Your team member is on the brink of burnout from overworking. How can you help them find a healthy balance?

Candid conversation to help team member in recognizing signs of burnout is very important . Tasks for all team members should be reviewed regularly to strike out the right work life balance . Additionaly it is really important for a leader to lead by example by adopting healthy work habits and encourage team to adopt few as well.

Work-life balance is about finding a way to manage the demands of your work or study with your personal life and the things that ‘top you up’. In order to manage work-life balance effectively, tasks for all team members should be reviewed regularly to strike out the right work life balance .

Work load capacity is commonly overlooked when team members or peers seemed burned out. We are so focused on the task and the fear of missing a deadline or the impact of the performance reviews that we lose sight of the importance of work life balance. A safe environment and culture should be established with your teams to share challenges and workload capacity concerns. Open dialogue about what level of ability and responsibility one can handle will foster healthy communication and development plans to help your teams to build time management skills and delegation skills to help with exceeding workload capacity. Key to addressing burnout or workload capacity is to drive open communication, a safe environment and trust.

In my experience it is very difficult to notice that “on the brink of the burnout” phase. The person affected may miss it, as well as others around them. This is why a culture focused on well-being and preventive measures is very important in the team / org. Open dialogue is definitely key here, understanding the complexity of the person’s world, and their individual patterns and habits is very important in helping them … to succeed, and not fall into burnout. One needs to approach these conversations non-judgementally to build trust and rapport.

There are moments when you want to look at their calendar and discuss how much time they spend on what. Even very serious people can sometimes lose track and just by this quick exercise you can help them get back in control. If they resist, or if they can't answer what they spent their tile on this week, you know where to investigate more.

Workload capacity can be tied to one’s willingness and ability for tasks and projects. We tend to assume because we were able to drive forward with major task that it is a given that our team can accomplish the same task. It is important as leaders that we spend time working with our teams to evaluate there readiness and skill level for each task assigned. Some task will just need our support as leaders others will need step by step instructions. In some cases we will need to lead by example.

One additional thing to consider is the shift from “what” (ex. What is one’s workload?) to “how” (how much agency do they have; how is the environment around them). It may be important to coach folks / help them navigate the how to significantly reduce the stress at work. It may of course be the case that the workload needs to be reduced but it was my experience that team members with the same workload may experience very different level of stress.

The old school mentality of getting in before everyone else and being the last to leave is not always the formula for success. Yes there are examples where this school of thought works but it’s not a one size fits all approach to success. I found as a leader that by being flexible with my team on the time and effort they put into tasks that they would end up working smarter and efficiently. They were more energized to finish task my allowing them to find the best approach to completing the task. Not saying this came easy. As a team we went through a lot to establish trust and rapport for this to work

Agree, but for leadership development to really hit the mark, a focus on a few key elements. Start with self-awareness and a growth mindset, so leaders can turn challenges into learning opportunities. Mix in effective communication and emotional intelligence to build solid, supportive relationships. Promote a healthy work-life blend and keep things fresh with regular check-ins and ongoing development. This approach will not help burnout from happening but also strengthens the team's overall dynamic.

When a team member is on the brink of burnout, knowing that team is open and willing to support one another is essential to the team member in need of seeking help, respite and counsel. Knowing that your team is a safe space and a no-judgment zone allows individuals to get the help they need.

Supportive culture for me is also culture that openly talks about burnout. But not about the usual bravado connected to it but especially how to avoid it. Supportive culture where you talk with others How to have work life balance. What did they do during the weekend (and no one is flexing with work) Where people traveled for vacation It can help a lot if the overworked person hears from others that it's okay to take time off (especially from managers)