5 Effective Burnout Workshop Activities to Help Your Team Combat Stress and Improve Wellbeing
Burnout is a massive challenge in today’s workplaces, and it’s not just about the workload. It’s about how work affects our energy, motivation, and even our sense of self. Many organizations are stepping up by offering burnout prevention workshops to support their teams’ mental health and resilience - and I’m guessing you’re the lucky manager or HR professional who has been volunteered for the job!
The employee engagement survey came back with signs of employee burnout and now it’s time for a workshop. I’m here to help!
As someone who facilitates stress management and burnout prevention workshops for teams professionally, I’m here to help. First, a shameless plug: you can hire me to provide in-depth, neuroscience-based burnout workshops for your team.
Not currently an option? All good - I’ve put together 5 activities that you can easily facilitate yourself that will make a real difference in helping your team combat stress and feel more balanced.
These activities are designed to be practical, engaging, and easy to implement, with each one addressing a unique aspect of burnout prevention. Let’s dive into each activity, with specifics on how they work and why they’re effective in supporting team wellbeing.
I’ve included links and resources to make this as easy for you as possible!
Burnout Workshop Activities
Activity 1: Stress Management Skills
Time Estimate: 30 minutes
This activity uses my TEDx Talk How to Relieve Stress When You’re Overwhelmed to introduce the importance of stress relief as a proactive measure against burnout.
Burnout doesn’t happen overnight; it’s the result of stress building up in the body and mind over time.
Have your team watch my TEDx Talk, “How to Relieve Stress When You’re Overwhelmed.” It’s really good, I promise! The talk covers the science of stress relief and why it's important to allow ourselves regular breaks. After watching, hold a group brainstorming session where participants discuss the three keys to stress relief mentioned in the video: letting tension out, limiting information intake, and lowering the barrier to entry for stress-relief activities.
This discussion allows team members to reflect on how the 3 Keys to Stress Relief in the talk can be applied to their own routines. When people can actively discuss and visualize simple ways to relieve stress, it’s much easier to see how these practices could become part of their everyday work life. Encouraging the team to think about stress management in a structured way. They’re more likely to integrate it into their daily routines, which can reduce the risk of burnout over time.
This TEDx is based on principles that I use to facilitate workshops with teams, so the impact is tried and tested!
Activity 2: Team Burnout Assessment
Time Estimate: 30 minutes
This exercise helps teams identify specific burnout risk factors within their organization. Start by downloading my free team burnout assessment. Yes, once again, I made this resource - which means it’s really good. It’s based on a research model of burnout. Distribute copies to each member of your team!
It’s essential to understand what’s causing burnout in your workplace if you’re going to tackle it effectively. In this activity, each team member completes a burnout assessment that focuses on factors like workload, control, reward, fairness, community, and values alignment. This assessment is simple yet revealing, helping participants see where stress is coming from within the team and how it might be affecting their overall wellbeing.
Once the assessment is complete, group team members by their highest burnout triggers. For example, if workload is a common issue, those team members can discuss ways to make work more manageable or explore task-sharing options. Each group can then brainstorm practical, team-oriented solutions that address their specific burnout risks.
This activity creates a safe, open environment where team members can recognize that burnout is often the result of systemic issues, not just personal “weakness.” It empowers participants to share their experiences and brainstorm solutions together, helping them feel heard and supported. Addressing burnout collectively is a powerful way to strengthen team morale and build a culture that prioritizes mental health.
Activity 3: Team Wellness Calendar
Time Estimate: 30 minutes + long-term activity (one month commitment)
Developing a shared wellness calendar encourages ongoing commitment to wellbeing and allows the team to support each other’s goals. Use this Happiness Calendar from Greater Good Magazine as an example. No, I did not make this - but I wish I had! It’s super cute.
