The importance of mental well-being awareness in tech teams 💊
How would you say your wellness level is right now, from 1 to 10?
If I let you 5 minutes to answer this question, what dimensions or areas of your life would you measure?
(Don’t keep reading until you have answered yourself)
People often think about wellness in terms of physical health — nutrition, sleep, exercise, etc. but it is so much more. When we at LIDR think about wellness, we take a holistic approach.
For us (and many others), wellness integrates physical, mental, and spiritual well-being. Using a 7-dimensions model, we make sure we are balanced, and our daily activities, even the smallest ones, fuel our body, engage our mind and nurture our spirit.
In fact, we take it very seriously at LIDR
People First is one of our core values.
We deeply believe in the power of wellness to give our fullest potential, and to get it from our peers and collaborators. Motivated employees who are both able and willing to give their best every day are the key factor for organizations to achieve ambitious long-term goals.
However, there is one concept that has gained more and more awareness lately, especially since the pandemic hit the world.
Yes, I’m talking about mental well-being.
For knowledge workers, lines between work and home have become increasingly blurred.
It’s not only that many of us are working longer hours. We also have experienced how difficult it is to look after children, and how our social interactions have changed.
In 2019, ‘burnout’ was recognised by the World Health Organisation (WHO) as an ‘occupational phenomenon’, but the problem of burnout has been around for decades.
Then, the pandemic pushed our world into a mental health crisis, and burnout is now cited more than ever as a reason for people to quit.
Often, mental health challenges go unnoticed in the tech culture and burnout rates are increasing day after day.
As a manager, it is your responsibility to address your team’s mental health before these problems affect their lives in depth and, in consequence, affect the entire company.
Deliberately focus on the well-being of your team, demonstrate actively that you care for them, and foster practices that increase overall well-being.
Lead by example, start the conversation if it’s not happening yet, and facilitate the adoption of individual and team measures.
That’s why Wellness is one of the most important areas of our Self-Leadership course, which is mandatory for everyone joining LIDR Academy, regardless of the role, seniority or goals.
Actually, on the upcoming November 16th, Francisco Vieira Mendes, co-founder at Yerbo, will come to share some tools to help you level up your own well-being management, based on well-being and burnout data from the tech industry. 🔥
During the session, you'll learn about new concepts such as mental zones, main stressors in tech, and ways to track your burnout risk and increase your chances of going into the flow state in the search for high performance with well-being.
If you are interested in joining us, join LIDR Academy, get access to this and more workshops, besides +200 hours of content to grow as a great leader in tech.
📚 Free Resources To Grow As A Great Engineering Lead
⚒️ Burn Out Index 2.0
Join over 200,000 individuals and check your burnout risk and work engagement levels for free! — A tool powered by Yerbo.
🔗 Check it out here
📄 Supporting Mental Health in Tech Culture
Too often, mental health challenges go unnoticed in tech culture. But it’s critical to address employees’ mental health before these problems affect your organization.
This article from BairesDev shares the main reason why should we work to address mental health in tech culture and some solutions to put it into practice.