5 Warning Signs Your Committee Members Are Burning Out

Volunteer burnout rarely announces itself with a dramatic resignation. More often, it's a gradual withdrawal that goes unnoticed until it's too late. By learning to spot the early warning signs, you can intervene before losing valuable committee members.

1. The Delayed Response

A volunteer who used to reply to emails within hours now takes days. Messages sit unread. Tasks that once got done immediately are left to the last minute.

This isn't laziness — it's often a protective mechanism. When someone is overwhelmed, even opening an email feels like adding to an impossible to-do list. They start avoiding the work because facing it feels too heavy.

If you notice a previously responsive volunteer becoming harder to reach, it's time for a conversation. Not to demand faster responses, but to understand what's changed and how the load might be lightened.

2. Quality Drops

Schedules that used to be perfect now contain errors. Communications that were once clear and detailed become brief and sometimes confusing. The careful attention to detail that characterised their work starts to slip.

When volunteers are stretched too thin, they triage. They do enough to get by, but not enough to excel. The work gets done, but without the care that used to go into it.

Resist the temptation to criticise the declining quality. Instead, ask what support they need. Often, the volunteer is acutely aware that their standards have dropped and feels terrible about it — adding criticism only makes things worse.

3. The "I'll Just Do It Myself" Mentality

Paradoxically, one sign of burnout is taking on more work rather than less. The volunteer stops asking for help, stops delegating, and starts handling everything themselves.

This often comes from a place of frustration: "It's faster to do it myself than explain it to someone else." Or: "Last time I delegated, it didn't get done properly." The volunteer becomes a bottleneck, with all work flowing through them.

This is unsustainable. Eventually, they'll hit a wall. And because they've made themselves indispensable, the crash will be catastrophic for the club.

4. Increased Irritability

The volunteer who used to handle complaints with patience now snaps at people. Minor issues that once rolled off their back now trigger disproportionate frustration. They seem perpetually stressed.

Burnout affects emotional regulation. When someone is exhausted and overwhelmed, they lose the capacity to respond calmly to challenges. Every new demand feels like an attack.

This can damage relationships within the club, but the irritability is a symptom, not the problem. Address the underlying exhaustion, and the patience often returns.

5. Missing Meetings and Events

A committee member who never missed a meeting starts having conflicts. They're absent from working bees and social events. They do the minimum required and no more.

This withdrawal is often the final stage before resignation. The volunteer is already mentally disengaging from the club. They're protecting their remaining energy by reducing their involvement.

If you're seeing this pattern, intervention is urgent. But it needs to be supportive, not demanding. Ask what would need to change for them to want to stay involved. Listen to the answer.

What To Do

Spotting the signs is only useful if you act on them. Have honest conversations with struggling volunteers. Look for ways to reduce their workload, not just redistribute it. Consider whether better tools and systems could eliminate some of the tasks altogether.

Remember: these warning signs indicate a problem with the workload, not with the volunteer. The same person who's burning out under current conditions might thrive with proper support and manageable expectations. Your job is to create those conditions before you lose them.