Do you ever feel inexplicably exhausted at the end of the workday and have no motivation to do anything outside of work?
Do you ever look back at your day and feel like you couldn't get everything done and had difficulty completing your deliverables?
Do you feel like what you do isn't enough or you're starting to fail at your job?
If you identified with any of the above, you've likely crossed paths with burnout.
According to this article by the World Health Organization, on burnout as an occupational phenomenon, burnout is in the 11th Revision of the International Classification of Diseases (ICD-11) and is defined as follows:
"A syndrome conceptualized as resulting from chronic workplace stress that has not been successfully managed."
It is characterized by three dimensions:
Unfortunately, burnout is not something that just impacts your work life. It deeply impacts your personal life as well. So how do we work towards managing the stress that can come with work and how do we find that work-life balance?
"Burnout is a syndrome conceptualized as resulting from chronic workplace stress that has not been successfully managed."
A huge part in achieving work-life balance is recognizing the stressors that impact you individually, but also working with your leader to solve them together. Discover some of the ways the women on Vena's C-suite team are working with their teams to help them find work-life balance.
Find out how in this blog. This week, we asked them: How do you help your team find work-life balance?
Did you know that women make up 60% of Vena's ELT, in comparison to an industry average of 24% representation of women in tech C-suites?
I work with my team to prioritize and focus on doing the most impactful thing rather than everything.
I work with my team to prioritize and focus on doing the most impactful thing rather than everything. At times, this means saying "no" to good ideas. As long as they can achieve their objectives and be responsive to our customers, I give them flexibility around where and when they work to suit their needs.
Everyone has peaks and valleys in their schedules, and when you know people are maxed out, it's helpful to have others lean in when they are less busy.
I encourage well-planned vacation time. If you plan ahead, you can truly log off and disconnect. The individuals covering also won't be overly stressed because everyone knows what is expected and proper backups are in place.
I also ensure there are balanced workloads across the team. Everyone has peaks and valleys in their schedules, and when you know people are maxed out, it's helpful to have others lean in when they are less busy.
Prioritizing the most impactful things that you are there to do is the best way to create a shorter to-do list.
Take vacation time and truly take yourself offline.
Lead by example. This is sometimes easier said than done. I find I easily fall back into "old habits," but I really try to make this a priority. Take vacation time and truly take yourself offline. Keep communication in the evening and on weekends to a real minimum. If it is not urgent, schedule it to send during regular work hours.
Furthermore, build strong relationships with your team members. By building psychological safety and trust, your team members are more likely to share when they are finding it difficult to balance their competing priorities. With open and transparent communication you can work together to support them through the challenging times.
As a leader, people manager and human, I work to see the human in my colleagues and do my best to help them see it too.
I've always been an advocate for work-life integration. It's important to recognize that every individual goes about finding this integration differently. The balance is to be found in supporting the individual to be their most authentic self in the way they work, and to create space for what they value in addition to work, into their day to day.
If you're tired, had a late night, feel under the weather, need time to go for a run or play with your puppy, or prioritize a family event, I trust my team to tell me that's what they need and to act accordingly. If I see they aren't, for whatever reason, listening to their own bodies or minds, I make sure to create space to ask and encourage the action they need to feel like they can do their best work and live their best lives.
In our line of work, we're not saving patients, we build software and help create efficiencies and increased productivity in the way people work� - and we are united by that mission. While this is a part of every Venanites' life, it needs to be balanced with all the other things that make a person who they are. This way, they can experience a full life while bringing their best self to work and face the challenges ahead while doing productive work.
As a leader, people manager and human, I work to see the human in my colleagues and do my best to help them see it too.
True work-life balance will remain out of reach if we create environments where busyness is a virtue and long hours are celebrated as heroic feats.
Our teams look to us for guidance on strategic priorities, cues on what contributions are valued and signals on what behaviors are encouraged. True work-life balance will remain out of reach if we create environments where busyness is a virtue and long hours are celebrated as heroic feats.
I think it's really important that leaders walk the walk. Telling my team that work-life balance matters, reminding them that our careers are marathons and not sprints and warning them of the dangers of burnout are all great� - but ultimately of limited impact if I don't lead by example. This means unplugging while I'm on vacation, being upfront when I need to be offline for a couple of hours in the middle of the day to go to my daughter's dance recital, or having to log off early for a doctor's appointment. Doing this reinforces to my team that this is not only ok, but expected. Because we are able to bring our best selves to work not in spite of work-life balance, but because of it.
Tune in for the next blog to find out what the women on Vena's ELT have to say about creating safe workplaces for women+.
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