Stress is all around us, on projects and elsewhere in daily life. It is important to have an understanding of the manner in which people on your project team perceive and deal with stresses they will encounter on your project.
| Appraisal | Description | Properties |
| Harm/Loss | Holds a grudge or can't get over a stressful event in the past | Pessimism Hopelessness Reactive Avoiding or ignoring stressor Emotion-focused coping mechanisms |
| Threat | Fear of the possibility of a future stressful event | |
| Challenge | Perceive a stressful situation in the past or future as an opportunity for growth or gain | Optimistic Hopeful Proactive Confronts problems head-on Problem-focused coping mechanisms |
As a part of managing the human resources on any project, it is a good idea to list the people on your project out and understand how they cope with stress. It may give you a good indication of where hidden risks may lay in waiting, and the people you may want to check with more often to make sure they are making good progress on their tasks. People who deal with stress using emotion-focused coping mechanisms would have a resulting lower quality and timeliness output on those tasks that cause them stress, or if they are exposed to stressors outside of the project. You may want to have a better understanding of what outside responsibilities these people have that will compete for their time on your project.
