A Scoring System for Assessing Burnout

The last couple of years have been extremely challenging for most people. The ongoing pandemic, racial injustice and subsequent protests, and a macroeconomic recession leading to people being laid off and losing jobs have been brutal. More than ever before, in my opinion, people have burned out and continue to be susceptible to burning out in their jobs because of how the world’s events have unfolded in the last few years.

The question of how to assess this burnout aspect in teams and individuals often comes up in my conversations, whether during our unconference or my mentoring sessions with engineering leaders. This post explores a couple of my experiments to evaluate and support people who may be suffering from burnout.

What is burnout?

Burnout is a state of emotional, physical, and mental exhaustion caused by prolonged stress. It occurs when you feel overwhelmed and unable to meet constant demands. As the stress continues, you begin to lose the interest and motivation that led you to take on a certain role in the first place.

Burnout reduces productivity and saps your energy, leaving you increasingly helpless, hopeless, cynical, and resentful.

The negative effects of burnout spill over into every area of life, including your home, work, and social life, and even…