Intelligent use of mobile technology can help you find balance

How well do small businesses balance work and life? In young, entrepreneurial companies, where workers often wear many hats, finding a balance between personal and professional life can be difficult. Can mobile technology help? And, perhaps more importantly, how can we stop it becoming a hindrance?

The signs are that work-life balance is a problem for many Canadians. Last year, Health Canada published the latest in six reports from a 2001 National Work-Life Conflict Study. Of the 31,500 people surveyed, many did not cope effectively with work-life conflict. They sacrificed their personal lives, forewent having children, and often exhibited signs of stress. Almost 60% of Canadians employed outside the home cannot balance their work and family demands, said the report. Researcher Linda Duxbury at Carleton University pointed to a potentially negative impact on an organization's bottom line, and on Canada's ability to be globally competitive.

Jan Chappel, senior technical specialist at the Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety Agrees. "The thing with mental health and stress is that everyone reacts a little differently. The symptoms can come out in different ways," she says. People can have problems sleeping. Anxiety might result in them eating more on less than normal. From an organizational perspective, managers can expect to see a higher level of presentness, in which employees are at work in body, but not in spirit. "They show up, but they're not working hard, and they're not engaged. They're not being as robust as they can at the job." People may find themselves barking at others unnecessarily, and unable to cope with change.

Since 2001, mobile data communications have blossomed in North America. Now, email, text messaging, and mobile web access make it easier to stay in touch with work wherever you are. This can lead to significant benefits. For example, people can meet family commitments, such as picking up children from school, while also remaining on the job. On the other hand, being always available can carry its own negative implications. "People don't turn off, for any number of reasons," says Loren Zon, chief executive of the Canadian Mental Health Association in Ontario. "They might be afraid that the employer expects them to be available 24 hours a day. Or that the person in the cubicle next to them isn't turning it off, so you end up with an element of competition."

"People have forgotten that they can make a choice of saying that they're available only a certain times," says Derrick Sweet, president of the Certified Coaches Federation. Mr. Sweet, who trains life coaches to help people find a balance between their job and home life, says ultimately, people need a sense of discipline and awareness of how they are spending their time. Useful techniques may include using a mobile phone to access voicemail, but only at set times. Employees might set a personal boundary - a time when they won't aswer the phone or check work email - so they can feel free to enjoy personal time.

"A lot of people have their cellphone as their primary number. That's no problem - just use your voicemail to let people know the boundaries of your communication," Mr. Sweet says. He includes times when he will be available on the phone in his greeting message.

Smart companies may even impose policies promoting such values. Mr. Zon says he knows of companies that have a policy where employees are not to send each other work emails during the evening.

Some technical tools are emerging to help companies enforce these policies. MailSuite is an online service that pulls together various communication channels such as email addresses, instant messaging accounts, Twitter feeds, and social networking news feeds into a single online communications channel, enabling users to check just one inbox. They can then set delivery options dictating time windows during which messages can be delivered, making it easy to distinguish between personal and professional time.

Mr. Zon says mobile communications shouldn't be used by employers as a way of squeezing more hours out of their employees. That will be counter productive. Rather, mobile devices should be used to boost morale and reduce stress by enabling employees to set their own parameters. "These tools provide a freedom to fulfill your obligations to your job in the most productive way possible, while balancing your workplace needs, because you're not chained to your desk". 

This statement may be more accurate than he realizes: Ms. Duxbury's report highlighted who a person reports to as a key parameter in work-life stress. If a manager is easy-going, and willing to give you the autonomy you need, then an employee is more likely to find a suitable balance between the office desk and the garden patio. If, however, the boss exhibits classic signs of bad management, such as micro-managing, being inflexible, and blaming rather than supporting the employee, then work-life balance will take a significant hit. If managers understand the correct way to fold mobile devices into working practices, then they can be a signficiant tool in the fight against workplace stress.

Financial Post

http://www.financialpost.com/small-business/business-solutions/story.html?id=2980517

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