Managing boundaries for effective performance
Why manage boundaries?
To excel and deliver your best at work, setting and maintaining clear boundaries is as crucial as the banks that guide a river's flow. By clearly defining your limits, you enhance your own well-being and contribute to a healthier, more productive workplace culture. But what happens when these boundaries are blurred or non-existent?
An organisation thrives when its employees are at their best, yet the benefits diminish if staff are overextended, exhausted, and unable to make good decisions in the moment or relate well with colleagues.
Allowing employees to excel
Engaged and valued employees want to be the best version of themselves in the workplace. They are most likely to excel when they enjoy their work, have the right resources and work in a healthy and thriving culture. A key aspect of this is respect for personal boundaries. It’s not just about work-life balance; it’s about creating an environment where your employees can thrive and be acknowledged for their unique contributions.
Hybrid Working blurs boundaries
However, the workplace has evolved dramatically in the last few years. The traditional 9-to-5 workday is increasingly a thing of the past, replaced by flexible schedules and the expectation of 24/7 service. Thanks to technology, we are all contactable at any time. Many of us now balance various caring, work, and social roles. Our personal and professional lives often blend into each other, especially with the rise of remote and hybrid working models. Often, our home and workplace are one and the same. This new reality makes setting and maintaining clear boundaries more important and yet more challenging than ever before. It's up to employees to manage their boundaries, it’s a personal responsibility that no one else can do for them.
Setting and maintaining boundaries
How do employees navigate this complex issue? Everyone’s relationship to boundaries is different. Some of your employees may thrive on flexibility, while others need the clear structure of distinct lines between different areas of their lives. Some employees may want to assert their limits to show what is reasonable and prevent others from taking advantage and encroaching on their time. Lastly, some employees may need to manage their own tendencies to people please, or the need to be needed which leaves them without the personal resources to be at their best. Finding the right balance is key.
| Too rigid | If your boundaries are too rigid and maintained in a blunt way, you may find you don’t get support or treated flexibly in turn. |
| Too flexible | If your boundaries are too flexible, they will quickly erode and fall away. Others will not be able to see them or feel they need to respect them. |
| Just right | If your boundaries are clear to others, applied with discernment and managed skilfully, you will find yourself in control of them and feel more in balance. |
Increasing job satisfaction and contribution
Successfully establishing and upholding boundaries in the workplace takes both effort and practice. Employees can start by identifying their non-negotiables - the circumstances they cannot compromise on - and recognise the areas where they can be more flexible, depending on the situation. Skilfully maintaining a boundary is an art that requires patience, persistence, and consistency, and, much like balancing on a beam, managing boundaries requires continual small, frequent adjustments, without losing sight of the overall picture. It involves finding a respectful yet firm way for employees to communicate their limits, ensuring they are both clear and considerate.
Once your employees assert a boundary, it’s important that they stand by their decision and reinforce their stance when they need to. This might mean reminding colleagues of their work hours or politely declining last-minute requests that overstep into their personal time.
With solid boundaries in place, your team can shift their attention to managing their focus and energy more effectively. Demanding tasks should be allocated to their peak productivity times when they are at their best and can work with focus and purpose. Lastly, it’s important employees build in downtime for recovery – no matter how much we enjoy our work, we all need a break!
Exhausted and overextended employees rarely make good and productive decisions in the workplace. By providing your employees with the right resources and supporting them to be in tune with their strengths, guided by their values, and supportive of their boundaries, your employees can elevate their contribution. Your employees will not only succeed in their role but also find greater satisfaction and enjoyment in their work.
Are weak boundaries hindering productivity within your organisation?
People contribute at their highest level when they have the tools and capabilities to work productively in their role. In our Managing my boundaries for effective performance course, we provide individuals and teams with the tools and capabilities to establish and maintain healthy boundaries which in turn increases employee satisfaction, productivity and contribution. As a result of attending our course, your employees will be able to establish and maintain boundaries, allowing them to focus their time and energy on achieving their priorities.
