Managing the boundaries between work and personal life is a juggling act for many people. If you manage people it is important to ensure that you create an environment where you can be seen to take reasonable care of your employees. Your style of management will impact on the quality of your team's life, but equally it has the potential to make the quality of your own life great or a real misery.
Management styles, poor people skills and delegation strategies, staff fearful of making mistakes or being found wanting, all contribute to the pressure at work and the number of interruptions to personal time at home.
Clients often describe their difficulty of switching off. That they feel swamped by work invading their personal lives, that they have no space because of constant interruptions. I believe the problems fall into four broad categories.
Firstly - the issues which are directly related to the individual. For example, if they are unable to switch off from work. Their energy and thoughts continue to focus on work. They may enjoy thinking about finding a creative solution or planning a new project. Some find worrying about their job, their ability to cope, how their boss treats them, relationships with their colleagues, being made redundant etc. etc. This can seriously interrupt family life and effects the quality of their sleep. Inability to get to sleep or waking very early and not being able to get back to sleep are very common. Either way there are inherent dangers in not having ‘down time' for the individuals health, their relationship with themselves, their partners and family.
Secondly the issues which are related to the way Managers deal with their staff. Problems can be avoided if there are clear roles and responsibilities, where expectations are fair and explicit, where delegation is done effectively with appropriate levels of delegated authority and appropriate training and support. Strategic management rather than fire fighting can reduce work load and free up time and energy. The way change is managed within any organization has a huge impact on the workers within it.
Creating well thought out decisions where staff are involved and there is good communication is far more effective than reacting to circumstances at the last minute.
Thirdly the issues which are related to the way staff treat one another. Do they work as a team or are they busy scoring points over one another? Do people take responsibility for they actions are they busy blaming others for the short comings? Are there clear guidelines for how people should treat one another. Are these modelled by those in authority?
Lastly are the issues which arise out of the management of information, the use of technology, interfacing with colleagues, clients and the wider community.
Living and working in the twenty first century brings with it a number of challenges unheard of in the last century. The development of technology, laptops, Blackberries, mobile phones and emails mean that you and your employees are available twenty four hours a day, three hundred and sixty five days a year, world wide.
It is often unclear where the pressure emanates from. Without careful thought, the technology we thought would make our lives easier is creating more and more demands on our time.
Does your organization stagger under a constant barrage of emails and telephone calls? Do you have clear guidelines for their management? What is the corporate view of what is constitutes an acceptable level of interruption to a member of staff's personal time? Do you have one? If you analysed those interruptions how many of them were so urgent they would not wait until the next day or could have been avoided with a little forward planning? Do you have a curfew after a certain time at night unless it is an emergency? Do you have explicit criteria for what constitutes an emergency? If so, how is that shared with staff? I believe it is time we made sure that technology was managed effectively rather than let the tail wag the dog.
The rules for creating boundaries are the same for your personal professional life and for your team.
1) Boundaries need to be in the interests of all parties. They should be fair.
2) Boundaries need to be appropriate for purpose. What works in one context may not be suitable for another.
3) Boundaries should be sustainable. Think about what you can cope with on a bad day, when the car has gone wrong, the cat has been sick and a client is playing up. It is no good creating boundaries which only work when things are going well and you feel on top of the world. They should work just as well when you are not available.
4) Boundaries should be consistent. If you keep changing the goal posts people get confused, there are mixed messages and the boundaries become devalued.
5) Paradoxically there needs to be flexibility to deal with exceptional circumstances. The key is that both parties understand what constitutes an exceptional circumstance, rather than confusion created when boundaries have no clear basis.
6) Set up the boundaries explicitly. Ensure that all parties understand what is expected of them. Set them up early in the relationship and offer a sound reason for doing so. E.g. I'll take phone calls until 7.00pm but after that please phone only in an emergency. Be explicit about what you consider to be an emergency or people will interpret it differently to you.
7) Boundaries should not be about ego and wielding power. Where position is abused in this way you may gain what you want in the short term but it will damage your long term relationships. As a Boss you need to set boundaries based on your greater experience, status and understanding of the bigger picture. Abusing your position by setting boundaries to make the other person feel inferior or fearful or simply because you can, is a recipe for disaster.
8) Boundaries should be set and maintained with respect. Consider your body language, tone of voice, the tenor of the email or phone call. Temper, having tantrums, sulking or withholding your attention when others fail to adhere to the boundaries you set simply makes matters worse.
9) Involve the other person/ people whenever and where ever appropriate. Even young children can be involved. When people understand what is required and why they are far more likely to comply. Be clear what is non -negotiable and why.
10) Offer people choices with clear consequences if they comply and if they do not. The consequences should be in keeping with the boundary and the impact it will make.
11) Boundaries need to be reviewed regularly. As circumstances change, children get older, staff more experienced you may with to change the boundary, the consequences or both.
12) Model the behaviours you want from others, show by example.
The most effective employees are those who are healthy, energised, and enthusiastic. Everyone needs to recharge the batteries, to relax enjoy life and have some fun. As the Boss you have a duty of care to your staff to ensure you take their wellbeing seriously. Creating a healthy culture and minimizing harmful stress can best be done in an environment where clear, fair boundaries are in place.
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