Burnout influences every part of an organization.

So, what can you do about it?

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Look for the signs of burnout

Before you can help overwhelmed team members, you need to identify the signs of burnout. The World Health Organization (WHO) recognizes ‘burnout’ as an occupational phenomenon with these symptoms:

• Feelings of exhaustion or energy depletion

• Negative or cynical feelings related to one's job

• Decreased professional efficacy

Healthline lists more specific symptoms that you might notice in your team members:

• Irritability

• Frequent illnesses

• Tardiness

• Isolation

Recognizing these symptoms identifies team members at risk of burnout, and it’s crucial to get on top of the problem early. Your team might operate well, but there is always a chance of workloads piling up and snowballing, and this is when problems start.

You might think you know your team’s capacity, but you cannot accurately assess burnout risk until you implement the right techniques.

Burnout in accounting is more common than you might think. One study reveals that 23% of all workers feel burned out more often than not, while an additional 44% experience burnout ‘sometimes’.

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How to prevent team members from feeling overwhelmed

Manage workloads

The most effective way to stop team members from feeling overwhelmed is to remove the triggers that cause stress. A team's workload is the number one cause of stress in the workplace, and is more likely to lead to burnout than lack of job security, people issues, and juggling work and personal responsibilities.

As a manager, you might not be able to reduce your team's workload, especially during the pandemic, but you can effectively manage it by:

• Planning your team's workload

• Delegating tasks to the right people

• Managing time more effectively

• Communicating with employees

• Encouraging employees to communicate with you

Managing workloads can be an exhausting task, especially if you have a large team. So investing in practice management software such as Karbon makes sense. When you manage your team from the office or at home, you can handle workflows with greater precision, communicate with team members quickly, and predict bottlenecks in your firm.

Additional ways to prevent workers from becoming overwhelmed

• Educate team members about the dangers of burnout

• Encourage better work-life balance

• Remind team members to use up their benefits (paid time-off, vacation time, flex-time, etc.)

• Promote flexible working—it reduces employee burnout

• Provide team members with tools/resources to manage stress (exercise programs, nutrition guides, meditation apps, discounted gym memberships, etc.)

It's not too late to act

All the tips above might not apply to your team. But these techniques should inspire you to change your organization and prevent team members from feeling overwhelmed.

If employees already exhibit burnout symptoms, it’s never too late to overcome this problem, but you will need to act quickly.