How to Manage Heavy Workloads: Strategies for Busy Teams

Are your employees overloaded and overwhelmed? If you’re hearing this from your team (or are experiencing it yourself), you’re not alone. Heavy workload is reported as the number one cause of stress for employees, according to surveys from Statistics Canada and Robert Half Canada. With rising rates of burnout and growing organizational needs, what can leaders do right now to help employees manage their overfilled plates?

Employees genuinely want to perform well at work. Most want to stay engaged, feel a sense of purpose, and be seen as capable by their peers and leaders. So, if an employee is struggling with workload, it’s likely not due to lack of effort. In fact, high performers are often the most likely to push themselves to burnout trying to keep up.

When stress builds and performance drops, it's important to consider both the worker’s abilities and the demands being placed around the work. An employee may be trying to manage a health condition. The organization may be dealing with shifting roles, a new influx of work, or external pressures. Either way, burnout is a signal that the conditions around work need to change.

What Is Workload Management?

Workload management isn’t about having little or no work. It’s also not about increasing working hours to be able to complete tasks. It’s about the resources available to each individual to do the work well. The exact same workload may feel manageable to some employees while completely overwhelming to others, depending on the time, equipment, and support provided.

According to research from Guarding Minds at Work, the following can describe workplaces with positive workload management¹:

• The amount of work is reasonable
• I have time to complete work
• Deadlines are reasonable
• I can do my job effectively with the tools and equipment available
• I can talk to my manager about my workload
• I feel that my job is secure
• The frequency of staff turnover is reasonable
• My work is free from unnecessary interruptions and distractions
• I have control over how my tasks and responsibilities are prioritized

Strategies to Manage Workload

Mental health can be improved at multiple levels within an organization. Looking at workload management at the individual level, team level, and organizational level can help address larger company issues while giving employees agency over managing their own work and stress levels.

Strategies for Organizations

1. Examine workplace culture and working conditions. Do employees feel valued for their efforts and supported by their leaders, or do they feel stressed about their work? Use employee surveys and exit interviews to understand how workload is impacting staff and identify patterns in organizational gaps.
2.  Set clear expectations about workload. Policies that guide how work is managed help employees and managers understand when work is reasonable. These may include disconnecting from work policies, flexibility and remote work policies, overtime policies, and clear job descriptions and performance expectations.
3.  Ensure job demands match employee capabilities. If there is a mismatch between skills and work demands, employees may need more resources to help close that gap. To determine what supports may be needed, review roles and job tasks (a Job Demands Analysis may be helpful) and conduct a functional assessment to assess employee abilities. Once gaps are determined, providing accommodations or job coaching can help employees be successful in managing their work.
4.  Prepare for periods of higher workload. Anticipate peak periods, staff absences, and growing project demands. You may need to bring in temporary support and redistribute tasks to avoid relying on employees to consistently “go above and beyond.”

Strategies for Team Leaders

1.  Notice when behaviours change. Pay attention when work starts slipping through the cracks or when employees seem unusually fatigued, disengaged, or withdrawn. These are signs of overload.
2.  Create a safe space to talk about workload. Make workload check-ins a regular part of team meetings and 1:1 conversations. Employees should feel psychologically safe to talk about their challenges without fear of repercussions.
3.  Collaborate on solutions. Ask employees what they need to succeed in their roles and what the barriers are. (e.g., are expectations unclear, are there too many distractions, is there enough time? etc.) Work together to address roadblocks and make goals.
4.  Give employees some control. Allow flexibility in how tasks are organized and completed. This could look like letting employees weigh in on priorities, provide input into performance goals, or choose where and how work gets done.
5.  Support effective task management. Ensure that expectations are reasonable, specific, and consistent across the team. If they aren’t, you may need to assist with delegating tasks or adjusting responsibilities. Employees may also need help minimizing disruptions to their work, such as unexpected meetings, distracting work environments, etc.
6.  Acknowledge effort—not just output. Show appreciation when employees work hard, especially during challenging periods. Recognition builds morale and reinforces purpose and positive engagement.

Strategies for Employees

Beyond clear job expectations from the employer and resources from leaders, employees may need some internal resources to organize their workload. To reflect on how they work best and how they can prioritize their work each day, employees can ask:

• What are today’s goals?
• Which tasks are most enjoyable or energizing?
• Which tasks are draining or stressful?
• When during the day do I feel most productive?
• What distracts me most?
• What would an ideal day look like?

Employees can also try using these practical tools and strategies:

• Eisenhower priority matrix: Categorize urgent/important tasks from less critical ones to help with decision-making around what to tackle now, plan for later, delegate, or drop.
• Pomodoro technique: Work in focused time blocks with short breaks. (e.g., work for 25 minutes, rest for 5 minutes). This can help with sustaining attention.
• Time blocking: Set aside chunks of time for specific types of work to reduce multi-tasking.
• Boundary-setting skills: Reinforce boundaries around breaks, overtime, and communication expectations to prevent burnout from work overload.
• More ways to enhance productivity: Beat slumps in motivation by getting organized, building good habits, and treating yourself well – try these strategies.

Strategies for Leaders to Manage High Workload

If workload remains high despite the strategies in place, leaders should reflect on how they’re managing time, energy, and expectations. If the team doesn’t have capacity, bring evidence-informed details (such as task tracking) back to your leader to determine what work can be paused, streamlined, or reassigned.

There is also an emotional load of leadership. Many managers are balancing their own heavy responsibilities while also supporting their teams. That’s why it’s essential to prioritize personal boundaries and self-care. Set a healthy example by taking breaks and setting limits on availability.

It’s also important to consider ways to support mental health in times of strain. Research suggests that managers have just as much impact on people’s mental health as a spouse – and more than a doctor or therapist. Approach struggling team members with compassion. Keep the door open for honest conversations and be ready to provide access to mental health resources. Sometimes the most powerful thing a leader can do is simply show they care.

What if Employees Still Aren’t Managing Workload?

If an employee continues to struggle despite workload adjustments, consider individuals’ health and function as well as the environment. Are there barriers that make tasks harder than they need to be? Are employees experiencing mental health, cognitive, or physical challenges that are impacting performance? If you see performance issues that could be related to a disability, you have a duty to inquire before engage in disciplinary action.

The next step might be seeking help from an Occupational Therapist, who can address barriers interfering with a person’s ability to perform at work. If you think mental health support, accommodation strategies, or success coaching might be right for you or your employee, contact us at [email protected] to learn more.

Resources

[1] Workplace Strategies for Mental Health. (2024, August 29). Putting workload management on the agenda. https://www.workplacestrategiesformentalhealth.com/resources/putting-workload-management-on-the-agenda