Episode 11 - Burnout & Boredom

Team burnout and boredom can be difficult to manage, but with the right strategies in place, managers can help their teams stay motivated and productive. The key is to recognize the warning signs of burnout or boredom and then take proactive steps to address them. Our job as leaders is in part to remove barriers and roadblocks, I would posit that workload balance, much like work-life balance, needs to be actively managed or we end up with an imbalanced team.

In procurement, our work is directly tied to the business and so how do we align with the business? Often we go beyond our mandate and stretch ourselves thin by working on non-policy projects because we want to be good business partners. Since our teams are staffed based on expected demand, which in turn is based on extant policy we have to find a way to communicate with the business our scope and limitations while identifying joint priorities. As leaders we need to be prepared to see and address these circumstances that can quickly overwhelm individual's capacity and result in burnout.

During COVID I learned just how much I depended on being around my team members to understand this balance. Suddenly, I couldn't talk to them and see how they were doing. I had to learn to ask the question directly and also how to shuffle work between resources more flexibly than may have historically happened.

By focusing on workload balance, managers can make sure that the team’s energy and enthusiasm remain high. This means ensuring that no member of the team is taking on too much work or becoming overwhelmed with tasks. It also means making sure there are enough interesting projects to keep everyone engaged—but not so many projects that people become overburdened.