Burnout is becoming a very common issue several companies across the globe face in their teams. The software development business is one of the main markets affected by this problem. In fact, a 2022 article from Forbes shows that 58% of security and development professionals say they’re currently experiencing burnout to some degree. Overwork is the leading cause of burnout.
We somehow touched on this issue in a past article talking about tips to increase your productivity and well-being while working remotely. But what we want to talk about is directly about burnout. Today we’ll see how you, as a manager or a team leader, can notice the signs any of your developers are being affected by burnout.
At Visian Systems we believe the role of anyone in a leadership position it’s not only to care about the company’s products, services and current projects. They also need to look after the company’s workforce. This is a serious issue that can affect not only the individual but the entire team as well. So we separated 4 main points you should pay attention to. Because they can be symptoms of your team members are dealing with overwork, which will lead to burnout.
Not everything should be interpreted as burnout
Before we start it would be better to leave a quick disclaimer. Identifying burnout it’s a tricky issue because could be other explanations for the abrupt change of behaviour in your employees. So keep this in mind before jumping to any conclusion. You should have a keen eye to identify the early stages of overwork.
The best advice is to observe if the changes happened just once in a while or if it is a continuous pattern. Communication plays an important role here. So try to always talk with your team members first and check how they have been feeling recently.
Missing deadlines or important appointments
Every now and then a deadline is not met. It could be because there was a miscalculation in the amount of work needed to finish the task. Or it could be because of an unexpected event like a coworker getting sick. But if you observe anyone consistently struggling to meet the deadlines, even when there is a fair amount of time available, it could be a sign they are in the process of burnout.
Even more if this same thing keeps happening to other important events in the company. Employees losing events such as project kickoffs or meeting with clients are big red flags. As we will see in the next topics, overwork highly affects the level of engagement of your coworkers. You will see a significant decrease in interest in the company’s general activities.
Decreasing quality of work
Again, mistakes are part of the job. And when we are talking about coding, it’s almost impossible to write several lines of code without making common mistakes. Like small typos that happen so very often. But the problem is not about the occurrence of a mistake but the type and the frequency they are happening.
Usually, the developers themselves catch small mistakes while going through their code. But if they are regularly letting these mistakes pass, you should be alert. This decrease in the quality of work is probably the first sign you will observe in your coworkers and you may start looking for the other topics we disclosed here.
Less engagement in daily activities
This is a sign you can easily notice if your team has frequent or even daily meetings. If a team member use to be a very communicative person and suddenly start to speak less during meetings, you should pay attention. And if these members are feeling too much overworked they’ll probably be less willing to give support to other coworkers in their tasks.
The less engagement you notice in your employee, the more inclined they could be to develop burnout. And this will impact the work of the entire team if they used to have a very collaborative working experience.
Health problems or sudden changes in mood
Burnout manifests itself physically also. The most common effects are recurring headaches and/or stomachaches. It will affect their sleep as well and give them a continuous feeling of fatigue and exhaustion. In addition, overworking can generate mood swings and make your developers more susceptible to anger and irritability outbursts. This has a bigger effect because it will destabilize your team’s morale.
Conclusion
An overworked team is an issue you must treat seriously because burnout can derail the progression of your projects. You, as a team leader, have the role to make sure your team has a healthy work environment to minimize the chances of team exhaustion.
Pay attention to the details if recently your employees are missing deadlines, decreasing the quality of work and are less engaged in their activities. Health problems are also a serious possibility and if didn’t treat carefully you risk losing all the progress done on a project.
Have you ever dealt with overwork and burnout? What signs did you notice in yourself or maybe your coworkers? Please, let us know in the comments below or contact us here or at our website.
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