Promoting a Work-Life Balance within your Team
Work-life balance has always been a hot topic when it comes to employee wellbeing. Since the start of the pandemic, the amount of people working from home has increased ten-fold, and with many organisations converting to home working permanently, maintaining a positive work-life balance is more vital than ever.
As many of us are now quite literally living at the office, our work can quickly encroach on our free-time, and before we know it, we’re quickly ‘popping to the office’ after our evening meals! As a leader, it is your responsibility to set a positive example for your team, and encourage them to switch-off, and provide them with a clear line between work-life and home-life.
Switching off after work
Given that we now live in a very technological world, switching off after work, even before the pandemic was difficult for some. Turn off any work related notifications, set times to be online and offline, and encourage your team to do the same. If you’re still online well after the working day is over because you need to finish a report or send an email, remember that you’re setting a standard for your whole team.
Fill your, ‘what would be’ commute time
As tempting as it may be to stay in bed a little bit longer, try and stick to the morning routine you had before your started working from home. Get up at the usual time, make a coffee, walk the dog, go to the gym; whatever it is that you did, keep doing it. For those of you that used to commute to the office, you now have some spare time! Try and fill your ‘what would be’ commute time with something productive that will get you set up for the working day.
Structure your remote working day
Just because you’re not in the office doesn’t mean your working day shouldn’t be like a regular office day. Let’s face it, when we’re in the office we don’t spend every minute of the day beavering away at our desks, there’s generally a good amount of ‘down time’, chatting to colleagues and making a coffee. You need to make the effort to structure you day so it mirrors a typical office day as best as you can; and encourage your team to do the same!
1. Start the day with the task you’ve been putting off
You know what task we mean. Make it your mission to get the task you’ve been putting off out the way. Get it done and you won’t have it hanging over your head for the rest of the day.
2. Consider your energy distribution cycle
The Energy Distribution Cycle is a representation of our energy levels throughout a typical day. During the working day, we tend to focus heavily on what tasks we need to complete and the processes involved in these tasks. The Energy Distribution Cycle can help us to shift our focus from simply completing what we need to do, to completing them at the right time, and increasing our productivity as a result.
3. Take regular breaks
We bet you’ve heard this one till it’s coming out of your ears; but we’ll say it again; take regular breaks! Sitting at your desk for long periods isn’t going to do your wellbeing or your back any good. Stand up, make a drink, have a walk around the garden (weather permitting of course), check in with your pet, see which neighbour is trimming their hedge. Whatever it is that you do, just make sure you do it regularly.
4. Allow for ‘chat time' before meetings
With all meetings being online now, the little bit of chat while making a coffee before a meeting has been eradicated. Make sure you allow your team a little bit of time to have a chin-wag before you get started with the meeting agenda.
5. Eat lunch away from your desk
Another one which you will have heard many, many times, however, if you work full time, you are entitled to a lunch break, and therefore, 1. You should take it; and 2. You should take it away from your desk. Doing this is even more important when you’re working from home. Like you would perhaps go to the office canteen or pop out for your lunch when you work in the office, try to change locations in your house, even if it’s just from the dining room table to the sofa!
6. Change location for meetings
If you’re office based, generally you will attend a meeting in a different location to where you work day-to-day. If you can, when you have a meeting scheduled, try and re-locate to a different room. Doing so will break up the monotony of being in one place for the full day.
7. Re-write your to-do list at the end of the day
Spend the last 5 minutes of your working day re-writing your to do list. Doing this allows you to take stock of what you’ve got to do tomorrow, and also reduces the temptation to tick off a few more items after the working day is over. If you know in your head what you need to do the next day, you are more likely to relax when the working day is over.
Check-in with your team
Although you may see your team members in meetings during the week, if they’re working remotely, it is so, so important to check in with each of them on a regular basis, just to see how they’re doing, and whether they’re managing to find a good work-life balance. Asking questions like, ‘what’s your workload been like?’, and, ‘have you been sticking to your contracted working hours?’, are a good place to start. If they’ve been working past their contacted hours, ask them why. Encourage them to be strict keeping within the hours they are supposed to work and take any action if necessary.
Set some ground rules
Sometimes, employees can be unsure of what is expected from them when they’re working remotely, therefore, it is a good idea that team leaders establish some ‘working from home’ ground rules and then communicate them, so the entire team is aligned. This ground rules can perhaps be some of the generic points covered in this pathway, like sticking to contracted hours and taking regular breaks, or they can be individual to you and your team. Whatever they are, we’ve designed a ‘ground rules’ template that you can fill in and distribute to your team!
In Summary: with many employees switching to remote working as a result of the Coronavirus pandemic, it is really important that you as a leader encourage them to maintain a positive work-life balance. By taking on board some of the tips provided in this blog, and sharing them with your team, you can ensure that both yourself and your team are taking steps that will contribute towards their overall wellbeing.