What do you do if your team is experiencing high levels of stress and burnout?

Step one in addressing burnout is to acknowledge your accountability as a leader. Burnout doesn't spontaneously happen, and contrary to popular belief, it isn't an "employee" problem. It is a systemic organizational problem that can drive away everyone but your worst employees. So rule one is this: if everyone is burned out, acknowledge what isn't working and address it head-on. And don't tell yourself that vacation time solves burnout. Burnout is caused by a lack of alignment with your organization's mission, a lack of employee agency, and disregard for individual contributions. So stop blaming your team, be open to feedback (don't say you are, but actually show you are), and address problems head-on.

Burnout is almost always linked to a lack of balance. There's two aspects to this - what organizations can do, and what individuals can do to strike a balance between the different aspects and demands of our lives. Leaders play a big role is role modeling life-work balance and ensuring they take good care of themselves and their organizations. Having access to coaches, mentors, supports and services can help employees address concerns long before they become serious and develop valuable life skills (i.e. stress management). “In the corporate hustle, don't let the weight of success be the anchor of your mental well-being. Seek balance, not burnout.” ― Abhysheq Shukla, Feelings Undefined: The Charm of the Unsaid

In my experience, burnout and stress can have a long-term impact and can create a toxic cycle within the team. I have found it is important to address it right away and offer support, resources, and open communication. Sharing with leadership what the team is experiencing is also a necessity.

Volunteers have joined any cause for a reason. That reason is to help and feel like they are part of a good thing. Once it feels like a chore, too much stress, and not fulfilling, people will burn out. As a leader always coach up and not down. You should always be there to offer guidance and encouragement. A simple “thank you for your help” goes along way.

Burnout and stress are real! As leaders, we have to be aware of it and feel the pulse of our teams. Often, burnout is a result of a lack of effective processes, causing people to give more output than they receive in input. Leaders have to remind themselves that they are people builders and people movers. People over profit will always result in the overflow of greater effectiveness. We do this by listening to those we lead, hearing their hearts, concerns, and struggles. Then, we put processes in place to help a healthy rhythm and to safeguard against the trap of our people blowing out in effort than they have in the tank to give.

It is important to acknowledge that the stress and burnout exists with the team. Next is to discuss and agree on the issues or challenges causing the stress. Then determine and identify the resources available to help resolve the stress (more personnel, better technology, modification of job responsibilities, additional training and flexible work schedules). Socialize the available options identified to reduce burnout and stress and implement them over time as resources are made available. Some may be implemented sooner rather than later. The key is to show progress in addressing the issues.

Try to find some things to do that will decompress the team. I find the yoga really works perhaps calming music a calming room a walk if we’re able to if the weather permits change the scenery, change the conversation change the atmosphere I found that it’s all about the company you keep The setting and making things light so that people don’t feel so stressed and don’t feel like everything is a time crunch and we have to do everything at a fast pace. We keep a lighthearted work environment and work setting and travel setting when we’re doing community service anyway, and even those stressful situations do occur, we try to keep our team calm because we work with young people and we cannot allow ourselves to lose it or they will lose it

Peer support programs can help reduce stress and burnout among volunteers. Peer support groups that use a problem-based method can be an inexpensive tool to help with work-related stress and burnout. Benefits of peer support include: Empowerment Finding a voice Increased confidence and self-esteem Finding a source of hope and optimism Companionship and friendship Reduced isolation  Some coping strategies for burnout include: Physical self-care, such as diet, physical activity, sleep, and hobbies Emotional distancing Social and emotional support Some ways to address stress and burnout: Prioritizing good sleep habits Nutrition Exercise Social connection Practices that promote well-being: meditating, journaling, and enjoying nature

Whenever such scenario is experienced, SWOT analysis is required immediately Our antecedent strength would be re examined. Our weaknesses must be quickly earmarked and be dealt with proactively. Subsequent or missed opportunities must as a matter of urgency be revisited. While our threats must be itemized and be strategically surmounted.

Asegurar que tomen las vacaciones. Supervisar que sus cargas de trabajo sean adecuadas y ajustarlas de manera temporal o permanente en acuerdo con la persona colaboradora. Referir a servicios de atención emocional para que la persona pueda recibir apoyo de profesionales de salud en caso de que su estres no tenga que ver con el trabajo.

Every team has goals and expectations, however, members should be saddled with responsibilities in their areas of strength, such that everyone complements one another. Unrealistic expectations from the team and members can lead to unnecessary stress and burnout, when team members have no necessary tools, training, and support to perform their tasks effectively. Team leaders are to continuously monitor and regularly assess the team's workload, dynamics, and well-being, and make adjustments as needed to prevent stress and burnout.

Look to respiration the workload as needed. Encourage breaks to maximize efficiency and release stress. Check in early and frequently to see what can be changed to help staff successfully complete goals without feeling overwhelmed.

Teams are formed for a purpose and the focus is that purpose. Addressing up front that there may be issues while working to accomplish that purpose is helpful. I'd rather deal with unintentional and intentional stress later. Stress comes through many areas in our lives i.e. people, places, and things. Journaling, music, and those things that help us smile are always good to remember. Remember to add healthy stress! 😉

First, figure out where the 'burn' in the burnout is happening. What tasks are too much, too often, too demanding? Then figure out how to reduce the heat on your volunteer by: 1) Coordinating help and support ---even training more support from staff members other volunteer groups if need be. 2) Then, scheduling a break for that volunteer/their team using these helpers. 3) Lastly, restructuring the role itself: find efficiencies or split the task list so that the duties are reduced in weight or complexity, ensuring that the current volunteer and any future volunteers don't come to resent that particular role. I have worked in many nonprofits and churches where volunteer attrition happens when these three steps are not taken!

