Recognising when your team is approaching burnout isn’t just good leadership, it’s essential for sustainable team success. At The Thrive Team, we’ve long maintained that being stressed and unhappy is not a badge of honour. It’s a warning sign that something in your work environment needs attention.
Why early detection matters
When it comes to workplace stress, prevention is infinitely more effective than cure. A 2022 Deloitte study found that preventative mental health interventions show a return on investment of £5.30 for every £1 spent, compared to just £3 for reactive measures. Beyond the financial implications, addressing stress early prevents talent loss, maintains team creativity, preserves institutional knowledge, and protects your culture of wellbeing.
The subtle signs of team stress
The challenge for many leaders is that team stress rarely announces itself clearly. Instead, it manifests in subtle behavioural shifts that are easy to miss if you’re not looking for them.
One of the earliest indicators is a change in communication patterns. You might notice decreased participation in meetings, shorter and more abrupt emails, increased defensiveness when receiving feedback, or a reduction in informal check-ins. A team that once freely exchanged ideas but now sticks strictly to necessary communications is often experiencing heightened stress.
Stress frequently reveals itself through changes in work patterns as well. Presenteeism, being physically present but mentally disengaged, becomes more common. Team members might work through lunch or stay late without increased productivity. Error rates may increase, and previously reliable team members might suddenly struggle with prioritisation or miss deadlines. These aren’t signs of reduced capability or commitment, they often indicate cognitive resources being depleted by stress.
Team relationships also evolve under pressure. Increased interpersonal conflict may emerge where smooth teamwork once existed. Teams might begin to silo, with information and assistance less freely shared. You might notice reduced willingness to help colleagues, declining participation in team events, and the formation of complaint circles where negative perspectives are reinforced rather than solutions sought.
Physical and emotional indicators matter too. Increased sick days often spike before more serious burnout occurs. Visible exhaustion in meetings, emotional reactions disproportionate to triggering events, decreased patience with clients, and expressions of cynicism about work all warrant attention.
Creating space for honest conversations
If you notice these signs, the important next step is re-establish (or establish) psychological safety for team members to honestly discuss what they’re experiencing. Regular wellbeing check-ins can be incredibly effective, but they need to be genuine conversations rather than perfunctory questions. Our free Weekly Wellbeing Check Up provides a simple yet effective tool that helps individuals and teams assess their overall wellbeing across the four key areas of health, wellbeing, thinking, and stress management. This resource enables proactive steps where needed and promotes meaningful conversations about wellbeing.
For organisations where direct conversation about wellbeing feels uncomfortable, anonymous feedback mechanisms can provide valuable insights. Our Wellbeing Conversations Guide offers a comprehensive framework for building confidence having these important discussions, including tips for making wellbeing conversations part of working life, preparing for conversations, and building rapport while offering support.
Leading by example makes a profound difference. When leaders openly discuss their stress management strategies, it permits team members to do the same. One-to-one conversations that start with genuine curiosity about how someone is doing, rather than immediately focusing on tasks, can create space for important disclosures. Team members may not immediately open up about stress, particularly in organisations where high stress has been normalised.
Moving from detection to prevention
While recognising early signs of stress is important, thriving organisations build environments where harmful stress is prevented through intentional design. This means establishing clear priorities that prevent the everything-is-urgent phenomenon, ensuring reasonable workloads with buffer capacity for unexpected demands, providing autonomy over how and when work gets done where possible, and building regular recovery periods into the workflow.
When to seek external support
Sometimes, despite best efforts, team stress can reach levels that may benefit from external perspective. Consider engaging professional support when multiple team members show signs of significant stress, when team performance is notably affected, when the sources of stress seem systemic rather than situational, or when your capacity to support the team is compromised.
At The Thrive Team, we specialise in helping organisations create environments where team members can perform at their best without sacrificing wellbeing. Our approach combines pragmatic business understanding with a range of wellbeing training, focussing on self care and stress management..
A team that manages stress effectively isn’t just happier, it’s more innovative, more productive, and more likely to achieve sustainable success. The most resilient teams aren’t those that never experience stress, but those that recognise and address it before it becomes harmful.
If you’re concerned about stress levels in your team and would like to discuss training tailored to your specific situation, contact us for a confidential conversation.
