Are you coping or creating? How healthy is your organization?

Photo by Stormseeker on Unsplash

Two of my clients this week -from totally different sectors- had similar questions around colleagues who are struggling with burnout. They asked me how to deal with this.

In my view, there are basically two routes to approach this on an organizational level.

Option A: Fix the organization (a.k.a. More metrics, more programs)

One way is the typical managerial route: let’s get out the metrics and measure where our organization is at. Then we define KPI’s and set up employee assistance programs (i.e. let’s fix the organization).

Important? Sure. But maybe not enough.

Option B: Design an environment where people don’t burn out

A second way is to design a context in which people’s energy does not get drained. And then we talk about totally different metrics:

• Is there room for laughter in the hallways? (or are laughing colleagues snapped at for disturbing the working atmosphere?)

  
  

• Do people have time to brainstorm about new ideas? (or are brainstorming meetings cancelled due to “firefighting”?)

  
  

• Is there room for creativity? Do your employees have time to pick out funky colours or come up with crazy ideas to communicate the results of a project? (or do you systematically “forget” to communicate to the organization about project A, because you are already busy launching project B?)

  
  

• Is there room for fun on the agenda? Is it possible to talk about weekends, hobbies, families and take a walk during lunch?

  
  

• Does the leadership have time to talk about where they want to take the organization? How they want to grow and develop their people? Do they even have time to talk about their own team and what it would take to get to the next level of collaboration?

  
  

• Do the employees know how their tasks contribute to the overall goal? (or do they just get tasks piled on to their other responsibilities?)

  
  

• Is there room for playfulness and humor in the board meetings? Or is the reality in the office one of hurrying around, ticking off boxes, comparing to do lists, snapping at colleagues and skipping lunch?

Breakfast meetings, funky colours & the ROI of fun

I talked to one of the execs about how his colleague is having a weekly breakfast with her team. His first response was: “Does she have time for that?”.

Well, if that question implies: “Does she have all of her to dos covered, before she heads to the breakfast table?”, the answer is NO.

But then again, to do lists are never ending. The question is, how do you prioritize “creativity”, “team formation” or “people development” over endless meetings and firefighting?

How to design a burnout-resistant, creative organization:

1. Build in time, structurally and culturally, for cross-silo conversations

   Block micro-slots every week (even an hour!) and macro-slots every year (a day or two per quarter or semester). The key? Regularity beats length.

   
   

2. Equip teams to use this time well.

   Read books, articles, blogs on the theme. Gather best practices in the organization, learn from a mentor, engage a coach,…

   
   

3. Teach leaders to manage their own energy — and model how to do the same for others.

Let’s put "white space" on the agenda

Let this be a plea for more “white space” in our agendas and in our organizations. Time to connect with our colleagues. Time to understand how our teams work. Time to release our creativity and try new things. So we can learn how to fail and develop new ways of working.

Let’s spend some time, collectively, talking about what drives us and gives us energy. How can we, collectively, make sure that we create this environment for each other?

And let’s use fun and creativity as metrics, instead of retention, number of burn-outs and speed of re-integration.

Thoughts, questions, ideas? Feel free to contact me!