• Home
  • Coaching
    • Executive Coaching
    • Team Coaching
    • Communication Coaching
  • Programs
  • Coaches
  • Testimonials
  • Self-help Books
  • Blog
  • Contact / FAQ's
The Coaching Group of Switzerland
  • Home
  • Coaching
    • Executive Coaching
    • Team Coaching
    • Communication Coaching
  • Programs
  • Coaches
  • Testimonials
  • Self-help Books
  • Blog
  • Contact / FAQ's

Coaching Blog
The Coaching Group Of Switzerland

Gone Is the “Off-Button” to Work: When the Lines Between Work and Life Are Blurred

20/8/2020

0 Comments

 
Picture
Setting boundaries is more important than ever. Photo Shutterstock
By Martha Bird, Business Anthropologist at ADP
This year has witnessed a dramatic and rapid shift in the way Americans work. In a matter of months, many businesses have transitioned to a fully remote workforce where possible, becoming “often on” workplaces with employees’ work schedules intermixing with their life at home. Such a change might once have been unimaginable but is quickly emerging as a new reality as people continue to socially distance and navigate uncertainty surrounding school and business closures. This blurring of work and home lives is very likely to shape the evolving world of work.

Many employers are taking this moment to consider the advantages of a partly remote workforce, redefining productivity outside of the traditional 9 to 5 hours, and focusing on communication and engagement to support their workforce and sustain business operations. It is equally as critical to remain aware that stay-at-home orders have impacted people differently, with up to 60 percent of workers unable to work from home1. As pillars of the broader human community, employers who reflect on all circumstances equally and act with holistic awareness will lead in more ways than one.

The WFH Advantage ...
One of the most important and practical benefits of decentralizing the workplace is that commuting hours are no longer being clocked every day by those who are working from home. This represents a massive time savings and can bring positive implications for both the financial and mental health of employees. Employees who have gone remote may now have more time for taking care of their wellbeing, enjoying meals with family, and reconnecting with the joys of domestic life. Employees may also relish the opportunity to finish projects on their own time absent the traditional 9 to 5 schedule, and as a whole realize the positive affect on their morale.

Another significant but less tangible benefit is that people have the opportunity to press pause — from the routines that they took for granted, from business as usual, from automatically going about their days. Pausing in this way is intimately linked to self-reflection (the adage “give me time to think” comes to mind), and a lot of people are actively reimagining their self-identities, interpersonal relationships, and the meaning of finding one’s way in the absence of predictability and direction. While this kind of reflection and its consequences can be extremely stressful, they can also open up new ways of being in the world that are more in line with personal, familial, or social values.

For employers, the benefits of a remote workforce include the tangible as well, such as cost savings on office space and equipment as well as a more diverse and wide ranging talent pool, since the team is no longer relegated to living within reasonable commuting distance. Companies and employees can also take pride in helping to limit their carbon footprint due to lack of commutes and the limiting of shared materials in common office space, such as paper products or cafeteria essentials. In addition to these impacts, employers too benefit from improved employee morale and employees who can prioritize their wellbeing, often seeing stronger engagement among their workforce.

The Productivity Question
Taking a more intentional approach to daily life naturally leads us to reconsider what it means to be productive. There is evidence that people in knowledge-based industries who are able to work from home are working longer hours now that the structure of the typical office day no longer exists. Some are experimenting as they go, testing and setting boundaries around the partitioning of time and space, while others are working in a continuous flow, which tends to lead to never shutting down and having less time to take care of themselves or their family. A lack of practice, family and home life obligations, and concerns around identity management and job security can all contribute to too little restorative downtime.

Those who already worked from home may have the advantage of experience, but even they are struggling with a myriad of new challenges ranging from homeschooling children, concern for aging parents, and irregular appointment schedules to financial or health worries brought on by the pandemic. As the traditional 9 to 5 becomes an artifact, the critical question for companies becomes: What does it mean to be productive, and how can employers maximize productivity without employees burning out?