Being open to "seeing" and knowing others and knowing when there's a change is important. Whether it is a good change or not good. Then giving encouragement and an open ear for venting or celebrating is key. If venting occurs, I offer time off or flexing the day depending on the situation. The staff person can decide. We talk later on to see how things are going if more assistance or support is needed. If celebrating occurs, everyone within earshot is pulled in to help in the good news, no matter how small. We all follow up with each other by text too.

Listen to input from those on the front lines. They're the ones doing the work and can best i.d. gaps. Don't just listen to feedback from those who are saying what you want to hear. Listen to it all and invite insight into possible solutions.

In my experience, burnout is a misalignment of expectations and the time to achieve those expectations. This often includes the expectations of resources being put toward a task and a misalignment on the resources and the goals as well. What I find helpful and how I coach my team is to look at the essence of what we are trying to achieve and examine if we are using all of our resources as efficiently as possible. The situation might be a result of an inefficient process leading to unneeded exasperation. The other way to address, it might be to look at how we are pursuing a goal. We may have the right resources but not the right process. Engaging leadership must be part of the solution to empower the team to be successful.

Soon after I started in my current role, employees told me they had been feeling burnt out since the pandemic started and felt like there was no end in sight. I brought in an outside facilitator that provided us with tools to identify and address burn-out, and we discussed things that would improve the working conditions. I heard that feeling like relationships had suffered during the shift to remote work was contributing to feeling alone, isolated and overwhelmed. I set up one on ones with all my staff to give them a chance to get to know me and talk about how we could improve things together. Them feeling heard, and seeing some of their suggestions implemented as a result of the conversations, helped diminish the burnout.

When you notice volunteers are stressed or seem to be burning out a pat on the back won't work. Getting into the trenches with them will show you care. Work alongside of them. Allow them to see you someone that is willing to help carry a load not just a boss. Volunteers are not getting paid. They are helping because they have bought into the set goals and want to be a part of your mission. When you work alongside of them you will see the issues they face. Be open to improving the situations to make their experience better. Volunteer management is just as much about caring for your volunteers as it is about using them to accomplish tasks. A great way to care for them is to listen to their ideas especially if they have been helping a while.

When working with volunteers, I try to think project-based as opposed to long-term based. Often, volunteers sign up and feel like they can’t leave. Knowing up front the expectations allows them to plan. I also try to create moments of rest and outs. I agree getting in the trenches helps. I also think planning and creating clarity can alleviate burnout.

Celebrating is an acknowledgement of everyone involved is an opportunity for joy at work. Failure is an opportunity to identify what went wrong and look for ways to improve. After the initial let down, the thought process for improvement is energizing and ultimately a good thing for everyone to have experienced. It's important too acknowledge hurt and disappointment in failure. It's not reasonable to only see it as an opportunity. People need to process feelings.

Reviewing workload and setting realistic timelines helps reduce stress. Another aspect is promoting a healthy working environment.

Es importante crear un entorno seguro para que cada uno del equipo se pueda expresar y encontrar con el respaldo que necesita, muchas veces estamos corriendo para cumplir objetivos sin unos minutos de charla libre, dónde cada uno se pueda expresar y conocer lo que su par tal está pasando por lo mismo.

Celebrating successes and failures is to encourage team members to relax to have work-life balance. The message behind this is to relax and grow despite success or challenges. Members of the team can be encouraged to identify hobbies that slows the body down to allow it catch up with the soul in order to shift focus from worries. It can be, listening to a quiet music, visiting a place that leaves sweet memories, taking exercises, reading to relax the mind or anything that suits body and mind. Environment for relaxation should be provided by the team to avoid stress and burnout.

O feedback é fator fundamental para qualquer organização. Realizar feedback de forma assertiva ajuda a manter um relacionamento saudável e que não gera estresse para o grupo.

Take work outside! Incorporate nature into different work spaces. Walking meetings in parks, afternoon team sessions in reserves, forests. Being able to mix focused work, silence and contemplative spaces surrounded by nature helps to recharge and renovate energy, as well as ideas and group dynamics. Think of nature as your most powerful partner for wellbeing and de-stressing.

Nowhere in these comments has anyone mentioned that burnout is an entirely preventable condition that is about chronic exposure to unmanaged work related stress, so the first step would be for the employee and employer to jointly review the stress risk assessment and use the HSE management standards for stress to identify what the root causes of the stress were. -Then there could be a co-produced plan to work on reducing exposure and developing tools to improve resilience once the primary causes of stress were identified and addressed. -Consideration of factors outside work, previous trauma or personal factors that could affect the employees wellbeing could also be included. I detail these in my book ‘Turning the Tables on Burnout’

There’s an important step missing! Dig into “why” with genuine curiosity and openness to the team’s experience. Burnout doesn’t just come from “too much” work… it comes from context switching, from always-on-expectations, from lack of strategic clarity, and from lots of other common organizational challenges that can’t be solved with “more time off.” So look for root causes and trust that your team’s experience is where you will find those answers.

Burnout is a late stage indicator that there are systemic difficulties. If staff are experiencing burnout then a serious over-haul of the workplace is required. Some work environments are inherently stressful because of the nature of the work. In those environments, systems should be in place to resource and support staff on the front line. Systems should also recognise early signs of stress and strategies should be in place to manage workloads and exposure to stress to limit the risk of burnout.

I like to try and temporarily pull folks out of their current mind set. One I way I do this is to clear space for them and encourage them to present something personal to the team. Are they taking a course on something? Are they training for a running event? Do they have a hobby they absolutely love? Share the experience with the team. It benefits the individual because they can focus on something that is tangible, motivating, and positive for them while giving their brain a break and their focus a chance to recharge. It benefits the team because they will certainly learn something new.