Boundaries Matter
Boundaries take on new importancein this age of so many working from home. Look at life pre-corona: You had ajob, perhaps nine to five, worked in an office with a desk and personalbelongings, and work ended when work ended. Now look at life post-corona: youhave a job, nominally nine to five, but those lines are easily blurred by afterhours emails. You work in a hastily created niche, which is not necessarilyprotected from family, and work may never end.
I’ve done a little research,talking with several who are working from home. Lee is putting in fourteen tosixteen hours a day six days a week. His boss knows he can be texted and never hesitatesto keep the pressure going. Yes, Lee is being paid by the hour, but he stillhas other interests and concerns besides work…family for one! Arnold is in asimilar boat. He works as a consultant, and the company is not relying on itsusual hires for a number of their usual services. Instead, the company ispaying Arnold to assume many of those functions. This is hurting the company’semployees and Arnold as well. And those just the corona-laden issues.
When you are at work in anoffice, boundaries are just as relevant. Personal space, time, intellectualproperty all fall within the realm of what’s mine is mine and handsoff. It includes relationships as well. If you are finding your boundariescompromised in any area, there are some things you can do.
Begin by knowing your own personalvalues and limits. Keep relationships professional. Even in a friendly officeatmosphere, there are limits to friendship. When a boundary is breached, sayso. I’m sorry, but I have family commitments after hours. I’m sorry, but mywork relationship does not include drinks after work or luncheon dates.When work assignments fall outside of your job description, have a frankdiscussion with your supervisor or HR. You may welcome the opportunity to haveyour job description and salary amended to include new responsibilities butrecognize and communicate your limits.
In a recent edition of ForbesI found ten ways to shore up sagging boundaries. One included delegating workthat falls outside the purview of your responsibility. It sounds veryconciliatory and responsible, doesn’t it? Another focused on creatingstructure, perhaps with agendas for business meetings and advance schedulingfor work-related travel. PsychCentral offered another great tip: be concrete in setting limits. Let’ssuppose scope creep sets in…your assignment is enlarging before your eyes. Avery succinct statement of limitations might be, I am happy to include thatinto our work schedule, but it will impact the deadline for our currentproject. This is a reasonable timeline for the project and the new task. Areyou amenable to this change in the deadline?
It’s hard to stand your ground. Youmay feel like your job is on the line. It may be, but also on the line is yourdignity, personal respect and job satisfaction. Don’t sacrifice one for theother. Boundaries do honestly matter.