Leaders need to ask themselves how they want to frame productivity for employees. Is productivity a quantitative measurement or a matter of quality? Is the employee supported or surveilled? How are managers measuring “performance” and why are they measuring it in that way? What are the stories we tell ourselves about “productivity” and how are these enacted in our daily practices, material culture, and system of symbols? Companies need to decide on their own story around productivity and be mindful to tell it with compassion. Now that our humanity is on greater display — with dogs barking and kids waving hello on work-related video calls — we’ve all accepted a certain transparency that has opened the door to more empathy in the workplace.

The Workplace of the Future
As conversations focus on a now largely remote workforce, it’s critical to understand that the capability is not universally shared: not everyone is able to work from home. Employers must also recognize that remote work is not everyone’s shared preference either. Some workers will jump at the opportunity to return to the office because they are inspired by the creativity born of in-person collaboration and serendipitous intersections.

Others will prefer to work from home indefinitely because they find it more productive and in tune with a personal rhythm that values greater flexibility. Still others will want to take a more balanced hybrid approach — which, in the end, will likely become a widely used medium. Companies will have to create environments — physical or virtual — where all employees feel safe, self-empowered, and purposeful.

Most importantly, employers will have to focus on encouraging employees to “leave work” while staying home to achieve work-life balance. Rooted in policy and driven by top-down example, these communications must be genuine and intentional in supporting employees. A well-considered approach might also support the “stuff” of home life and not just the stuff of professional work, by offering things like cooking classes and tips on keeping kids interested and engaged.
​

As we navigate these unprecedented times, employers who embrace a progressive mindset rooted in empathy will thrive and retain talent.

Contact one of our coaches in Switzerland for a free introductory session.

0 Comments

Your comment will be posted after it is approved.


Leave a Reply.

    Blog Home

    ​Self-Help Book / Personal Development
    by Suzie Doscher
    3
    rd Edition

    Picture
    Buy your book at Amazon
    BALANCE - offers you support  in life's difficult moments. 
    This book is about change and finding balance in life. Full of self-coaching exercises to help you learn and grow.

    Available in Paperback and Kindle at Amazon stores worldwide
    Audiobook narrated by Suzie Doscher on Amazon, Audible or iTunes

    RSS Feed

    Categories

    All
    Balance
    Business Coach In Lausanne
    Business Coach Zurich
    Coaching
    Coaching In Lausanne
    Coaching In Zurich
    Coaching Switzerland
    Coaching Switzerlandd
    Communication
    Core Values
    Covid 19
    Covid- 19
    Davide Costella
    Effectiveness
    Emotional Intelligence
    Empowerment
    Executive Coach
    Executive Coaching In Zurich
    Happiness
    Joy
    Leadership
    Life Coaching
    Life Coach Zurich
    Mindfulness
    Motivation
    Networking
    Neuroscience
    New Years Resolutions 2019
    Organizational Culture
    Other
    Pandemic
    Personal Development
    Seb Jauslin
    Start Ups
    Staying Focused
    Susan Begeman Steiner
    Suzie Doscher
    Team Coaching
    Virtual Coaching

    Archives

    January 2023
    December 2022
    November 2022
    October 2022
    September 2022
    August 2022
    July 2022
    June 2022
    May 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    November 2013
    October 2013

Contact info:


Suzie Doscher
Executive Coach for Self Development
​ 
​
Email Suzie
​Phone: + 41 43 443 59 54
www.suziedoscher.com
Linktree
Susan Begeman Steiner
Executive Coach
Team Coaching / Team Facilitation

​Email Susan
​Phone: + 41 78 798 83 99
www.sbsteinercoaching.com
Davide Costella
Communication Coaching
​NLP Coach

Email Davide
​Phone: +41 76 358 37 28
www.davidecostella.com
Seb Jauslin
Executive Coach for Daring Leaders and Lawyers 

​Email Seb
Phone: +41 76 202 01 13
​www.sebjauslin.com
Linktree

  • Home
  • Coaching
    • Executive Coaching
    • Team Coaching
    • Communication Coaching
  • Programs
  • Coaches
  • Testimonials
  • Self-help Books
  • Blog
  • Contact / FAQ's