Workplace Composure and Resilience: Managing Stress
As we approach the end of the year, workplaces become busier, demands increase and patience can wear thin. Whether you're serving customers, managing a team, or responding to an emergency, there are moments when our ability to remain composed can make a real difference.
Two recent incidents in regional Victoria have had me thinking about workplace composure. What does it look like when we're confronted with the unexpected? How do we manage our emotions under pressure? And importantly, how can we build these skills before we need them?
What is composure and why is it important?
Composure is one of the six domains of resilience. It's about emotional awareness and regulation: recognising what we're feeling and managing our response when faced with stress, frustration, fear or uncertainty.
Composure doesn't mean feeling nothing. It means recognising our emotions and finding a way to respond rather than simply react.
When we're under significant stress, our ability to think clearly and make decisions can be affected. Developing composure helps us manage these moments more effectively.
Example 1: Composure when the unexpected happens
On 19 October, our regional community was shocked by the incident involving Indi MP Helen Haines outside her Wangaratta office.
In the moments that followed, local business owners and members of the public stepped forward to assist. A nearby barber was among those who responded, helping to manage the situation until police arrived.
What struck me was how ordinary people, going about their working day, suddenly found themselves responding to an extraordinary situation.
Earlier in October, emergency services faced a very different challenge when a worker became trapped in a grain silo at Dunolly. CFA specialist rescue crews worked alongside other emergency services to develop and carry out a safe rescue.
These incidents remind us that composure is not simply about remaining calm. It's also about recognising risks, making decisions, communicating and working together under pressure.
Of course, responding to an unexpected incident is very different from being trained to manage one. Emergency responders practise their skills and procedures so they can draw on them when situations become challenging.
For the rest of us, preparation, awareness and knowing when to seek help can be equally important. Composure should never mean putting ourselves at unnecessary risk. And we shouldn't overlook what happens afterwards. People involved in or witnessing a critical incident may experience emotional and physical stress responses. Supportive check-ins, practical assistance and access to professional support when needed are important parts of recovery.
Example 2: When customer frustration becomes aggression
Imagine it's the Saturday before Christmas. A store is short-staffed, queues are growing and a customer discovers their order hasn't arrived. Their frustration quickly escalates into shouting, abusive language and threatening behaviour towards a young worker. The worker feels overwhelmed and uncertain about what to do next.
This is another situation where composure matters. Recognising their emotional response, taking a steady breath and communicating calmly may help the worker think more clearly.
However, managing occupational violence and aggression is not simply about a worker's ability to remain composed. Employers have a responsibility to identify and manage risks arising from customer aggression and other forms of occupational violence.
Practical controls include:
Identifying situations where aggression is more likely, particularly during busy periods.
Ensuring appropriate staffing, supervision and safe workplace design.
Establishing clear procedures for responding to threatening behaviour and seeking assistance.
Supporting workers following incidents and reviewing controls to prevent recurrence.
No worker should be expected to tolerate threats, intimidation or violence as part of their job. When it does happen as an uncontrolled risk we need to provide evidence based support in a trauma informed way. The language we use, the way we speak, how the person feels in this support is important.
How can we build workplace composure and resilience?
The encouraging thing about composure is that it can be developed through awareness, practice and training.
Four practical techniques I teach include:
Calm breathing. Slowing our breathing, particularly the out-breath, can help regulate our physiological stress response and create a moment to refocus.
Mindfulness. Practising present-moment awareness helps us recognise our thoughts, emotions and physical responses before they become overwhelming.
Labelling emotions. Simply acknowledging "I'm feeling frustrated" or "I'm feeling anxious" can help us recognise what we're experiencing and consider how we want to respond.
Reappraisal. Looking at a situation from another perspective can help reduce unhelpful emotional reactions. For example, recognising that a customer's frustration may be influenced by circumstances beyond our control, while still maintaining appropriate boundaries.
These techniques are not about suppressing emotions or expecting people to cope with unsafe working conditions. They are practical skills that can support emotional regulation, decision-making and wellbeing.
Like any skill, they become more useful when practised regularly, rather than only when something goes wrong.
What can leaders do before Christmas?
As we head towards one of the busiest periods of the year, it's worth considering how prepared our workplaces really are.
I would encourage leaders to focus on four things:
Prepare your people. Discuss how to respond to aggression, manage challenging interactions and seek assistance.
Review your controls and emergency procedures. Make sure workers understand what to do, who to contact and how to keep themselves safe.
Model composure. How leaders respond to pressure can influence how their teams manage challenging situations.
Check in with your people. Notice when someone is struggling, provide support and follow up after difficult interactions or incidents.
Building resilience is important, but it must sit alongside effective workplace risk management, appropriate resources and a psychologically healthy working environment.
Composure isn't about being unshakeable
I don't think any of us truly knows how we'll respond until we're faced with a difficult situation.
We all experience moments when our emotions get the better of us. What matters is developing the awareness, skills and support to recognise what's happening and respond as effectively and safely as we can.
The incidents in Wangaratta and Dunolly (a man trapped in a silo requiring multiple agencies to respond and rescue) remind us of the importance of preparation, teamwork and looking out for one another. The busy Christmas period provides another opportunity to put these principles into practice.
As leaders, colleagues and members of our communities, perhaps one of the most valuable things we can do is notice when someone is carrying more than usual.
Sometimes a simple question, "I'm interested in how you are going?", can open the door to a conversation that makes a difference.
Look after yourselves, and each other, leading into the Christmas period.
Building composure and resilience in your workplace
At BL Management Consultants, we support organisations to strengthen workplace resilience, psychological health and wellbeing, and manage psychosocial risks.
Our mental health and resilience training programs help workers and leaders develop practical proactive skills to manage stress, regulate emotions and respond more effectively to challenging situations. They are evidence based meaning they are tried and tested.
Explore our Mental Health and Resilience Training
If you do have Leaders who have not had Coaching in this area consider one on one or group support.
Explore Coaching for Leadership & Performance
BL Management Consultants – Your People Working Well.
