Participant Workbook — Manager Mental Health Module
A6+ booklet, 24pp, designed for writing in during the session and referring back at the desk. Print one per attendee. Source-of-truth content below — designer converts to PDF with the brand grid.
Page 1 — Cover
Manager Mental Health Spot it earlier. Open the conversation. Signpost safely.
MEM Academy · CPD-aligned · UK Manager Edition
Name: ____________________ Date: ____________________ Facilitator: ____________________
Page 2 — What you'll leave able to do
By the end of today you will be able to:
- Spot the four early signs of burnout in a direct report — six weeks before performance dips.
- Open a supportive conversation without overstepping into clinical territory.
- Adjust workload, expectations and recovery without breaking team output.
- Signpost safely to EAP, GP and the right internal support.
- Know when to escalate to HR and what your legal duty looks like.
What this is NOT: clinical training, a therapy qualification, or a substitute for Occupational Health.
Page 3 — The boundary
| You DO | You DO NOT |
|---|---|
| Notice patterns over weeks | Diagnose conditions |
| Open the conversation | Become the therapist |
| Adjust workload within your gift | Promise things outside your authority |
| Signpost to EAP / GP / coach / 116 123 | Hold the disclosure alone |
| Document what was agreed | Log clinical symptoms or speculation |
Pages 4–7 — The 4-Signal Model (write-in)
Signal 1 — ENERGY DRIFT
What it looks like in your team: _________________________________________
A direct report you've seen this in (initials only): ______
Signal 2 — SCOPE SHRINK
What it looks like in your team: _________________________________________
A direct report you've seen this in (initials only): ______
Signal 3 — RECOVERY GAP
What it looks like in your team: _________________________________________
A direct report you've seen this in (initials only): ______
Signal 4 — RELATIONAL FADE
What it looks like in your team: _________________________________________
A direct report you've seen this in (initials only): ______
Scoring rule (memorise):
- 1 signal for 2+ weeks → notice + open a low-stakes conversation
- 2 concurrent signals → act + run OPENED
- 3+ signals OR Signal 4 alone for 4+ weeks → escalate
Pages 8–11 — OPENED (write-in)
O — Observe (without diagnosing). Practise your opening line:
"In the last [_] I've noticed [___________________________________]. I might be reading it wrong, but I'd rather check than not."
P — Permission to talk. Your line if they say no:
"That's fine. Can we put 20 minutes in for [_____] instead? I won't drop it."
E — Explore. Three open questions you'll actually use:
N — Normalise (without minimising). Your validation line:
E — Enable. ONE practical move you can offer this week, in your gift, today, with a date:
D — Direct. The three lines you must know cold:
EAP: ____________________ (number / link) GP: own doctor MEM coach: ____________________ Crisis: Samaritans 116 123 (free, 24/7)
Page 12 — When NOT to use OPENED
- Performance underperformance → use your normal performance framework
- Grievance / harassment disclosure → stop, route to HR formally
- Crisis or suicidal disclosure → stop, call EAP / 116 123 with them
Pages 13–18 — Live-practice scenarios
(Two-page spread per scenario. Each has: situation, signal map space, your OPENED rehearsal lines, debrief notes.)
- Scenario A — Aisha, 32, marketing analyst
- Scenario B — James, 47, senior engineer
- Scenario C — Priya, 29, account exec
(Full set of 8 in 05-conversation-framework.md; pick 3 for the workbook based on cohort sector — facilitator pre-selects.)
Page 19 — Workload and recovery
The Recovery Gap signal is the one most managers miss because it looks like commitment.
Protect recovery the way you protect output:
- Block your direct reports' next leave in your own calendar
- Refuse Sunday-evening Slack from yourself first
- Make "no-meeting Friday afternoons" a team agreement, not a wish
- If a sprint slipped a deadline, the post-sprint week is a recovery week — not the next sprint
The two questions to ask at every 1:1:
- How did you sleep last week?
- When's your next proper break?
Page 20 — Signposting in practice
| Situation | Your move | Don't |
|---|---|---|
| Stress + workload | OPENED + Enable a workload change | Promise to fix everything |
| Anxiety / low mood, ongoing | Signpost EAP + GP, keep cadence | Diagnose, prescribe, or counsel |
| Bereavement / life event | OPENED + protect time + EAP | Avoid them out of awkwardness |
| Substance hint | OPENED + EAP + HR if performance affected | Lecture or moralise |
| Crisis / suicidal language | Stop. Stay. Call EAP or 116 123 with them. | Leave them alone "to think" |
What to document and where:
- Workload changes and dates agreed → your 1:1 notes (factual only)
- Their disclosure of a clinical state → DO NOT log. Verbal handoff to HR with consent.
- Performance impact → standard performance documentation, separate from wellbeing notes
Page 21 — Your legal duty in one paragraph
Under the HSE Management Standards and the Health and Safety at Work Act, your employer has a duty to assess and manage work-related stress. Under the Equality Act 2010, mental ill-health may be a disability requiring reasonable adjustments. Your role as a manager is to spot, listen, signpost and adjust within your authority — not to diagnose. A manager who runs OPENED and documents adjustments is the strongest evidence your organisation has if a tribunal asks "what did you do?".
Page 22 — The 30-day commitment
This page belongs to one direct report.
Initials (yours, not theirs): ______
Which signal(s) you're watching for: ____________________
The Enable move you'd offer if you saw the pattern hold: ____________________
The next 1:1 where you'll create space for the conversation: ___ / ___ / ___
Fold this page in half. Tuck it into the back of your laptop. Open it before that 1:1.
Page 23 — Your nudge sequence
Over the next 30 days you'll get 10 short messages — half email, half SMS — that reinforce what we did today. They take less than 90 seconds each. They are the difference between today fading and today changing how you manage.
| Day | Channel | What you'll do |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Stick the card to your monitor | |
| 3 | SMS | Reply with the signal you spotted |
| 5 | Re-read OPENED before your next 1:1 | |
| 8 | SMS | Y/N — have you opened a conversation? |
| 12 | When NOT to use the model | |
| 15 | SMS | Card still on the monitor? |
| 18 | Case study — Aisha | |
| 22 | SMS | Which signal do you keep missing? |
| 26 | 90-second pulse | |
| 30 | What to do next |
Page 24 — What's next + the close
Want to go deeper?
- Champion programme — 2 half-days + quarterly supervision, for the people who'll carry this culture between training cycles.
- 60-min refresher at day 90.
- Exec / HR strategy module — what your board needs to see.
Want this adapted for your sector? Book a 20-min discovery call: memacademy.org/corporate/programme
Cross-cutting promise Every UK employee seat in MEM funds a free seat for someone leaving prison. Audited SROI is in your Q1 board report. The work you did today doesn't just protect your team — it funds the second-chance economy.
MEM Academy · CPD-aligned · UK · 2026