Want to Increase Your Productivity? Create More Balance

It seems that the constant connection to technology has finally caught up to the tired, frazzled employees who have been glued to their smart devices for years. Employees, especially the younger generations, have been clamoring for work/life balance. And they’re right to do so because according to a recent New York Times article, “Being constantly on actually undermines productivity,” says Leslie Perlow a professor of leadership at Harvard Business School.

With the technology to communicate constantly at your fingertips, it has become harder for employees to create a healthy balance between work and life, especially while on business trips. Constant email pings, blurring time zones and not wanting to appear to work less hours than others is actually hurting productivity. It can also create resentment within the workplace and home life, with both having the potential to affect the other.

Tips To Help Employees Achieve More Balance from German Automaker, Daimler 

Daimler, a German automaker, has taken several steps to address these issues for the sake of their employees and their organization’s future success. They’ve developed a set of guidelines for managers to help employees create balance.

1. Observe boundaries – To do this, managers and employees must plan ahead by prioritizing tasks together and understanding their own personal capacities and limits.
2. Switch off – No one should be expected to be on 24/7.
3. Consciously use rest – Breaks should be scheduled and used throughout the work day.
4. Take advantage of organizational life balance offers – In the end, employees must take personal responsibility for reconciling their work-life balance, given that their employer has also done what it can to help.

How can you help your employees switch off?

Daimler and other organizations have some great ideas:

• Create blackout policies. No one is allowed to send email or texts during certain hours. In other words, your message can wait til 6am! By doing this, employees will be well rested and ready to work during actual work hours.
• Encourage employees to take loved ones on business trips. Employees can then schedule downtime in the evening for dinner or date nights.
• Ensure vacationers have a backup colleague. While out, have employees notify clients who they can contact in case of an emergency or question. This brings another benefit: greater preparation and more collaboration among team members.
• Create policies that allow flexible working hours. These could include part-time, job-sharing and mobile/virtual working environments.
• Assist with childcare. This one may be slightly trickier, since not all employers can provide the type of childcare that larger organizations can. So start by allowing employees to put money into a fund for child care. Flexible working hours may also help alleviate worries that parents have over the care of their children.

What do you think? Can you switch off from work at a reasonable hour? Do you think your workplace should adopt some of these policies? Leave me a comment below.