Worth Reading – Why Remote Managers Burn Out Without Knowing It
I wrote recently about how I handle working from home, and how my process might not be what works for everyone, but it works for me. This is an interesting reminder that managers with remote team members set the expectations through their actions:
If you’re a manager, your habits don’t just affect you. They shape the culture your team experiences:
- If you message late, they’ll feel pressured to stay on
- If you never unplug, they’ll think they can’t
- Or if you’re always burned out, they’ll assume that’s just part of the job
You don’t need to be perfect, but you do need to be intentional.
I stopped my quote at that word “intentional” for a reason. I use that word often in this context. Whether you have teammates who are fully remote, hybrid, or located in a different office, everything needs to be done intentionally. Communication, meetings, goals, expectations, and other key elements all need to be set purposefully. If you want your team to feel free to disconnect after hours or on weekends, then you must do so intentionally. If you allow work to creep into every hour of every day, or become lax about communication, or demand an immediate response to an email late at night, even once, you set the example that your team will follow.
Without intentionally setting the example, your team will exist in various states of uncertainty. What should their priorities be? When is it appropriate not to respond immediately? When does the workday end? Is burnout just part of the job? When you live with that much uncertainty at work, burnout is inevitable. If you’re not being intentional, don’t be surprised by it.
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