1. Communicate clearly
Unclear communication causes anxiety and fear, even if the speaker has no bad intentions. For example, imagine telling a colleague or sending them this message: "We need to have a talk. Can I call you today? " The colleague doesn't know what you want and starts worrying about what they have done wrong.
People often vaguely formulate their demands when they are pressed for time or if they read e-mails while commuting or waiting in a queue, etc. They want to save time this way but in fact they only abuse others psychologically. That is unnecessary: no communication is better than unclear communication.
2. Answer e-mails on time
Every day office workers receive hundreds of e-mails. Therefore, it is not possible to answer everything at once. Many messages are, moreover, only informational and don't require any response.
However, you should always respond to messages in which someone asks you a specific time-defined question such as: "Are you coming to the meeting on Friday at 4 pm? "
You don't have to respond immediately, but find ten minutes every day to label these messages in your e-mail inbox which require an early response. Others will greatly appreciate it and you will ultimately appreciate it too when other people will not have to prompt you.
3. Avoid breathing down others' necks
If you tend towards perfectionism, or when the outcome of a project means a lot to you, you may find yourself monitoring every step of your colleagues. You don't give them enough space to do the best job.
You may think you want nothing more than to finish a project of appropriate quality on time and within budget. In fact, though, you may be creating excessive pressure: colleagues might feel you are chasing them and don't trust them. Then performance will go down, not up.
Keep in mind that stress is easily spread - often quite unnecessarily.
-kk-