You will be able to notice changes that suggest someone is pulling back and raise it with care.
Jasmine used to be the first to speak in team meetings. She would challenge ideas, suggest fixes, and argue happily about the details. Over the past six weeks, she has gone quiet. Her work is still on time, but it has become exactly what was asked and nothing more. Her chat replies, once instant, now take hours. Last week she took two days of medical leave, which she has never done before.
Wei Ling isn't sure whether to say anything. Jasmine hasn't complained, and her work is fine. Maybe she just wants to be left alone.
The signs of someone pulling back are usually changes from their own normal pattern, not anything you would notice comparing them with others. A naturally quiet person who stays quiet is just a quiet person. A talkative person who goes silent is telling you something.
Common changes include becoming quieter in meetings, slower replies, fewer ideas or questions, work that meets the brief but no longer goes beyond it, more sick days, irritability over small things, and less interest in the social side of the team. On a hybrid team, watch for cameras turned off more often, or someone who used to come into the office on optional days stopping.
None of these proves anything on its own. People have bad weeks. But a cluster of changes that goes on for several weeks deserves attention, and a one-on-one every week or fortnight, from module 2, gives you the baseline to notice it.
The World Health Organization describes burnout in its International Classification of Diseases as an occupational phenomenon rather than a medical condition. It is the result of chronic workplace stress that has not been successfully managed, and it shows in three ways: exhaustion, growing mental distance or cynicism about the job, and reduced effectiveness at work. You are not there to diagnose anyone. But knowing what it looks like helps you take early signs seriously.
Some causes of pulling back are outside your reach: a family illness, a relationship ending, financial pressure. Others are firmly inside it, and they are worth checking first.
Workload is the obvious one. People quietly carry more than is sustainable, especially after a team change, and assume they should cope. Unclear priorities are another: being asked by three people for three urgent things, never knowing which matters most. A lack of control is the third. Work where the person has no say over how or when, or where decisions that affect them are made without them, wears people down over time.
Each of these connects to something in this course. Workload connects to the delegation plan in module 3. Priorities connect to the goals in module 4. Control connects to the autonomy idea from lesson 6.1, What motivates people once pay is fair.
When Wei Ling thought about Jasmine's last six weeks, she realised that Jasmine had picked up most of Ravi's overflow queries while Ravi was struggling. Nobody had asked her. Nobody had thanked her. And she had applied for the team lead role that Wei Ling got, which Wei Ling had never talked about with her.
If you notice a pattern, raise it, privately and without accusation. The simplest opening names what you've seen and asks an open question: "I've noticed you've been quieter in meetings the last few weeks. How are things going for you?"
That opening does three things. It shows you've noticed, which matters to most people even if they don't say so. It describes a change rather than judging it. And it leaves the door open without forcing the person to explain anything.
Then listen. They may tell you a lot or very little. Both are fine. If they say "I'm fine", you can say that you're glad, and that the door is open if anything changes. You've made it easier to come back later.
What to avoid: telling people what you think is wrong with them, pressing for personal details, or turning the conversation into a performance discussion. If there is a performance issue as well, keep that for a separate conversation, as in lesson 5.3, When someone is falling short.
Some things people need help with are beyond a manager. If someone tells you they are struggling with their mental health, a family crisis or something similar, your job is to listen, to be practical about work adjustments where you can, and to know where to point them.
Many companies offer an employee assistance programme, which usually provides confidential counselling paid for by the employer. Find out whether yours has one and how people access it, before you need it. Your HR team may also know about other support, such as flexible arrangements or leave policies. In Singapore, the tripartite partners have published an advisory on mental well-being at workplaces, which you can find on MOM's website, and it sets out what employers are encouraged to provide.
When Wei Ling found out her company had an employee assistance programme, she was surprised. She had worked there four years and never heard of it.
Before you need it, find out what support your company offers, and write the first sentence you would say to someone who seems to be pulling back.
Write the opening line you would use with someone who seems to be pulling back, and find out what support your company offers.
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