When Anxiety Shows Up at Work: What Managers Can Do

Author Bio

This article is written by Genius Within Community Manager Helen Doyle. Helen is a subject matter specialist writing about neurodiversity and disability inclusion both from the perspective of her own lived experience and collaborating with the experts on our team to cover a wide variety of topics and views. Today she writes about anxiety at work and seeks guidance from Genius Within Business Psychologist Gunjan Odedra.

There is a difference between feeling anxious sometimes and having anxiety. Anxiety in response to a stressful situation is something everyone is likely to experience from time to time. Having anxiety as a condition means someone is experiencing a stress response that is persistent, or excessive for the situation, and they struggle to get it under control. It is important to mark the difference because we frequently see the use of the first description to discredit the legitimacy of the latter. People dealing with anxiety are deserving of accommodations and support, telling them to simply “deal with it” will not work.

With that acknowledged we wanted to bring you some guidance on supporting anxiety at work because often colleagues and managers feel out of their depth on this topic and don’t know how to help.

Anxiety at work does not look the same for everyone. For some people, it might mean becoming quieter or withdrawing from conversations. For others, it can show up as asking repeated questions, missing details, avoiding meetings or struggling when priorities compete.

This is why supporting employees with anxiety needs to go beyond assumptions about what anxiety “looks like”.

As Genius Within Business Psychologist Gunjan Odedra explains:

“Anxiety at work does not look the same for everyone. One person may become quiet, another may ask repeated questions, miss details or avoid meetings. Effective support should be individual, practical and based on shared responsibility.”

The most effective workplace support often comes from understanding what is creating the barrier and making practical changes, while keeping communication, participation and accountability clear.

When someone is struggling with a task or deadline, it can be tempting to focus on the behaviour we can see. But that does not necessarily tell us what is causing the difficulty.

Imagine an employee who repeatedly misses a Monday deadline. Gunjan says: “On the surface, this might appear to be poor time management. Look more closely, however, and you discover that three different managers are sending competing requests on Friday afternoon.

Telling the employee to “work faster” is unlikely to solve the problem and could increase their anxiety.

Instead, the managers and employee could create a shared priority list. The employee can review this, raise conflicts early and check priorities before accepting additional work.”

This approach removes an unnecessary workplace barrier without removing responsibility. It also creates greater clarity for everyone involved.

Supporting anxiety at work can be particularly effective when people have agreed strategies in place before they become overwhelmed.

Gunjan gives an example: “A customer service adviser may become overloaded after several difficult calls. They begin speaking more quickly, lose track of information, but continue accepting incoming calls.

Rather than waiting until the situation escalates, the adviser and their team leader could agree on a simple phrase such as: “I need a five-minute reset.”

The team leader can then pause incoming calls while the adviser uses those five minutes to regulate, record any outstanding actions and decide when they are ready to return.”

This creates a clear and practical process. Crucially, the employee does not have to explain exactly what they need while already experiencing overload.

Meetings can be a significant source of workplace anxiety, particularly when employees are expected to process information and formulate responses quickly.

Gunjan explains: “An employee who rarely speaks during meetings, for example, may consistently contribute thoughtful ideas afterwards. Rather than assuming they are disengaged, consider whether the format of the meeting is creating a barrier to participation.

The meeting chair could share key questions in advance and build thinking time into the discussion. The employee might then prepare two points beforehand, contribute one verbally during the meeting and send additional ideas afterwards.”

Making a meeting accessible does not mean removing the expectation to participate. It means considering different ways in which meaningful participation can happen.

There is no single adjustment or management technique that will work for every employee experiencing anxiety. As we often say, effective workplace support starts with curiosity, communication. Show a willingness to identify the specific barriers affecting the person and don’t minimise what they are feeling.

Small practical changes can make a significant difference, particularly when managers and employees develop solutions together.

As Gunjan’s examples demonstrate, the principle is simple: remove unnecessary barriers, while keeping communication, participation and accountability clear on both sides.

Supporting anxiety at work is not about lowering expectations. It is about creating the conditions in which people have a fair opportunity to meet them.

An anxious employee may also benefit from one-to-one coaching to help them build strategies that work for their specific role and anxiety triggers.

To read advice for Managers on improving well-being click here.

To find out more about our neurodiversity e-Learning for Managers click here.

For our coaching services click here.