Recently we joined Safe in Our World at the Games Growth Summit to talk about burnout in our industry and why we must look at it preventatively rather than reactively.  The talk was so well received we were inundated with responses as we left the stage and so we've captured some top tips here for you:

In recent years the amount of people struggling with burnout has increased and it seems the issues is higher than average statistics suggest in Games.  So we want to explore why that seems to be the case and what steps you can take to help yourself or your colleagues to manage:

The industry is renowned for its amazing games and the content we produce. We are world class and yet beneath the surface lays a picture of long hours, crunch, poor management and inexperienced leaders. Money and marketing are often placed as priority in the race to publish the best game in genre, yet the people who produce them are perhaps overlooked and seen as resources rather than people with needs.  It was insightful for me that at the Games Growth Summit almost every session focused on people and culture at some stage and that as I got off stage to head to the sandwiches I was inundated with questions and feedback and barely made it to lunch before the sessions restarted.

As an organisation psychologist with a specialism in connection and diversity I know all too well that when connection isn't there burnout can increase.  But there is more at play than simply connection when burnout occurs.  And whilst in the main it is a business problem there is much beneath the individual that are contributing factors and here we explore what they may be.

Burnout can present itself in a variety of ways, including increased anxiety, depression or escapist behaviours - gambling, drinking, over working or other addictive behaviours - as well as total exhaustion and an inability to function normally.  What is common is that we don't generally recognise its coming on until it's already taken its hold and the prevention measures are too late.  Your role as a colleague, or manager is to embed measures that enable the balance to always exist. Recent research shows that to truly flourish at work we need to consider these four factors:

• Mind
• Body
• Connection
• Spirituality.

What do we mean by these exactly?

Mind and body are the components we can do for ourselves as individuals.  Activities like mindfulness, yoga, exercising, eating well and sleeping enough.  But is your studio allowing for people to take the time to do this? Are you considering the four day working week - figures out recently showed a decrease in burnout by 71% in the trials. Do you give flexible hours? And do you really actively encourage people to have the time for their growth, development, body and mind or do you assume that because you have the practices in place they'll just do this anyway? We often see that there's a disconnection between what organisations think they have in place and how they communicate this.  Language is only one form of communication and much is conveyed in the non verbal messaging, after all.

We know from group think behaviours, role modelling and leaving loudly are important factors in showing your culture really isn't a work hard, die hard one.  But what is often misunderstood are the factors around connection and spirituality and how to recognise someone is struggling, especially in our remote world.

We have to work that bit harder in a remote world to connect and engage with each other. In a post Covid world I think it's too early to say definitively if remote working will remain but I do think that the hybrid model is more likely to stick and this is why: Connection is vital to human existence, we are social creatures and whilst there are variations of that from introversion to neurodiversity, fundamentally to thrive we need to be together.  What happens when that dynamic changes creates a greater sense of disconnection and so we seek it elsewhere and in some instances that elsewhere may be in toxic behaviours towards ourself especially where we isolate ourselves from the normal activities of the group we belong to.

As line managers, and leaders we need to watch out for those micro changes and differences in behaviours. But can that be done when we're not seeing people in a day to day way? Well the truth is it can be but it's far harder to do than in person and it takes work.  So daily check ins, regular catch ups and tracking of tasks and hours are useful. But also so are mechanisms which prevent someone checking in at weekends or holidays - can systems shut down to allow for this - and actively encourage people to leave loudly?  However, there are some instances where the nuances around this can be harder to navigate and where you might need training to really understand it.  And that's where you may benefit from neurodiversity training because connection & switching off from work for these individuals can be very different.

And finally, what does spirituality have to do with avoiding burnout? When we think of the term "spirituality" we usually think of religion or meditation but in fact in this model spirituality applies to our values and purpose. Sometimes life moves on and what was once important to us no longer serves us, and it's this part that we need to recognise in ourselves and others.  Are you still a match to the work you're producing? And how do you recognise that your colleagues are struggling with the values disconnect?  Common patterns are hard to see when burnout is developing, as its lost increased sickness, tardiness, poor performance or discourse between team members.  But a key flag is poor performance and a seeming disillusion in work. Signs look like late delivery, poor quality work and micro aggressions between people.

As busy people its hard to notice the team members that are slipping through the net and even more so when we don't get the water cooler moments. But if, as businesses we can prioritise people and their needs ensuring the culture actively encourages wellbeing practices we stand a chance of reducing the burnout statistics in this industry and helping become the change for the next generation.