A team wellness calendar is a longer-term, group-focused activity that keeps wellbeing front and center over an extended period. For this activity, gather the team to brainstorm wellness ideas, such as daily stretching, “no-meeting” hours, or regular gratitude check-ins. Encourage everyone to contribute ideas so that the calendar reflects the entire team’s needs and interests. Once all ideas are gathered, build a wellness calendar that spans an entire month and includes daily or weekly wellness activities that the team can participate in together.
What makes this activity so impactful is the collective commitment. When everyone contributes to the wellness calendar and holds each other accountable, wellbeing becomes a shared responsibility rather than a personal goal. Team members are more likely to follow through on these activities when they see them on the calendar, and the longer timeframe allows people to form positive habits. This structured approach reinforces the importance of taking time to recharge and supports a culture that values self-care just as much as productivity.
Activity 4: Wellbeing Scavenger Hunt & Mindfulness Practice
Time Estimate: 30-40 minutes
This scavenger hunt introduces participants to valuable online mindfulness resources and lets them practice a mindfulness activity together. A few of my favourite websites are:
Assign each group a topic to research in their scavenger hunt: mindfulness, gratitude, movement, sleep, etc. and have them research the benefits of each. Each group should pick an article, resource, or activity to share with the rest of the team.
After everyone has shared their findings, bring the team together for a 10-minute mindfulness exercise. You might be able to use one that a group found! As a backup, a good choice is this 10-Minute Meditation for Deep Relaxation which guides participants through a simple, effective relaxation practice. This activity exposes the team to high-quality mindfulness resources they can use outside the workshop, and it also demonstrates the calming effects of mindfulness in a supportive setting.
Mindfulness practices, exercise, and gratitude help to reset our stress response, giving us a mental break and reducing the buildup of chronic stress that leads to burnout. By combining exploration with a group activity, participants experience the benefits of mindfulness firsthand and get inspired to make it a regular practice.
Activity 5: Work-Life Balance Mindmap
Time Estimate: 20-30 minutes
This activity helps participants reflect on different areas of their life and identify areas where they can create more balance. Work-life balance is often the first casualty of burnout, yet it’s crucial for sustaining long-term health and happiness. In a phenomenon called the Recovery Paradox, we tend to engage in activities outside of work the least when we need them the most. Share this phenomenon with your team!
The mindmap activity helps people step back and view their lives as a whole, identifying areas that might need more balance. Each participant draws a mind map that includes major areas of life such as work, family, health, hobbies, and social connections. They can then rate their satisfaction in each area and brainstorm small, achievable changes that could help them bring balance back into their lives.
By visually mapping their priorities and current commitments, participants can more easily identify what’s working well and what might need adjustment. This activity promotes self-awareness and helps people see where they might be overextending themselves or missing out on meaningful activities. When we recognize areas that need more balance, we’re empowered to make intentional changes, which is essential for burnout prevention. Even small adjustments can have a big impact on wellbeing, and this exercise provides a clear, structured way for people to get started.
Each of these activities brings something unique to the table, from team-based burnout assessments to personal reflections on work-life balance. Together, they create a holistic approach to reducing burnout and enhancing resilience in the workplace.
Facilitator Tips for Leading Burnout Workshop Activities
I’ve been doing this for a while! As a burnout speaker and workshop facilitator, I’ve worked with many teams on these topics. Here are some of my best tips for doing it well.
Create a Safe, Open Environment
Start by setting a tone of openness and non-judgment, acknowledging that burnout is common and often due to systemic factors rather than personal shortcomings. Encourage curiosity, not judgment, and let participants know this is a safe space for sharing.
Burnout workshop activities can bring up a lot of strong opinions from employees. It can be really tempting to explain away issues in the moment, but in my experience it is best to refrain from doing this. Instead, acknowledge the frustration.
When participants feel safe, they’re more likely to engage openly, leading to deeper discussions and more impactful outcomes. Often, teams will come up with their own solutions if given space to do so!
