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Writer's pictureNirmal Kumar

WORK - LIFE - BALANCE

Updated: Sep 20, 2019


Help Your Team accomplish a healthy Work-Life Balance – Even When You Can’t

Work-life balance is not a new theory. It simply means carving out appropriate time for your professional and personal life. You cancel time on your schedule for dinner with a friend or a fitness class. But how frequently do you clear your schedule for a seemingly urgent work issue? Recent studies by Harvard Business school demonstrates that with the continuous and increasing volume of work, maintaining boundaries have never been more challenging and important as it is.


As a leader, you have the chance to portray behavior in appositive way and aid ideal boundary conditions for your team members and your organization’s employees. This is important even if setting boundaries is one area you do not excel very well at. I have experienced this myself.

In 2000, I was a Tech Support Manager, and I put work above every other thing. And the firm regarded me as the “perfect worker” – a fully dedicated employee with no connections to any “personal engagements.” I was single then and had an infinite ability for all work-related activities. Likewise, my peers, regardless of it they had aging parents, partners or kids. It had become a norm.


It wasn’t until I moved to Chennai in 2007 to become an Operations Manager for an outsourcing firm, that I experienced someone setting a non-negotiable boundary for himself. We had gotten a request from a client, for a customer journey analysis. I then told one of our managers that he needed to work more that day.

No” – I was surprised by the answer, I didn’t remember asking nor was I demanding a response from him. I only recall feeling both great respect and envy for the boundary that he had set. He just gave me the resources I needed to complete the job and guess what, the world didn’t come to an end either when he closed for work at his usual time.


A classics study by Stanford University correctly predicted that by the year 2020, strides in technology would have eliminated lower to mid-level jobs. These advances will also have added more to the workload of senior managers, keeping them working almost throughout the day. The irony of it all is that even HR workers are too over-branded by work to also address this burnout loop, low retention and low employee engagement.

Below are Eight strategies that can help you and your team members achieve that all-important work-life balance via setting boundary conditions.


Outline that the organization’s success is reliant on the long-term and not short-term


While the stakes may be high on some occasion; the need to beat a new competitor to a product launch, it is important to highlight that endurance is the primary goal and speed is not the most essential trait for success. You can verbally communicate this idea with your team, role-model it or build your organization’s principles around it. The connection between what you say and do is important. A study about athletes revealed that more “Rest” period allowed them to perform at “full throttle” when they needed to, letting them perform to the best of their abilities when they needed to, and remind them that if they do not take time out, they cannot perform at their best.


Hire adequate staff, and allow flexibility in taking time off

People need to handle personal issues, go on holiday, treat themselves if they fall sick. If your team would be paralyzed by the absence of just one person, then you have a serious personnel problem. Neither should you or anybody on your team be indispensable. By allowing your team take rests without making it seem like things would go downhill, it enforces trust, efficiency and collaboration on teams that can lead to better productivity and increased satisfaction and value to clients.


Remind people that we are all humans and have our limits

Doing too much can mean sleeping less. Sleep deprivation can affect brain functions like reason, organizing and problem-solving. This can affect work performance, financial performance and organizational health. People who work for extended periods are more likely to have physical problems according to several research; although, setting out time for regular exercise seems to be beneficial as it improves the mental-health that can impact on-the-job performance. Supporting your team to set time aside a reasonable number of hours can encourage a healthy lifestyle which will ultimately lead to improved teamwork.


Redistribute work uniformly


Research from the University of Georgia has discovered that managers underestimate how long it may take to complete a job and simply assign more tasks to those that they believe are more competent and responsible. Thus, the direct reward of a good job is more work. High-performers were unhappy that there were overburdened and that they had to be continuously relied upon. Reassigning work evenly to other members of the team can help prevent burnout and turnover. It can also create a chance for other team members to learn and develop.


Encourage Efficient Work – Not More Work

In addition to performance concerns, working long hours has proven to be damaging to employee morale, there are reports stating that, when working long hours, employees feel depressed, anxious and also irritable. So instead of encouraging your employees to work longer hours, encourage them to work more efficiently. This will not only implore better work quality from your employees, but will keep morale high as well.


As a follow-up task you can also restrict employee hours - High productivity doesn’t essentially mean working 10 - 12 hours a day. With restricted hours employees are encouraged to get their work done efficiently and have more flexibility when it comes to personal life.


Debunk your own assumptions and limiting beliefs

Your beliefs and assumptions can hinder your own boundary setting conditions. At a point, I desperately wanted to carve out a life for myself outside work, and after letting go of all that was really pulling me down, I figured that I believed that I had to work so hard to be successful.

I conversed with other successful professionals, and I discovered that their ability to set boundaries was the ultimate drive for their success and not an obstacle. This helped me to see the underlying flaws in my beliefs. I then readjusted to remove work from my time.


Trust your employees


By trusting your employees and allowing them the space to provide value and production on their time and terms as long as they are adhering to milestones and timelines, you can begin to promote an active work-life balance. Just keep in mind, we measure their performance on impact and results and not hours spent at their desk.


Lead by Example


Always seize every chance to model healthy behavior. This will make an impact. Setting and maintaining your own boundaries will show others that they are permitted to do so too.

Head out of the office by 5 on certain days. Tell your team that you won’t be answering emails after work hours. If your employees see that you value personal time, they won’t feel guilty for prioritizing theirs.

No one likes to take life advice from a hypocrite, so ensure that you walk the talk. If you are responding to emails on weekends / after-hours, it sends a clear message to your team that they are expected to do so as well. So be sure to respect the balance and privacy of your peers, team members and avoid contacting them after normal work hours unless it is mission critical.


THE LAST WORD

There will always be a time when boundaries may be exceeded, or exceptions may arise. Ensure that you communicate this with your team. Keep in mind that these boundaries will result in a better result for you and your teams. The key to success in every organization is to have a happy workforce or you’ll burn out your most value resource. So, create a work-life balance and have the right tools to make sure when they are on the job, that work is more efficient.


Fostering a healthy work-life balance for your employees requires a little creativity and discipline, but the results are more often than not positive. Encouraging a healthy work life balance shows your employees that you don’t just value their job performance, but that you respect and value them as people. Making this a priority can increase employee satisfaction, productivity and company image.


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NIRMAL KUMAR

About the author :

As an entrepreneur and a succesful service delivery leader with a great eye for detail, Nirmal brings with him over 18 years of comprehensive experience with diverse companies, ranging from start-ups to leading multinationals. He started his career as a hands-on engineer in the information technology industry and grew through the ranks to serve in several key positions in the customer Services Industry.

His articles Focus on understanding customer centric leadership, employee empowerment, Goal setting and effective performance appraisals which will help upcoming leaders to effectively engage in their day to day job responsibility .

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