You block time on your calendar for a yoga class, lunch with a friend, or even a tech Shabbat. But how often do you cancel it due to what seems a more urgent work demand? Recent research from Boston University and Harvard Business School faculty shows that with the unrelenting pace and volume of work, setting and keeping boundaries has never been more challenging — or more important.
Help Your Team Achieve Work-Life Balance — Even When You Can’t
Managers often have porous work-life boundaries, but that can send a confusing message to their teams. Employees can be left thinking they, too, should work late, answer email at all hours, and avoid taking their vacation time. To help your employees maintain their own healthy boundaries, communicate that the organization’s success is based on a marathon, not a sprint. Make sure you’ve hired enough staff, and that your staff takes turns taking time off. Remind your team that we are all human and have physical limitations; it’s important to take time to exercise and make doctors’ appointments. Redistribute work more evenly, so that to much of the burden isn’t falling on your best people. Finally, get better at setting and keeping your own boundaries. Helping your team get better about work-life balance might start with you debunking your own limiting beliefs and assumptions.