Your remote team is feeling overwhelmed by client demands. How can you alleviate their stress?

Stress can be both an asset and a burden; it can drive creativity and achievement when managed properly, but excessive or prolonged stress can lead to burnout. Balancing stress levels is key to harnessing its positive aspects while avoiding its detrimental effects.

As a leader of a team that is overwhelmed by client demands, you may need to help them set appropriate boundaries with the client to help the team maintain work-life balance. Does your current client agreement have details on how communication should be handled? Do you need to remind them to adhere to the contract? If that is not sufficient, review how the clients have been communicating. Identify a few potential process improvements that will better control the inflow, reduce redundancy and noise, and prioritize inputs. Figure out how your suggestions can also benefit the client. Set a time with the clients and seek to get an agreement with them. Tighter communication funnels increase efficiency and alignment, while reducing stress.

During the pandemic my team transitioned to remote work. Initially, the team was excited about the flexibility, but soon, the lines between personal and professional life began to blur, leading to burnout. I encouraged my team to set clear boundaries for work hours and to fully disconnect after hours. I took the initiative to educate others about these boundaries, emphasizing the importance of respecting them. As a result, my team regained their work-life harmony and productivity improved.

Client Expectations: Manage client expectations by setting realistic deadlines and communicating clearly about what can be delivered and when. Work Hours: Encourage a clear separation between work and personal time. Promote regular breaks and discourage overtime.

Have you ever noticed that it feels like most issues come from the smallest account? J/K With multiple clients and projects, it is really important to have scales of reference that go across the board. This helps the team feel less scattered and reactive. Assuming you prioritize on importance and urgency, you'll want to set definitions appropriate for classifying tasks across multiple projects and clients. For example, develop an ABC categorization for importance across clients, risk, and common types of actions and requests. Similarly, set a scale for urgency. This may be different inside of each client or risk categorization. Within supply chain, I've seen very complex taxonomies work well across large teams with a simple spreadsheet.

Encuentro necesario ayudar a mi equipo dotandoles de estrategias de auto cuidado que incluyan la gestión eficaz de su propia energía. Algo que suele ser escaso en los profesionales con los que trabajo, en exceso acostumbrados a trabajar a destajo hasta agotarse o enfermar. Considero que es la responsabilidad más esencial, saber cuidarse.

Tools and Training: Ensure the team has access to the necessary tools and any additional training that might help streamline their workflow. Mental Health Support: Offer resources for mental health, such as access to counseling services

One-on-One Meetings: Ensure you have individual check-ins to understand personal stress points and provide tailored support. Regular Check-Ins: Schedule regular team meetings to discuss workloads, challenges, and progress. This creates a platform for everyone to voice their concerns and share ideas.

Modern project management tools equipped with AI-driven analytics can predict workload impacts and help prioritize tasks. Tools like Monday.com and Asana offer integration capabilities that consolidate information from various platforms, enabling a holistic view of project status and deadlines. Automation of Repetitive Tasks: Sophisticated automation tools can manage not just simple tasks but complex workflows. Tools like Zapier and Microsoft Power Automate use machine learning to understand team patterns and preemptively adjust workflows, minimizing bottlenecks and reducing manual oversight.

The first thing you should do to help alleviate stress within your team is to bring them all together. This can be either face to face or online. Allow them all to talk and share with each other what they are struggling with and then as a team you can start to work out the best solutions moving forward. When your team is feeling stressed it's crucial that they feel heard and supported.