Why IT makes people stressful

Just been reading about a study conducted by skillsoft that 97% of the IT workers say their job is stressful on daily basis. That's a staggering figure and makes one think why is it so. Having spent time first in technical selling and then in IT support and IT service delivery, I think one of the major reasons could be the nature of job which allows little 'personal' interaction as some of the non IT professions do.

When I first shifted from Sales to IT consulting/support, I was amazed to notice people using chat applications even for talking to person sitting next to them!! Such things do make the whole work a bit too mechanical and one gets little opportunity to emotionally connect with his peers.

Even several managers tend to ignore value of personal touch and one to one conversations or what author Susan Scott called Fierce Conversations. Having and fostering these fierce conversations requires one to be a leader in true sense and show lots of willingness and courage.

A lot is desired and can be done by people in the leadership roles in IT. I found this very interesting article on IT leadership which gives 8 traits of effective IT leaders. Go read it, but here is summary:
- Leadership means focusing on the needs of others, not yourself
- Leadership comes from your actions, not your title
- Leadership makes you accountable, even if it’s not your fault
- Leadership is not a 9-to-5 activity
- Leadership takes trust from your followers
- Leaders get their best ideas from their team
- Leadership thrives on diversity
- Leadership comes from continuous communication

So with effective leadership and communication, IT profession CAN BE made less stressful and more ‘personal’ in nature. Leadership will foster and encourage fierce conversations.

I really liked what Susan says in this book quoted above:
"Our careers, and our companies and our relationships and indeed our lives succeed or fail gradually than suddenly – ONE CONVERSATION AT A TIME."

So its high time that not only the leadership in IT but everyone involved paid attention to how are we conversing with each other, with our peers, suppliers, customers, subordinates to make each other's lives a lot less stressful.