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Your Team Isn't Overworked. They're Under-Defined.

Writer: Eric Jones
Eric Jones
20 minutes ago
2 min read

Leaders see stress and reach for the same three moves: redistribute tasks, encourage time off, or train people to manage their time better.

But a 60-year meta-analysis of 515 studies covering nearly 788,000 employees found that workload is only one workplace stressor, and often not the most damaging one.

Your team may be overworked.

They may also be under-defined.

Notice

Role ambiguity means people do not know what is expected, how success will be judged, or where their responsibility ends.

The research found it was the most damaging stressor across:

  • Satisfaction and engagement

  • Commitment and perceptions of fairness

  • Task performance and helping behaviours

Ask:

  • What does “good” look like here?

  • Who owns this decision?

  • What should wait when priorities change?

Clayart leader and employee comparing unclear expectations, competing priorities, and workload

Repair

Role conflict is different. It happens when people receive incompatible demands or competing priorities.

It was the strongest predictor of burnout, psychological distress, counterproductive behaviour, and turnover intentions. Most concerning: it had no relationship with task performance.

Your high performers can look fine on a dashboard while quietly planning their exit.

Senior leaders must own the conflict.

  • Decide what comes first.

  • Name what will stop or wait.

  • Resolve leadership disagreements before they reach employees.

Clayart senior leader untangling competing priorities and pointing toward one clear direction

Practice

Role overload still matters. It most strongly predicts negative emotions and physical symptoms such as irritability, anxiety, and headaches. Overwork was even positively associated with engagement, meaning commitment can hide strain.

Gallup reports that global engagement is just 20%; manager engagement fell to 22% in 2025, while 45% of managers reported significant daily stress, compared with 39% of individual contributors. Gartner says improving job manageability is five times more effective than skills training. SHRM reports mental-health coverage declined 6%.

Clarity is a resilience-based leadership practice, not a perk.

  • Revisit expectations in one-on-ones.

  • Remove process hurdles.

  • Make communication part of the work.

Clayart team placing clear ownership and success markers on a shared map

Heartbeat Check

This is the Communication pillar of the AQL: people need a clear, trustworthy understanding of what is happening and what matters next. Notice how your leadership history, experiences, strengths, management principles, and legacy development shape the messages you send. When communication creates clarity, invest in the relationship → ROR rises → ROI follows.

  • What expectation have I left vague?

  • Where are competing priorities landing?

  • What conversation would reduce uncertainty today?

The ROR: Return on Relationship approach treats connection as a leadership asset.

Is your team truly overloaded, or spending its energy deciphering the work?

What would change if senior leaders owned the ambiguity they created?

Sources

 
 
 

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© 2035 by Roxanne Dehodge.

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