Your teams are not made up of robots, but of living humans whose well-being depends on satisfying other needs besides work. These needs may include family responsibilities, health issues, or personal development.
The difference in personal needs between team members means that work-life balance has many individual meanings. In general, work and personal lives are described as balanced when they are in harmony, without one outweighing the other in terms of time and effort spent.
Why Your Team Needs Work-Life Balance
It may seem that what happens in team members’ personal lives has little bearing on project management, but their work-life balance can primarily determine their job satisfaction. An overworked team is subject to exhaustion, both physical and mental. When team members don’t have time to take care of personal responsibilities, their stress will spill over to working hours and impact their productivity. When having a job does not mean sacrificing a healthy and fulfilling personal life, team members have a better chance at professional fulfillment.
Setting Work-Life Boundaries
Modern workplace technology allows everyone to be connected all the time, contributing to the feeling that the workday never ends. Experiencing a harmonious mix of professional and personal time has been shown to improve overall job satisfaction.
Team leaders need to let their teams know they can disconnect at the end of the day and give full attention to their personal lives. Team members who are adequately rested and not feeling stressed can get more done during working hours.
A good project manager sets expectations early about work hours and stresses the importance of personal time. This should also be demonstrated in behavior. A project manager who sends work emails around the clock is clearly not respecting work-life boundaries. When team members feel their personal time is valued, they will, in turn, value their working time and reward their employer with higher productivity.
With many team members working remotely, it can be more complicated than ever to draw the line between working hours and personal time. This is especially true when communicating with team members across different time zones. Limiting after-hours meetings and email can help keep team members from feeling that they must be available for work 24/7.
How Project Management Software Helps Work-Life Balance
Two of the main functions of project management software are assigning tasks and tracking task completion. When used properly, the software ensures that task assignments are equitably divided among team members and that no one will be required to work outside working hours to complete their assignments.
Over time it may become apparent that some team members are always over-committed because they do a poor job at estimating the amount of time required for task completion. This is an example of how project management software helps identify problems with past estimates to help achieve more accuracy in the future.
Team members who feel overwhelmed at work are likely to see stress leak over into their personal lives. Project management software reduces team member stress by making it easier to prioritize tasks and encouraging collaboration between team members. It can also help team members establish consistent work schedules that allow them to honor personal commitments outside work. Knowing the scope of each task and its completion date gives team members a chance to plan personal schedules around their work schedules.
When project management software is used for collaborative projects, it increases engagement and encourages networking between team members. Communicating about project tasks can lead to more informal communication about non-work topics. Any tool that brings team members together should be viewed as strengthening the team and increases its effectiveness.
Project management software can be extremely beneficial to any company, especially those working remotely. Assisting your team members’ work-life balance is important and coAmplifi is here to help you improve your company culture. Contact us today to learn more about our business management system.
