The Season When Culture Shows Up: How We Lead Our Team Through Peak Stress

Stress at work is real.

Here is the thing. Busy seasons do not create your culture. They reveal how it really works.

Every industry has its own pressure season. In ours, year end is when everything lands at once. Deadlines stack. Inboxes overflow. Everyone is a little more tired and a little closer to the edge.

We cannot remove the pressure, but we can decide how we support our team through it. At PayNW, that choice starts long before the deadlines hit. Over the years, we have tried a lot of things. Some stuck, some did not. These are the ones that continue to make a real difference for us.

We prioritize our employees’ wellbeing all year, with extra intentionality when stress is highest. Here is what that looks like.

Protecting PTO With Purpose

We limit PTO to ensure that we have full coverage, and we still encourage people to take time away.

It sounds like a contradiction, but it is not. We do not want more than one person off on each team during peak weeks, and at the same time we nudge people to take a random day off.

Sometimes that sounds like, “Please pick a weekday in December and be completely offline.” How does a Wednesday to wrap gifts sound? Or a quiet Monday to reset before the rush?

The point is not perfection. The point is that people see we are serious about rest, even when work is full.

Intentional Presents, Not Just Presents

If you know me, you know I love presents. But not presents just for the sake of presents.

We send “lumpy mail” that feels thoughtful and personal. That includes a holiday gift in December and snack boxes in January, because that is the month when the adrenaline wears off and the fatigue sets in.

We make sure to collect dietary restrictions. We have done both home made and corporate purchased snack boxes. Both go over well when they feel intentional and not like something we pulled from a random catalog at the last minute.

It is less about the price point and more about the message: we see you, and we know this stretch is a lot.

Keeping Meetings Fun

We make space for fun in our all hands meetings.

Trivia, scavenger hunts, and other small games give people a chance to breathe in between deadlines. I know it can feel odd to play a game when spreadsheets are screaming at you, but I have watched the energy shift when people laugh together for ten minutes.

It is not about pretending the stress is not there. It is about reminding people they are more than their to do list.

Holding Tight To Our Values

Busy seasons are not the time to drift away from the practices that keep us grounded. That is when we need them most.

We keep our daily huddles and chat groups going. We just add a few more dad jokes. We continue our step challenge so that movement and connection stay part of the rhythm, even when the workload is intense.

When things are busiest, it can be tempting to drop “the extras.” Our experience has been that the so called extras are what keep people anchored.

Canceling Meetings On Purpose

Periodically through the busy season, we cancel meetings with intention.

Sometimes one on ones go from sixty minutes to fifteen. Sometimes an executive meeting disappears from the calendar. When we do that, we try to make it count and to be very clear about why.

The directive might be:

    • “Go outside for ten minutes, then take forty minutes phone free to catch up.”
    • “Set a timer for ten minutes, call someone you love just to say hi, then work on whatever is stressing you out the most today.”

Small pockets of time can make a big difference. People remember when you give them time back and tell them it is for them, not for one more task.

Prioritizing Movement

We set up a daily fifteen minute Zoom where someone leads a short movement session.

Nothing strenuous. No special equipment. Just a reminder that bodies are not machines, and that a little movement can reset an overwhelmed brain. Some people turn cameras off and stretch at their desks. Others bring pets or kids into the frame.

The goal is not fitness. The goal is to pause, breathe, and come back to the work just a little more regulated.

Watching For Quiet Burnout

This one can feel counterintuitive. We monitor computer activity.

Not because we are worried people are not working, but because we are concerned when they are working too much. In a remote environment, it is easy for the most committed people to quietly overdo it.

If someone is actively engaged at their computer for more than thirty eight hours per week, we talk about it. The goal is to make sure people are not quietly burning themselves out in the name of being a team player.

We are not perfect at this, but naming it out loud has opened some very honest conversations.

Bonus: What We Did When We Were In Person

Some of my favorite practices came from our in office days:

    • The Gift Wrapper: We hired a college student who was home for winter break to be our gift wrapper for a week. Team members brought in their holiday gifts and picked them up beautifully wrapped at the end of the day.
    • Waffle Wednesday: Nothing fancy. Just an assortment of Eggo waffles in the freezer with fun toppings on Wednesdays. People still talk about it.
    • Yoga In The Office: Weekly chair yoga in the lobby. Ten to fifteen minutes to stretch, breathe, and reset.

Different setup. Same intention. Support people in a way that fits the season we are in.

If you are leading a team through your own busy season, you do not have to overhaul everything at once. Start small:

    • Protect one meeting block and give that time back with intention.
    • Add one simple rhythm that keeps people connected, like a daily huddle or movement break.
    • Choose one way to show care that feels personal, not performative.

The goal is not to erase the pressure. It is to make it easier to carry together.

Most importantly, we do not ignore the fact that this is our busy time. We name it. We acknowledge that it is a season, and that we will get through it better together. Ignoring or normalizing an elevated level of stress can be a morale killer for the entire year.

Leading through pressure means supporting people well enough that they can carry the work without carrying it alone. That is what we are aiming for in every busy season.

What would one small change look like for your team this year?

Gratefully,