How to create better boundaries with your team during the summer
Reading time:
3 mins
Who is it for:
Professionals that are working remotely during the Summer
Tags:
Remote Team/Remote Work
Team Management/Team Performing
Problem Solving/Decision Making
Are you working remotely this summer? This one's for you!
First things first, let’s go through a couple of common examples of poor boundaries during remote work.
We all know someone that will be sending emails at 2am or will spend over 12 hours available on Slack, they feel like they always need to be there but in reality all they want is to spend some time at the beach with their friends and family.
There are so many problems with these types of behaviours which lead to future team frictions and eventually burnout. Boundaries are key to solving these issues. They are a super important part of our daily lives and are essential to create healthy work environments and a good work-life balance. Here are some tips to create better boundaries that lead to better remote work over the summer.
Set a clear schedule
This of course depends on your team’s needs and the type of job you have, however, if you are remote working you might have a bit more flexibility in your schedule. We encourage you take complete advantage of the situation and create a schedule that perfectly best fits your summer. However, the key here is to make sure that everyone knows when you are going to be online so your co-workers know when they can expect to hear from you. Tools like Google Calendar and status updates in Slack are great for this!
Learn how to say no
This one tip applies all year round, but imagine the following situation: You are working on at least 6 projects at the same time, have been finishing work late for the past 2 months and your boss has just asked you to join this 2h long Zoom call that isn’t going to help you with any of your tasks. The answer is just saying no.
We all know saying “no” is hard and learning this skill takes practice but it is an essential part of keeping boundaries at work. In summary, if you struggle saying ”no” consider the following things: Take your time before turning down a request, consider putting it into an email and finally, if you can’t find a way, ask a team member for help! If you need more, Oprah Winfrey has very wise words on the subject.
Reflect with your team
A good way of setting boundaries is also by clearly communicating concerns within the team and learning how to set them together. Setting a team reflection session to discuss this can help a lot. If you are unsure of where to begin, the Team Deck or Remote Deck can be a great way to start to build your dream remote team. The Remote Work Reflection is specifically designed for digital teams and organisations that are embracing working from home.
Extra tip: Follow this guide to learn how to structure a team reflection session
By now you probably get the point: Boundaries are super important and can have such a positive impact on so many areas of your life. If you are a company applying this tool can have a direct impact on efficiency and retention of talent, if you are an employee it can help you have a happier and more balanced life.
On a final note, even if you follow the best practices and set the most perfect boundaries, these are different for all team members, so remember to be forgiving to certain situations that may happen!
