5 Strategies to Support Your Team During Crunch Time

In today’s work life, crunch times are often unavoidable. But these high-pressure stretches can easily lead to burnout for you and your team. Here are tactics to ensure this doesn’t happen:

• Set aggressive but achievable goals, making them exciting and reachable. Consider your team’s level of performance and maturity when doing this.

• Evaluate the risks before assigning a goal. Does the goal immediately follow another intense one? Will this stretch the team too thin?

• Consider the costs of your decisions. Do you know what you are asking your team to do? Do you understand its impact on their mental health and family life? Pay attention and share the burden of your team's sacrifice.

• Keep lines of communication open. Ensure team members have a way to share critical information. Crunch time usually affects a leader's availability.

• Ask the right questions. Conduct frequent conversations with team members to ensure they aren't getting pushed too hard or things are not working as they should. Questions such as, "What challenges are you facing?", "What support do you need from me?" and "How are you doing? Are you feeling stressed?”