How to Deal With Workplace Challenges: A Practical Evidence-Based Guide
August 2, 2026 · Remote Work · 6 min read
Workplace challenges range from ordinary coordination problems to serious risks involving health, safety, discrimination, harassment or unsustainable workload. The response should therefore start with diagnosis rather than a generic instruction to “be resilient.”
A useful question is: what kind of problem is this, what can I influence, and who has the authority to change the part I cannot?
Start by classifying the problem
| Type of challenge | Typical first response |
|---|---|
| Unclear expectations or priorities | Clarify outcomes, ownership, deadlines and trade-offs |
| Interpersonal disagreement | Discuss specific behaviour and impact; seek early informal resolution where appropriate |
| Excessive workload or pace | Make capacity visible; reprioritise, resource or redesign work |
| Low control or role ambiguity | Clarify decision rights, responsibilities and escalation routes |
| Organisational change | Separate known facts from uncertainty; clarify current responsibilities and information channels |
| Bullying, harassment, discrimination or safety concerns | Use the appropriate organisational and legal reporting process; do not rely only on informal self-resolution |
Workplace stress is often a work-design issue
The International Labour Organization defines psychosocial hazards as aspects of work design or management that increase the risk of work-related stress. Examples include excessive workload, low control, poor communication, unclear roles, weak support, authoritarian supervision, bullying, harassment and discrimination.
Source: International Labour Organization — psychosocial risks and stress at work
ILO’s 2026 global report similarly emphasises job demands, role clarity, workload, autonomy, supervision, organisational change and fair processes as elements of the psychosocial working environment.
Source: ILO — The psychosocial working environment, 2026
This matters because a workload problem should not be reframed only as an individual’s inability to cope. Sometimes the correct intervention is to change staffing, priorities, hours, process or decision rights.
1. Define the problem using observable facts
Replace a broad statement such as “this team is dysfunctional” with information that can be acted on:
- three stakeholders gave conflicting deadlines;
- the same task is being approved by two managers;
- a colleague interrupted or insulted someone during two named meetings;
- the role has changed but objectives have not been updated;
- weekly workload exceeds the capacity available after mandatory operational duties.
Separating observation from interpretation makes it easier to decide whether the issue needs a conversation, a process change, a manager decision or formal escalation.
2. Clarify what is within your control
Some workplace problems can be improved through personal action: organising work, asking for clearer priorities, documenting decisions or having a direct conversation.
Others require organisational authority. An employee cannot personally solve chronic understaffing, an unsafe system, an abusive manager or a policy that produces conflicting incentives.
Create two lists:
- Actions I can take: questions, documentation, prioritisation, communication, requests for support.
- Changes that require authority: staffing, deadlines, reporting lines, policy, disciplinary action, safety controls.
This avoids both extremes: helplessness on one side and taking personal responsibility for structural problems on the other.
3. Address ordinary conflict early and specifically
For disagreements that are safe and appropriate to discuss informally, use clear language about what happened and what needs to change.
Acas research on informal conflict resolution found that vague phrases can make workplace conflict harder to address, while clear descriptions can support constructive dialogue. Acas guidance also recommends early informal discussion for many problems while recognising that serious matters may require formal processes.
Source: Acas research on language and informal conflict resolution, 2025
Source: Acas — raising and dealing with problems at work
Acas guidance is UK-specific when it discusses legal procedures. The communication principle is broader, but employees should follow the policies and employment law that apply in their own jurisdiction.
4. Treat competing priorities as a capacity decision
If three important tasks cannot all be completed by the same deadline, “work harder” is not a prioritisation method.
Make the trade-off visible:
- list the required outputs;
- estimate the capacity actually available;
- identify dependencies and consequences of delay;
- ask the relevant decision-maker to confirm priority;
- record what was deprioritised.
This is especially important when different stakeholders assume their request is the only urgent one.
5. During organisational change, separate facts from speculation
Restructures, leadership changes and uncertain strategy can create genuine stress. WHO lists job insecurity, low control, excessive workload, poor support and unclear roles among risks to mental health at work.
Source: World Health Organization — Mental health at work, 2024
During change, keep three categories:
- confirmed: decisions formally communicated;
- unknown: questions for which no decision has been communicated;
- assumed: interpretations and rumours.
Then ask what your role requires under the confirmed situation today. This does not remove uncertainty, but it prevents speculation from becoming an operational instruction.
6. Build support instead of treating every problem as individual resilience
ILO guidance includes social support, worker participation, communication and greater control over tasks among organisational approaches to psychosocial risk.
Support can include:
- a manager who can clarify priorities;
- a trusted colleague who can reality-check an interpretation;
- HR or employee-relations support;
- a mentor for role-specific judgment;
- occupational health or employee-assistance resources where available;
- formal worker representation where relevant.
Seeking appropriate support is not evidence that the employee failed to cope. In many cases, the organisation controls the relevant solution.
7. Know when informal problem-solving is not enough
Do not reduce serious issues to a communication exercise. Safety risks, harassment, discrimination, retaliation, threats, serious misconduct and some health concerns may require formal reporting or specialist advice.
Document:
- what happened;
- dates and relevant records;
- who was involved;
- what action has already been taken;
- the impact on work, safety or wellbeing;
- what outcome or protection is being requested.
Use your organisation’s relevant policy and the law that applies in your jurisdiction. If there is immediate danger, use the appropriate emergency or safety process rather than waiting for a normal management conversation.
A practical decision sequence
- Describe: What specifically is happening?
- Classify: Is this workload, role clarity, conflict, change, conduct, safety or something else?
- Check authority: Which part can I change, and which part needs someone else’s decision?
- Act: Have the appropriate conversation, reprioritise, request support or use a formal route.
- Record: Confirm important decisions and commitments.
- Review: Did the action reduce the problem, or is escalation now needed?
What this article no longer claims
The previous version used unsupported hero statistics claiming that 83% of professionals experienced significant stress from unresolved workplace challenges, structured problem-solving resolved challenges twice as fast, and 60% of workplace conflict came from unclear expectations. Those figures were not tied to a defensible original source and have been removed.
The revised guide distinguishes personal coping from organisational responsibility and uses WHO, ILO and Acas evidence to identify the kinds of workplace conditions that require structural action.
Related MATSH resources
Sources
- International Labour Organization — Psychosocial risks and stress at work
- International Labour Organization — The psychosocial working environment, 2026
- World Health Organization — Mental health at work
- Acas — Ditching vague language essential to resolving workplace conflict
- Acas — Raising and dealing with problems at work
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