Mental Workload at Work: What Management Solutions?

Mental workload at work is the result of psychological pressure and one of the main causes of stress in the workplace. It affects all categories of employees, and managers in particular, who are solicited from every side. When it becomes excessive, it weakens both professional and personal life: it becomes harder to manage emotions at work and in front of colleagues. The spread of remote and hybrid work has added to this pressure, as the number of channels, messages and coordination tasks has grown. For managers, the subject is not only a matter of well-being: it is a matter of organisation.

What is mental workload at work?

Mental workload is generated by the interactions between people and their work, whether organisational or social. It shows in the quantity and complexity of information to be handled, processed according to our emotional state and to the time we have to examine it. When one of these parameters becomes unmanageable, the mental load turns into a constraint.

Mental workload is not negative in itself. When it is shared intelligently and organised within a team, it can be a source of motivation and productivity: a challenging job is not a problem. It becomes dangerous when it is too intense to bear, and it can be temporary (a peak before a deadline) or permanent (a structural imbalance).

Understanding the causes

Overload is often described as a gap between the objectives to be reached and the means provided, which leads to permanent over-investment. In practice, it usually comes from a combination of causes:

• Unclear priorities: everything is presented as urgent, so the person has to arbitrate alone, all the time.
• Invisible commitments: tasks agreed in meetings, emails and corridors that are written down nowhere, and that the person has to remember.
• Constant interruptions: messages, notifications and unplanned requests that fragment the day.
• Understaffing or unregulated workload: a department working without enough people, or without anyone checking how work is distributed.
• Blurred boundaries: work invading personal life to the point where disconnecting is no longer possible.

A lack of regulation of the workload can have negative effects on employees' mental state in the short and medium term. A company committed to protecting the mental and physical health of its employees therefore needs a clear understanding of mental workload, and to treat it as a management subject.

Warning signs and risks of mental overload

The impact of overload varies from one person to another, and the signs are not always obvious at first. The repetition of certain behaviours should alert the manager:

• Decreased performance: the employee is less effective, and may become careless in organising daily tasks.
• Repeated mistakes: even small errors, when they repeat, are a sign of a problem to deal with quickly.
• Physical signs: persistent fatigue or other visible changes can indicate that the person's health is fragile.
• Mood instability: irritability, sensitivity to the slightest remark, unusual behaviour towards colleagues.

Prolonged overload can lead to burnout, usually described on three levels: emotional exhaustion, depersonalisation (detachment or insensitivity towards others), and a reduced sense of personal accomplishment (feeling incompetent at work). These are health issues: when you see them, involve the occupational health service or the appropriate professionals rather than handling them alone. For the detailed symptoms and their consequences for the company, read our article on mental overload: symptoms and risks, and for ways to assess the situation, how to measure mental health at work.

Management solutions to balance the workload

Solutions to mental workload involve several levels of adjustment in the way the team is managed.

Recognise the problem

The first step is the ability to recognise suffering due to overload. This awareness makes the urgency visible and the need for a rapid response clear. Talk about workload in one-to-one meetings, as a normal subject, not only when something goes wrong.

Clarify priorities

The manager's role is to set shared priorities so that each person does not have to arbitrate alone. Say clearly what can wait. Our 9 tips to manage your priorities better help each team member do the same at their level.

Make workload visible

Overload often stays hidden because nobody sees the full list of what a person has committed to. When actions are written down with an owner and a deadline, the distribution of work becomes visible, and you can rebalance it before someone breaks down.

Delegate and share responsibilities

Delegating part of the responsibilities is one of the most effective ways to reduce workload and restore a healthy balance. It is also a recognition of other employees' expertise and a sign of trust. Clarifying roles, for example with a RACI matrix, avoids both duplicated effort and tasks that fall through the cracks.

Plan realistically and set limits

Successful work requires an organisation of tasks with a feasible schedule. This also means setting physical and time limits: no messages expected in the evening, meetings kept within working hours, deadlines negotiated rather than imposed.

Individual habits that help

Organisation is the manager's responsibility, but a few personal habits also make a difference: do not work through your lunch break, do not extend your working day, take breaks, and do not check your professional emails at home. These reflexes help you feel better, and therefore work better. Reducing workload is also about rediscovering the satisfaction of work that is well done and completed.

Can a tool reduce mental workload?

A tool does not solve an organisational problem on its own, and multiplying applications can even add to the load. A well-chosen tool helps when it removes the need to remember: commitments are written down in one place, reminders go out automatically, and everyone sees what is expected of them. Perfony fits this approach: actions decided in meetings are recorded with an owner and a deadline, the team's workload is visible, and nobody has to keep the list in their head. You will find other practical guides in our resources for effective managers.