Addressing Burnout In Engineering Teams

A delivered project with a burned-out team is still a failure You did it. You hit the deadline. You launched the product. You impressed the stakeholders. But your team? Exhausted. Frustrated. Quiet quitting. That's not success. It's the start to a bad reputation. Effective PMs don't just deliver. They deliver sustainably. Here's 3 tips to protect the finish line AND the people crossing it: ☝ Normalize red before it turns to burnout Too many teams silently suffer to avoid disappointing leadership. Create space for regular, transparent honesty. Then be brave and elevate concerns accordingly. It's your job after all. ✌ Manage to capacity, not just commitment Just because someone says "yes" doesn't mean they should. Respect bandwidth like a budget. Overdrawn teams pay interest. That interest can cause future problems for this project or the next one. 🤟 Celebrate recovery over delivery After a push, allow time to regroup. If every sprint is a sprint, you're not running a marathon. You're burning out the engine. Give teams time to catch their breath, recognize and celebrate small wins, and recalibrate effort so no one is redlining. Delivery at the expense of people is a short-term win with a long-term cost. Stay ahead by balancing delivery with sustainability. 🤙

Last week I advised a client to not pursue a grant opportunity. Not because the mission didn’t align. Not because they couldn’t put the funds to good use. But because the reporting requirements would’ve overwhelmed their small team. When we let “mission first” become “people last,” we build cultures that quietly break even the strongest people holding mission up. And if we say yes to mission at the expense of people, the mission eventually suffers too. 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗽 𝘄𝗲 𝗳𝗮𝗹𝗹 𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗼: We tell ourselves we’re doing important work. And we are. But somewhere along the way, that noble purpose can get twisted. Rest is selfish. Burnout is the badge. We’re 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘥𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘦𝘯𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 unless we’re 𝘥𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨. That mission matters more than health, relationships, sleep. Here are five warning signs that mission-first has quietly become people-last: 1. You feel guilty when you schedule down time. (Your team will notice and it becomes culture). 2. You’re constantly exhausted, but you rationalize it as needed for your mssion. 3. Your team mirrors your stress. 4. You postpone rest until “after the next big thing.” 5. Noone wants your job. In fact, they tell you they couldn't do what you do.     You’re not failing if you want to change. 𝗔𝗻𝗱 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗰𝗮𝗻 𝗱𝗲𝗳𝗶𝗻𝗲 𝗮 𝗱𝗶𝗳𝗳𝗲𝗿𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗽𝗮𝘁𝗵. Success isn’t working 70 hours a week to keep the lights on. It’s building something that lasts, something the leaders coming behind you want to take up. That can look like: • Set realistic work hours. There will be weeks where you have to dig deep, yes. Those can be rare, not the norm. Try something like my capacity calendar for a clear visual of your work flow (image). • Say no to “good” opportunities that come at a cost to team well-being. • Protect time for deep work. • Schedule real vacations. With real boundaries like no email. • Lead your mission in a way you'll still 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵 to five years from now. • Build time into your weekly calendar for your health and wellbeing. And show your team that you value it. • Create a leadership position that other people want to take up.    It’s not perfect. you'll still overwork sometimes. But you can notice. And course-correct. Because you can lead a mission without losing yourself. Or building a culture of burn out for your team.