For example:
You: So if I understand you, you’re saying that you like the way I’m managing the bid process, that my documentation is complete and accurate, and that I could do even better if I worked on providing a more timely response to bids. Is that about it?

Inspire the Troops
So here you are, caught in a nutcracker. Your manager is screaming for your group to be more productive and you know that your team’s performance is being scrutinized. You recognize that to meet your organization’s rising performance expectations you will need to gain the full commitment of each of your team members.

In the process of gaining full commitment from your team you are likely to encounter three obstacles.
1. Current changes in the marketplace, including the loss of job security and increasingly stringent performance standards, are forcing a radical shift in how professionals view their jobs.
2. Team members feel that they are already pushing as hard as they can.
3. People are reluctant to move out of their comfort zones.

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Another article about stress management:

Experiencing Stress
Experiencing Stress And Playing With It
Stress Situations Guide -2
Create a Stress Managed Environment

Resist the tendency to tighten up. I’m sure that your manager has already given you a speech about the need for maintaining tight control over your team until your organization gets back on track. This sounds great, but the question is, control over what? Do you really need to inventory the number of paper clips or pencils used by your group each month?

Provide clear communications. Fight the urge to withdraw from your team and stay in your office. You are your team’s “door of visibility” to the rest of your organization. If the door is closed, your team will feel that it has been locked in the mushroom cellar without access to needed information or direction. Share any and all information you have on important changes now occurring in your company. Be honest about what is fact and what is rumor. Consider having selected team members accompany you to departmental meetings so that they can form their own opinions about impending changes.

The idea of “control” in this context should be examined carefully. To some, the corporate version of control translates to procedures and approval; to others, it’s a political influence issue. We mean neither of these when discussing control of the future. The profit-centered manager understands that the future is uncertain; but that with proper budgeting, a range of outcomes can be made to happen. That range is desirable because it leads to corporate profits, healthy cash flow, and realization of goals-not only for the company, but for the staff of the department and the manager personally. Budgeting, when combined with informed leadership and fair treatment of employees, is a valuable tool for creating, maintaining, and even determining levels of profit.