This year has been a battle of attrition with one of the biggest challenges of our time. Not only has Covid-19 taken an unspeakable toll of those dead, disabled or temporarily incapacitated by the disease, but a large proportion of the active workforce has been edged closer to occupational burnout. A survey made by the office space provider “The Office Group” shows that for Millenials top three causes of burnout are longer working hours (59%) and inability to separate work and private life (42%). For people aged 50 and above 48% reported being unable to take “a proper break” since the lockdown began. In other words - it seems like the lack of boundaries or disruption of them is the most likely factor to drive your workers into burnout.

A quick and easy solution would seem to give your overworked employees less work, right? Even if that was a realistic option, it wouldn’t work. Why? Because it’s not too much work that pushes people over the edge, it’s uncertainty and a lack of direction. Having a good task management system in place is essential for making sure that your employees are engaged with the right kind of work. Time tracking also makes sure you can detect those who are struggling with their tasks and offer help. What’s more - taking regular breaks can also be made into rewarding tasks! After all, being rested is essential to productivity.

Now for the toughest nut to crack - how to get your team to work with the new system? After all, they barely have enough stamina to do their everyday tasks and now you’re asking them to adopt a new system. The focus needs to be bringing value to them, i.e. - making their life easier. A well-oiled task management system will surely make the managers life easier, but only if the team is on the same page with you. If everyone isn’t willing to play ball, then the best system will end up being nothing more than extra load and a reason to resent the management even more.

In conclusion - every manager and HR person should make sure their teams are safe not only from the virus, but also from burnout. Poorly managed task delegation is one of the best catalysts for burnout which has a considerable productivity cost for the company. Introducing a task management system is a considerable challenge, but the payoffs are huge - better morale, less empty man-hours and better engagement from the team. Our client Aerones was able to increase their efficiency by twofold with the introduction of Asigny. And their technicians didn’t complain that now they have twice as much work to do, they were glad to be twice as efficient!

‍