7 ways to achieve life and work balance

Work Life Balance

Work balance revisited 

Last week, I posted about work balance. I enjoyed writing that post, and it wasn’t because of the picture of the playmates by the pool. Work balance is a real challenge for many companies, especially for me as an HR practitioner in a start-up. I have noticed that the topic of work-life balance is being discussed more frequently at all levels throughout the organization. HR is inquiring about our company’s work-life balance and the work-life balance in all industries. 

I am asked by internal employees, our executive team, and by candidates interested in working with us.  Questions about work-life balance arise from employees who work 65 hours a week and enjoy it. The question is also asked by employees who want to work 38.5 hours and leave at 4:59. A day doesn’t go by when the topic doesn’t come up. 

I didn’t do any research for last week’s post. I just wrote about how I felt.  Since then, I have seen several reports and read articles on what job seekers value most.

HR I respect

I read a recent post on HRBartender.com, which was sponsored by SilkRoad. I respect @HRBartender, and if you’re interested in what’s happening in HR, she would be a great person to follow.

In this post, SilkRoad surveyed, “What values do Job Seekers value most?”  Most of the results did not surprise me. I must admit I found it a bit disturbing what job seekers valued.  Seeing the results in print reinforced my concerns about what candidates were looking for.

Work-life balance wasn’t just at the top of the list. It was the clear runaway winner!

What the job seekers were looking for wasn’t financial strength, an engaged workforce, an innovative culture, or great technology.  These were all ranked below work-life balance, benefits, and opportunities for professional development.  In this flat world and down economy, I want to work with a company that has some financial stability and one that will have longevity.  I believe that an engaged workforce, advanced technology, and effective leadership are more indicative of long-term values.  

For me, work balance and benefits reflect a shorter-term mentality. 

Downside of Nasty

I don’t know who was polled or what demographic they targeted. Nasty@hrnasty.com attempted to sign up for the report several times, but it wasn’t delivered to either my professional or HRNasty inbox. I do receive their email updates.  (This can happen when you have the word Nasty in your email. I also have HR@HRNasty.com)

Again, I don’t know what categories they polled, but “work-life balance” is at the top of the list and a clear runaway winner by a couple of lengths. The “pay/salary” category is not listed, and to give the benefit of the doubt, it may be lumped into the benefits category. 

Who should take responsibility?

In my last post, I mentioned that work balance IS AS MUCH the employee’s responsibility as it is the employer’s.  The other entity that could be responsible for work-life balance is the Unions (DOH!), but that isn’t just another blog post. That blog is entirely different, and I won’t go there yet.

I can’t help but think that this survey reinforces the notion that work-life balance is entirely the employer’s responsibility. It insinuates that it is not the employee’s responsibility. The company and its culture may influence work balance, but including this category in this poll does the employee a disservice. This poll reinforces the myth that work balance lies in the hands of the company.    

It’s a balance between the employer and employee

I understand that benefits, strong leadership, and an innovative culture should all be included in a poll. These categories would impact a decision to work for one employer over another. In my opinion, work-life balance is as much in the hands of the employee as it is in the hands of the employer. 

There are exceptions to work-life balance.  If you want to become a partner in a firm (legal, accounting, medical), you will likely put in 80 hours a week for 7 years and hope to achieve partner status.  If you choose this profession, you know what you are in for as soon as you enter college.  A lack of work-life balance should surprise you if the title of “Partner” is in your plan.  

You have a say

However, for the rest of us, I want to emphasize that employees have more control over their work-life balance than they may think. 

Learning to work efficiently is the first step to work-life balance.  If we work the same way we worked 5 years ago, we will probably not work as effectively as possible. 

Below are a few ways to move towards work-life balance

1. Learn to conduct effective meetings.  Some may scoff at a class on effective meetings. Most meetings are ineffective time-wasters for multiple employees. Think about 5, 6, or 20 employees in a meeting, and you quickly know how much time is wasted. If your company has concerns about work-life balance, getting everyone on the same page regarding effective meetings can make a significant difference.
   1. Develop skills and techniques to keep meetings on track and ensure ideas flow smoothly. It takes practice to calm disruptive participants and bring the quiet ones out of their shells. I couldn’t stress this one more.  Our company used to hold an all-company meeting that lasted for three hours. I sat with the meeting facilitators. Together, we introduced ways to control the meeting and present effectively. What was a 3-hour meeting with 20-plus employees is now a 30-minute meeting?  (Maybe a good topic for a future blog post.)
2. Tackle the quick and easy tasks first.  Get it out and whittle your list down as quickly as possible.
3. Learn to delegate.  I don’t mean your work-life balance problem should become someone else’s problem. I see too many employees try to do everything themselves.  

Learning to be “OK” with delegation when appropriate is a more effective use of everyone’s time.

Use the tools

1. Schedule your time.  Productive people will work on one project and then move on to the next. This is to minimize context switching. Suppose you have an important project. Schedule a time in your calendar so that colleagues know you are busy during this period.  Focus this time on the project and try to minimize email distractions.  You are losing efficiency if you work on a project and check your email every 10 minutes.
2. Learn keyboard shortcuts.  Over time, these make a difference and will shift your mentality towards efficiency.
3. Prioritize your projects and maintain a running list of tasks to be completed.  I use Trello. When I have a new task, I add a card so I don’t forget the small stuff, and I prioritize tasks by rearranging the order. 
4. Organize your email with folders.  When I see employees with 500-plus emails in their inboxes, I cringe.  Yes, you can work very effectively with an Inbox Zero. Creating folders and follow-ups can be an efficient way to handle day-to-day tasks.   

Set boundaries

If you set a designated time to leave, you will create a sense of urgency.  You will work more efficiently.  Suppose you have a bunch of stuff to do by the end of the day, and Elizabeth Hurley is waiting for you in the company lobby. Trust me; shit will get done.

A quick Google search on “how to work efficiently” will reveal many easy-to-implement ideas. 

We will work for the next 10, 20, or 30 years, so we might as well learn to work efficiently.        

See you at the after party,
HRNasty

nasty: an unreal maneuver of incredible technique, something that is ridiculously good, tricky, and manipulative but with a result that can’t help but be admired, a phrase used to describe someone good at something. “He has a nasty forkball”.

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