Achieving a good work-life balance can be challenging, even (or perhaps especially) if employees are working from home. However, being able to switch off from work is essential in order to reduce stress and prevent job burnout. Find out how to support your employees with these tips on a healthy work-life balance in home office.
Work-life balance and home office
Modern remote workplace solutions enable employees us to access resources we need to work from anywhere at any time. As helpful as this is while travelling or having to stay at home and wait for a delivery, it can often be challenging to keep a healthy home office work-life balance. It’s harder to switch off if you see an important email on a smartphone, even late in the evening.
When working from home, the boundaries between work and private life often become blurred. Is your home the office, or is the office your home? Finding the right home office work-life balance can be a little more difficult, especially as it is a relatively new experience for most of us. However, there are a few proven methods for successfully managing this situation.
- Offer flexible working hours: Flexible working hours are a great benefit for employees. From a manager’s perspective, they are also a way to increase team engagement and help employees work more effectively. However, it is worth establishing core times and rules and using appropriate project management and time tracking tools (like ALSO Modern Time Recording solution) so that employees know how to plan their day and managers have an insight into the progress of projects.
- Encourage managers to focus on results, not hours: Managers should focus on their employees’ performance and not on the number of hours work. Sometimes it takes a long time to finish a project, and other times an employee has a slightly more relaxed working day. Both sides benefit when employees are happy and motivated to work intensively on important projects, but then also have days to work at a more relaxed pace.
- Make sure employees take breaks: Even short breaks at work can reduce stress and fatigue. Our bodies are not designed to spend long hours spent in front of a computer. Even if employees are busy, encourage them to take short breaks at work. A good idea is to introduce a 20-minute sports or yoga session before work or during lunch breaks, so everyone can exercise together remotely.
- Check the amount of work allocated to an employee: With the right project management tools, managers can ascertain that work is being distributed evenly. They should also talk to employees regularly to check on the progress of the project and the time they need to finish a particular task. Sometimes a very simple task turns out to be time-consuming.
- Make sure employees take their holidays: One look at their calendar and seeing the amount of work in the pipeline might make employees feel like they simply cannot take their holidays. Managers should therefore check that all employees are taking paid leave and reassure them that taking time off in no way negatively affects the perception of their performance.
- Set boundaries: Setting clear boundaries makes it easier for employees to achieve a healthy work-life balance. As mentioned before, flexible working hours are a great advantage, but can also lead to employees checking work emails even during family time. This, in turn, can contribute to rapid professional burnout. So, it is worth setting some boundaries. For example, not sending emails during the weekend.
- Take care of employees’ mental health: It’s a manager’s job to support employees – and this includes their mental health. That’s why regular conversations are extremely important. During these conversations, it’s a good idea to ask employees about how they feel or how they are balancing their duties.
- Organise social events: A casual get-together during or after work will allow employees to connect and get to know each other better. This will make them more relaxed during working hours and they won’t be stressed about sending an email to their colleague or even boss. Check out our favourite remote games for teams.
- Lead by example: It is very often the case that employees emulate their managers. If managers work overtime and send emails late at night, employees will do the same. Therefore, make sure that all managers follow the same rules and set a good example.
There are many ways for companies to promote a healthier employee work-life balance. Implementing these strategies is sure to help reduce staff turnover, keep a happy and motivated team and help the long-term, sustainable growth of your company.
