imapMyTeam Blog

How Do You Define Pressure?

Regardless of the type of work you are doing, encountering pressure along the way is to be expected. 

So is pressure a good thing?

In a recent article, Right Management sites the parallel between organizational and individual pressure using the “Stretch and Strain” curve (depicted below this post). The model measures the correlation of low to high performance with low to high pressure. 

The two extremes represent low performance/pressure, producing boredom; and high performance/pressure, producing panic. Productivity suffers at the extremes. 

However, the zone noting a steady increase in pressure to slightly above the midpoint also represents an increase in performance and the “comfort zone”. The next more tightly placed zones are the “stretch and strain” phases where productivity peaks briefly at their intersection and trails off steeply into the final zone of panic.

   

This model is a good illustration of how pressure can be a positive influence on individual and organizational performance as well as individual engagement and satisfaction.  It also serves as a warning of the danger of the unchecked extremes.