Guest Post: Balancing Boundaries with Catherine McGuire
Today’s blog post comes from a guest writer, a long-time friend, and colleague who helps keep me on track (and laughing!).
Cat and I have spoken often about workplace design and dynamics. We have both worked in teams and independently, in offices and at home. We speak weekly about the trends in the future of work and the return to the new normal and most recently touched on the incredible importance of boundaries as we go into this new season of corporate culture. Here are her takes on how to find the right balance when it comes to different styles among your team.
Jen and I have spoken a lot about the new normal, and feelings that come with the return of our pre-pandemic routines. As we followed the stop and go of lockdowns and slow re-openings, it seems organizations are now picking up the speed and it’s time to once again adjust to a new reality.
Have you received a back-to-work plan yet? Perhaps you are part of creating this plan for your team or organization.
Likely, you have a range of emotions around this - what does this mean for your routine, commute, health (enter COVID and vaccination policies), workload, team dynamic, lifestyle.
In comes the topic of boundaries, and the importance of understanding your team’s styles and preferences when it comes to work-life balance. The world is different now, and as colleagues and leaders, we need to adjust.
Everyone’s got their own definition of what work-life balance looks like (and I encourage you to work through your ideal scenario now as the workplace shifts).
For the most part, people fall into one of two buckets; an integrator or a segmentor.
Segmentors are employees who create rigid boundaries between their personal and work lives. They reported that: "In my life, there is a clear boundary between my career and my non-work roles."
Integrators are employees who blur the lines been work and home, switching back and forth between the two. This group often agreed that: “It is often difficult to tell where my work life ends and my non-work life begins.”
Reference: https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/BF02408393
These boundaries might vary from person to person, but you’ll often find common themes.
Call times and meeting time preferences
The need for a dedicated lunch hour (disconnected break)
Family or employee only social events (inside or outside of work hours)
Integration of personal errands during the workday
It really does come down to finding a balance.
There’s no magic formula to satisfy everyone but the most important thing you can do as a leader is to address the workplace change, make time to listen to each person’s preferences, communicate the expectations to your team and prioritize results.
At the end of the day, both styles are acceptable and effective, it’s what they deliver in their role that matters.
-Cat