Boost Team Wellbeing: Essential Recovery Strategies for Managers

As a manager, you have a big impact on your team members’ motivation, performance and wellbeing. The Chartered Institute for Personnel Development said it best in an interview with People Management magazine in 2018,

“Line managers might possess all the technical skills and qualifications under the sun – but without the emotional intelligence to care for the wellbeing of their employees, they will be helpless in the face of the UK’s presenteeism epidemic.”

And a 2019 study highlights that the presence of a competent leader supports team members’ psychological well-being and safety by reducing anxiety and providing comfort.

When I worked in UK local government, I managed lots of different teams over the years. I found my training as a psychologist immensely helpful in navigating the stresses and strains of managing others (and managing myself!) Therefore, I thought I would share some wellbeing frameworks you might find helpful to support yourself and your team.

In this article, you’ll learn:

The different types of recovery from work and why these are important
The two aspects of recovering from stress
Four wellbeing frameworks

Recovery from work

A 2018 study found that employees who are well recovered are more engaged, perform better and experience higher wellbeing at work.

The four main ways that help us recover from work are:

Psychological detachment – intentionally and actively work behind once the workday is over, ‘switching off’ and forgetting about work during non-work time.
Relaxation activities – for example, exercise; going to the cinema with friends; reading a book etc.
Mastery experiences – learning new things, practicing a hobby.
Control – putting in boundaries, such as switching off work phone when out of work hours; not checking work emails outside of work time etc.

A 2023 study in the Journal of Occupational and Organizational Psychologylooked at how we recover from work can help us manage our mood. The researchers found that mastery experiences and control seemed to help people feel calmer at the start of the workday, while psychological detachment and relaxation activities seemed to help people feel more awake at the start of the workday.

Therefore, it might be helpful to be think carefully and be more intentional about how you look after yourself in your non-work time. For example, if you know you have a work morning that requires you to be calm and wakeful, think about what you can do the night before that might help facilitate the optimum mood. This also applies to your team. You can encourage autonomy in team members, so they can, where practical, manage their working days and the tasks they need to do according to their mood trajectory. For example, writing an in-depth, difficult report might be best at the start of the day, when wakefulness is high.

Recovery from stress

In his book, The Science of Change, Professor Richard Boyatzis talks about the renewal experiences that help us to offset our stress. He cites many different studies which focuses on two different aspects – the things we do with others (interpersonal) and the things to do alone (intrapersonal).

Intrapersonal – walking in nature, gardening, meditating, prayer, modest physical exercise.
Interpersonal – laughter with others, an enjoyable meal with others, helping or volunteering, caring for others, feeling cared for, playing and being playful, reflecting on or discussing our greater purpose in life

Four wellbeing frameworks for managers to know about

Under each of the four frameworks I’ve provided a coaching activity. You can use this for yourself and with your team members. My suggestion is try it for yourself, first, so you experience it.

PERMA framework for wellbeing

In his book, Flourish, Professor Martin Seligman outlines five elements to wellbeing, which he subsequently discusses in a 2017 research article (see references section). The five elements with examples are:

Positive emotions Feeling good, feeling fulfilled	Practice gratitude Listen to uplifting music Exercise for the endorphins Engage in a hobby that makes you happy
Engagement Being completely engrossed in what you’re doing	Practice mindfulness Try meditation Do activities that absorb you Work on tasks that give you immediate feedback Know your strengths so you can do more things that align with these
Relationships Having authentic and loving relationships	Spend quality time with loved ones Make new friends by joining a group or club Volunteer for a charity Show appreciation – thank a different person every day
Meaning Living with a sense of purpose	Be clear on your core values and live to these Contribute to a cause that matters to you Offer to help someone, such as being a mentor
Accomplishment Having a sense of achievement	Set clear goals to work towards Be curious and open to new ideas Celebrate your successes, big and small Reflect on failures, committing to learn from them

Coaching activity:

Rate yourself on a scale of 1 to 10 on each of these elements, where 1 is the worst, and 10 is the best. How are you doing on each? Which is the one you need to work on the most? What is one small step you can take to improve that element?

Some writers have suggested a sixth element – Health (H). See my infographic below for the model with Health added.

2. 5 PILLARS OF SELF-COMPASSION

Research indicates that developing self-compassion can help our wellbeing. Chris Germer, a clinical psychologist, has developed a framework with five pillars or pathways that support us in being self-compassionate. These are:

Physical which is focused on “softening the body”.
Mental which is focused on “reducing agitation”.
Emotional which is focused on “soothing and comforting”.
Relational which is focused on “connecting with others”.
Spiritual which is focused on “committing to your values”.

The aim is to do things that support all five pillars each day. These don’t have to be huge. Even small things can make a difference. Check out my sketchnote which depicts a ‘menu’ of things (big and small) under each pillar.

Coaching activity:

Get a piece of paper, some coloured pens and create your own menu, listing activities that support you under each pillar.

3. DRAMMA model

The DRAMMA model suggests that engaging in leisure and social activities might help offset the stresses and strains of work and help boost our wellbeing.

Detachment – switching off from work during leisure activities.
Relaxation – doing things that help you unwind and de-stress.
Autonomy – having the freedom and choice to do what you enjoy.
Mastery – engaging in activities that challenge and stretch.
Meaning – doing activities that relate to what matters to you.
Affiliation – doing things with other people.

Coaching question:

Reflect on any hobbies and activities you engage in outside of work. How many of the six elements of the DRAMMA model do your hobbies or activities support? If there are any gaps, what opportunities are there with your current hobbies or activities to bridge those gaps?

4. The having, loving, doing, being framework

Sociologist, Professor Erik Allardt, developed a theory of wellbeing which suggests we have three needs for functional wellbeing:

Having (feeling safe, getting the resources we need to survive at work)
Loving (getting interpersonal needs met at work)
Doing (getting one’s needs for autonomy and competence met)

A new study, by Frank Martela, added a fourth need:

Being (humans as experiencing beings who want to have positive experiences at work)

Martela’s study has developed a theoretical framework as follows:

Having	A sense of safety Access to drink, food, and proper sanitation Physical safety against various hazards Adequate compensation Job security
Loving	A sense of acceptance – fitting in/belonging A sense of relatedness – connection, care Being able to make a positive difference Being able to contribute positively Interpersonally safe – free from harassment, conflict, and threat An absence of discrimination Positive social contactJob is interpersonally fulfilling
Doing	Autonomy in one’s work Competence to do the work Learning and development opportunities Protection against overlong working hours Congruence between personal and organisational values Voice and ability to influence working conditions
Being	Being engaged Being reflective Evaluative wellbeing – job satisfaction, meaningful work Affective wellbeing – amount of positive and negative emotions and feelings Conative wellbeing – motivation towards work, engagement at work