Addressing the Mental Health Toll of Continuous On-Call Incidents
Designed for Senior Site Reliability Engineers (SREs) and DevOps leads who manage continuous on-call rotations for high-stakes production systems to spark real collaboration and high-energy learning.
A 90-minute hybrid workshop hosted in a tech company’s collaboration space, with remote access for global SRE teams. Participants are highly skilled technically but reluctant to discuss mental health openly. Many have expressed feeling isolated, exhausted, or undervalued due to relentless incident response cycles.
Pager Sound Mystery
Open with an audio montage of various pager alert sounds—some frantic, some subtle, some drawn from pop culture. Ask the group: 'How does this sound make you feel?' Each participant briefly writes a gut reaction (emotion/physical sensation) on a sticky note or chat. Reveal how even hearing alerts triggers stress, setting up curiosity about the session’s focus on unseen mental health impacts.
Tap to view the full activity.
Why this works
Sensory cues spark curiosity and emotional engagement. Directly linking a familiar sound to internal reactions builds attention and relevance.
Incident Hero or Harm
Display a fictional SRE profile: 'Alex handles 14 major incidents a month, praised by peers for heroics.' Ask: 'What’s the most common assumption about Alex’s well-being?' Invite the group to anonymously vote or post guesses. Reveal recent data: workers celebrated for incident heroics are most at risk for burnout, not resilience. Challenge the myth of ‘thriving under pressure’.
Tap to view the full activity.
Why this works
Pinpointing and busting misconceptions helps learners confront internalized beliefs and opens space for new understanding.
Emoji Stress Spectrum
Invite everyone to select an emoji (from a digital board or physical handout) representing how they feel at the start, middle, and end of an on-call week. Participants share anonymously (virtual poll or sticky notes). Facilitator reads out the range—emphasizing normality and nonjudgment. Quick group poll: 'Who sees their response reflected?'
Tap to view the full activity.
Why this works
Low-pressure visual tools make sharing easier, lower vulnerability, and validate diverse experiences.
Incident Cycle Relay
Split participants into relay teams. Each team creates a rapid-fire timeline of a typical on-call incident (from alert to resolution), acting out key moments for 90 seconds. Teams compete for speed and creativity. Facilitator spotlights how adrenaline and crisis mode escalate stress, then asks: 'Where’s your breaking point?'
Tap to view the full activity.
Why this works
Physical movement and play energize the room, reveal hidden pressure points, and encourage peer bonding.
The Pager Dilemma
Present a real-world dilemma: 'You’re woken at 3am—incident is critical, but you’ve hit your mental limit. Do you push through, ask for backup, or defer?' Split into breakout groups to debate pros and cons, referencing their own policies. Each group shares one actionable takeaway for lowering the harm in future dilemmas.
Tap to view the full activity.
Why this works
Applying real-world scenarios surfaces practical barriers and encourages strategic thinking and peer learning.
Stress Map Debrief
Invite participants to draw or digitally mark a 'stress map' of their typical on-call cycle—highlighting peaks and valleys. Then, ask them to choose one practical action (from session strategies) they will implement at their highest stress point. End with a brief share-out: 'What small change will you try?'
Tap to view the full activity.
Why this works
Active reflection links learning to personal context, delivering lasting behavior change and ownership.
Sign up to unlock 3 more activities
Get the full pack, facilitation flow, and more ready-to-run ideas.