Stress has a huge impact on productivity, staff morale and wellbeing, and employee turnover. With 65% people citing workload as the biggest cause of workplace stress and Infinite Potential’s 2024 State of Burnout Report showing that burnt out employees are 68% less productive, it is clear that employers need to take action. But knowing where to start can feel overwhelming.
To begin to tackle this issue, we need to first understand what is actually going on behind the scenes. What is the root cause of the stress? Understanding the behaviours that are causing or contributing to the stress are key to making meaningful changes.
For this, we can use the B-MAP model.
Stanford University Professor BJ Fogg developed the B=MAP model to address a common problem in designing for behaviour change. In a nutshell, many behaviour change attempts had failed because people just didn’t understand the drivers of behaviour.
What is the B=MAP model?
The B=MAP model tells us that for a behaviour to happen, three things need to be present at the same time. These are motivation(M), ability (A), and a prompt (P).
Motivation – is arguably the most important ingredient of effective behaviour change. If we’re not motivated to do something, we won’t do it.
Ability – we need to actually have the ability to carry out the behaviour. If we don’t have the right resources when we need them, we just won’t be able to do it.
Prompt – the prompt then is the key to unlocking the behaviour. It is the trigger that tells us to carry out the behaviour. It spurs us onto action.
Once we’ve understood how these three elements interact to facilitate behaviour, then we can start to figure out what might be preventing people from carrying out particular behaviours.
How can B=MAP encourage stress-free behaviours?
One of the most common causes of workplace stress is overworked staff, due to an inability to cope with the demands of their role. This can be exacerbated by multiple daily interruptions that take employees away from their tasks to resolve other issues.
To apply the B=MAP model, we need to identify the motivation, ability and prompts in this scenario.
Is there motivation? The motivation for many here is likely to be getting paid, achieving deadlines, and job satisfaction.
Do they have the ability? Employees have the ability to do the tasks assigned to them, but due to disruptions all day, time to complete their work is limited.
Is there a prompt? Daily progress meetings, reminders of deadlines, or a simple checklist showing closeness to task completion all serve to the behaviour.
In this example, employees stress is caused by the interruptions in their daily work schedule that take them away from their tasks. This impacts on their ability to do the behaviour as it impacts their resources.
To address this problem, employees’ ability to do their tasks needs to be improved. One way to address this could be by allocating ‘quiet times’ where employees can’t be interrupted, and introducing an email query system that can be accessed at allocated times. This would allow employees to get their work finished on time. This results in much lower stress and better workplace morale.
Can B=MAP be used for other behavioural issues?
B=MAP is a diverse tool that can be applied to a range of workplace behaviours.
You can use the model to introduce new behaviours, and to improve engagement in others. Simply use the formula to identify the motivation, ability and prompt for your target behaviour. It can also be used to help understand and stop unwanted behaviours in the workplace.
At BAD we regularly use the B=MAP model as well as other behavioural science-based techniques to uncover underlying behavioural barriers and develop targeted strategies and interventions to overcome these.
Using behavioural science in design processes can significantly enhance user engagement and satisfaction. By understanding user behaviour and decision-making, we are able to better diagnose and influence behaviours, overcoming a wide range of organisational challenges. Find out more about the benefits of using behavioural science in design processes or get in touch to chat about any key organisational challenges you are currently facing.
