible risk of burnout. Here is the link:
stressNOstress • Personal checklist (stress-no-stress.ch)
2. Burnout test from the Center for Anxiety and Depression Treatment Zurich
This organization offers various tests. Here, we will only focus on the burnout test, which was developed by social psychologists Ayala Pines, Elliot Aronson, and Ditsa Kafry. This classic burnout test was created in 1982. It comprises a total of 21 questions that cover physical, emotional, and mental exhaustion symptoms. Completing the test is not very user-friendly because the rating scale is not visible depending on the screen. However, the results are meaningful and indicate the stress level and burnout risk. Here is the link:
Burnout test (weariness scale) – ZADZ
3. Burnout test by Munich Clinic
This test from München Klinik offers essentially the same test as the Center for Anxiety and Depression Treatment in Zurich. The 21 questions are presented here in a clear and easy-to-understand 5-point scale. The result provides a clear assessment of stress levels and burnout risk.
Burnout self-test – the online test Munich Clinic (muenchen-klinik.de)>
4. Burnout test by Burnout Protector
This is a comprehensive assessment tool that incorporates various aspects of stress. It was developed in collaboration with ETH Zurich and the University of Zurich. Burnout risk is assessed in stages.
After the eight personal questions, the burnout basic check begins with 16 questions that can be answered on a 7-point scale. The descriptions and evaluation are designed to be concise and formulated in a way that is unfamiliar in everyday life, making them difficult for laypeople to understand. In further rounds, medical measurements (e.g., cortisol levels, etc.) can be entered and further results generated, allowing for a truly comprehensive analysis. Here is the link to the
BURNOUT CHECK >BRIX — Burnout Protector©
Next Steps
Examine your results from different angles, discuss them with someone you trust, and don’t hesitate to seek professional help. In an initial consultation with Trans-In, you will already learn the first steps you can take to ease the burden. Find out more under Leadership coaching for stress management & burnout prevention (trans-in.ch)
See also Am I at risk of burnout? – 7 symptoms and 4 helpful tests (morethandigital.info)
