8 Things Leaders Supporting Tired Teams Can Look Out For

Organizational changes, staffing shortages, increased workloads, blurred boundaries between work and life, and lack of job security—these are just some of the factors influencing how many workers are feeling today (and how many of us have been feeling the last few years). Our nervous systems are overworked and underrested. We are a whole other level of tired.

Telling people to just “be more resilient” or to “up their self-care" is not the solution. This only exacerbates our collective weariness. Brief check-ins or pulse checks can help leaders better understand their employees and their experiences. Here are four signs to watch out for that may indicate that your team members are experiencing deep fatigue, exhaustion, or depletion:

1. A sense of urgency and restlessness: A sense of urgency or frantic energy is a stress experience. It is a sign that we are in an overactive state. You may notice this when you receive those frantic messages from team members where it feels as though everything is a crisis. People may also have built up energy that they haven’t been able to expend. For example, we might notice this restlessness as a shaking leg during a meeting or someone distracted by their phone.
2. Self-care not lasting: It can become harder to do the restorative practices that we know will make a difference when we are in this place of distress. We may also begin to see that self-care just doesn’t have lasting effects. For example, an individual may go to the gym and feel great, but when they return to work, they are still experiencing high levels of stress.
3. The when-then trap: This mindset holds us back from being OK in the moment. When I get X or do Y, then I will be... Z. When the season is over, then I’m going to feel better. When the project is done, then I will take some time for myself. We try to negotiate with ourselves that we’re eventually going to be OK. As leaders, we want to help our team members see that we can be OK during stressful times, too.
4. Disengagement: This is where we stop showing up the way we used to. It’s as if we have no more cares to give, resulting in a “Why bother?” mentality. As leaders, we want to be mindful of disengagement as it is an erosion that leads to the development of symptoms associated with burnout.

Acknowledging that there are people on our teams who are in this place of distress, we can get curious about what can be done within our organizations to help support our people during stressful times. Here are four variables for leaders to be mindful of in fostering a supportive work culture:

1. Hierarchical relationships: While we see that leaders want to help and are letting their teams know they are there to support, we also need to be mindful of what holds some people back from reaching out for it. People often don’t feel comfortable asking their leaders for help if they are struggling (e.g., emotional health, mental health, overwhelm and stress, etc.) because of the fear of reprisal or a worry that it will hinder future opportunities. For example, an individual may be concerned that sharing their struggles at the level that they’re at could impact the likelihood of their boss promoting them or presenting new opportunities. It is key for leaders to remember that asking for help is not a weakness; rather, this self-awareness is a super skill.
2. Psychological safety: As leaders, we want our people to feel safe to be able to learn, grow, take risks, and make mistakes. Yet, the reality is that no space is technically safe. It is the people in these spaces who can make us feel safe. A strategy that suggests that you are a safe individual people can talk to is to ask, “Do you need me to listen? Offer some advice? Intervene?” I also invite you to ask your team: "What does a safe, productive, and welcoming work culture look like to you?" Follow up by asking: "What do you do to promote this safe, productive, and welcoming culture?" It isn’t just one person’s responsibility. These questions can generate rich discussion.
3. Unaddressed poor behaviour: Unaddressed poor behaviour harms team morale; it can destroy even the strongest of teams. Experiencing challenges or stressors doesn’t give people a free pass to treat people unwell. When we don’t name and address the behaviour that is hurting our teams, we risk losing our top performers because they don’t want to be around that. As a first line of defence, we can get curious by asking, “Can you let me know how you thought saying that was going to be helpful?” or “That’s a very interesting thing you said in that meeting; can you let me know how you got to that conclusion?”
4. Shadow culture: It is important for leaders to be aware of the shadow culture within their organization. Sometimes there can be this incongruency between who we say we are and what we do. For example, if you say that your organization values wellness and work-life balance, yet the people receiving promotions are consistently those who work through their lunches or are available at all times of the day, there is a misalignment. Another example of a behaviour that sends a subconscious message is when leaders respond to all of the emails they receive while on vacation. This sets the expectation that others should, too. An out-of-office message is a simple yet effective way to communicate that you are not checking emails on your time off.

Organizations also have a role to play in mediating and addressing the stressors of their team members. Right now, our weary teams are looking to their leaders to bring the energy—to revitalize and move people forward. We get inspired by people who bring this good energy. In my next post, I will share some suggestions for how leaders can generate some of that energy for themselves to be able to offer it to their teams.