Are you navigating the storm of security crises? Dive in and share how you maintain team spirit and dodge burnout.
Managing multiple security incidents can quickly lead to overwhelm, but keeping your team motivated and preventing burnout is essential. Start by prioritizing clear communication and realistic expectations. Regularly check in on your team’s workload and provide support when needed. Encourage breaks and time off to recharge, even during demanding times. Celebrate small wins to boost morale and remind your team of the impact their work has. Provide resources for stress management and be open about mental health.
Helping the team understand the true value of the work they put behind managing multiple security incidents, sometimes simultaneously, can really help control the stress, keep the team motivated and prevent/reduce burnout. Security professionals are also humans afterall, and helping them realize, remember and understand the meaning behind their hard work can really help alleviate challenges associated with a high stress environment of managing multiple security incidents. Performing lookback analysis after the security incidents have been addressed can also help the team better understand what went right, what went wrong, and what could have gone better. This will help the team understand the painpoints and further avoid burnout in future.
Maintaining team morale during a security crisis is crucial. Clear communication, defined roles, and celebrating small victories are essential to avoid burnout and keep the team focused on the larger goal.
From my perspective, it is imperative that the team’s manpower corresponds to the average case load. It is normal that tickets or shift based teams face high or have spikes in their workloads occasionally. Hence management should always stay abreast of these peaks to ensure those on shift are rotated, and “high performers” are distributed evenly across different shifts. If a peak lasts for a prolonged time, burnout is to be expected (we are humans after all), and rewards or incentives can only alleviate this issue by so much. Management should strive to enforce proper cutover times between shifts, including preparing enough times for handovers before the next shift start, which includes not starting on new incidents, where possible.
Managing multiple incidents can definitely be overwhelming. In my experience, setting clear priorities is key to keep everyone focused and not overwhelmed by the volume of tasks. I make sure the team takes regular breaks and rotate responsibilities to avoid burnout. Automation tools help us reduce repetitive work, allowing us to focus on what really matters. Open communication is essential—people need to feel safe to speak up when it's too much. Celebrating wins also keeps motivation high, and that's how we keep the energy up, even during stressful times.