Encourage Reflection, Not Just Participation
After each activity, ask open-ended questions to encourage participants to reflect on their insights. Questions like, “What surprised you about this exercise?” or “What’s one takeaway you’ll bring into your daily routine?” can help.
Once you’ve asked a question like this stay quiet for a few moments. If silence is uncomfortable, you can even make it part of the reflection. Ask your question then say “I’ll give you 60 seconds to think about that.” Your team needs time to process!
Reflection turns each activity into a personal learning experience, making it more likely that participants will apply what they’ve learned beyond the workshop.
Adapt Activities to Suit Your Team’s Culture
Adjust each activity to match your team’s comfort level and style. For example, if your team is more private, you could allow time for individual work before group discussions.
There burnout workshop activities all have some flexibility. Change the group sizes as needed or turn them into individual activities. Use pen-and-paper or online tools for reflection - whatever works best for your team!
Tailoring activities to your team’s culture makes participants feel more comfortable, increasing engagement and relevance.
Model Vulnerability
Be open about your own experiences with stress or burnout (within comfortable boundaries). Share a time when you struggled with work-life balance and how you managed it.
That last part is important - share how you managed it. When you’re in a leadership position, selective disclosure is essential. Sharing your current struggles with employees can feel like a burden for the team. Instead, discuss past challenges and what you did to show an optimistic way forward.
When participants see you being authentic, they’re more likely to feel safe sharing their own experiences, building trust and fostering a supportive group dynamic.
Provide Practical Takeaways
At the end of each activity, summarize the key takeaways and suggest simple, actionable steps they can use daily. Follow up with any handouts or links to resources they can explore on their own.
Hands down the biggest shortcoming that I see in most burnout workshop activities is an emphasis on the problem without discussing solutions. I’ve designed these activities so you can easily emphasize solutions and I encourage you to do so! Most people are already aware that burnout is a problem.
Practical takeaways reinforce that these are skills for everyday use, helping participants apply what they’ve learned and making the workshop feel more valuable.
How to Sustain Burnout Prevention After the Workshop
Successful burnout workshop activities can inspire immediate changes, but to truly make a lasting impact, it’s essential to keep the momentum going. Burnout prevention isn’t a one-time fix; it’s an ongoing commitment to fostering balance, resilience, and wellbeing within the team. Here are a few practical ways to sustain burnout prevention long after the workshop ends.
Regular Wellness Check-Ins: Schedule regular check-ins, whether weekly or monthly, to discuss burnout prevention and share experiences. These sessions could be quick 15-minute discussions where team members talk about what’s been working for them and share any challenges they’re facing. Wellness check-ins not only keep burnout prevention on the radar but also provide a safe space for ongoing reflection and support.
Integrate Wellness Activities into Team Routines: Embedding wellness practices into daily or weekly routines helps normalize them and reduces the chance they’ll be forgotten. For example, you could introduce a “mindful Monday” where the team starts the week with a short breathing exercise, or a “flexible Friday” where meeting-free blocks encourage focus time. By building these activities into routines, the team can naturally maintain their stress-management practices.
Encourage Peer Support and Accountability: Assign “wellness buddies” or encourage team members to pair up and check in on each other’s burnout prevention goals. Having a buddy can make it easier to stay accountable and share progress. These partnerships can be as simple as a quick weekly text exchange to check on each other’s wellbeing, creating a sense of connection and mutual support.
Use a Shared Platform for Wellbeing Updates: Consider creating a shared space, like a Slack channel or a wellness board, dedicated to burnout prevention. Here, team members can share tips, post reminders for wellness practices, or celebrate small wins in their wellness journey. This keeps burnout prevention top-of-mind and makes it easy for everyone to participate in small but meaningful ways.
By keeping these strategies active, teams can build on what they learned during the workshop and strengthen their long-term resilience. Making wellness an ongoing conversation shows that burnout prevention is a priority and reinforces a commitment to each team member’s wellbeing.