Are your team busy or burned out?

Stress is one of the most common causes of long-term work absence in the UK. Leaders, like you, play a vital role in managing the stress levels of their team. However, spotting the signs of stress is more difficult than ever, with 38% of the UK population now estimated to be working from home some of the time, which is around 20 million people.  If left unchecked this inevitably results in costly and demotivating issues including:

• • arguments and animosity
  • decreased performance
  • higher staff turnover
  • more reports of stress
  • more sickness absence
  • complaints and grievances

How often do you hear a team member say that they are ‘busy’? This can be said in a positive way, and leading a ‘busy’ team can be incredibly beneficial, but this can quickly change to stress and burn out if unmanaged. By being more attuned to the most common signs of stress in team members, leaders can help to maintain a more focused and productive work environment.

Lead Talent’s David Davies, Head of Leadership Development and Mentoring, has come up with a guide to spotting stress and burn out below, with his advice on what to look out for and ways to support your team, from his 20 years’ experience in people management.  

Signs of stress in your team

Look out for a change in behaviour or attitude like taking excessive time off, arriving late, mood swings, lack of motivation or withdrawn.

Look out for causes of stress

• • Increased workload.
  • Control and autonomy.
  • Community and relationships.
  • A lack of recognition.
  • Fairness and respect.
  • Differing company and personal values.

So, you know what to look for, now what can be done about it?

Every situation is different, because every team member is unique, however there are some proven management techniques that can help leaders manage stress levels within their team.

1. Goals – By setting weekly and quarterly goals with your team collaboratively and taking time to review these with your individual team members, not only can they turn feelings of frustration to a sense of achievement, but they can also reduce distractions.

SMART goals are Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, and Time-Bound:

Specific –  target a specific area for improvement.

Measurable – quantify or at least suggest an indicator of progress.

Achievable – specify who will do it.

Relevant – state what results can realistically be achieved, given available resources.

Time-bound – specify when the result(s) can be achieved.Increased emotional reactions, sensitive or aggressive.

Find out more about SMART Goals HERE.

2. Focus – Checklists are simple but powerful tools that can make your team’s work more productive and help a leader to recognise issues. By breaking down complicated or overwhelming tasks in a to do list this can support team members in tackling an overwhelming project and recognising small steps in success.  Setting realistic deadlines can also support productivity and maintain focus on the task in-hand.

3. Organisation and Systems – Important for productivity, manual or automated systems allow team members to be more productive and to make more of their precious time. A leader who takes the time to train their team members on useful tech or process will support productivity long term.

4. Collaboration – People are the lifeblood of every business. Building a healthy office culture driven by collaboration is key to driving outcomes for the company like boosting productivity, engagement, and retention.

5. Communication – Keep channels of communication open and regularly check in on team member’s emotional or mental wellbeing individually, taking the time to listen and understand the impact of any issues both inside and outside of work.

And finally, it’s as important for leaders to manage for their own stress levels and spot the signs of their own burnout, as well as that of their team members. We have included a resource to support them in this HERE: HOW TO SWITCH OFF.

If you would like to one to one mentoring on this or any management topic contact me on email: david.davies@lead-talent.co.uk.

AUTHOR: David Davies, Lead Talent’s Head of Leadership, Development and Mentoring.