Balancing Borders and Bridges: Work-Life Balance Glen Kreiner Associate Professor Department of Management & Organization Penn State University Based on Research with Elaine Hollensbe (U. of Cincinnati) & Mathew Sheep (Illinois State U.)
Agenda Boundaries and boundary preferences Handout Part 1 Challenges associated with boundary management Handout Part 2 Improvisation exercise Boundary Work: Strategies to manage work-life challenges Handout Part 3 Feedforward exercise
Work-Life Research Our Study
Work-Life Balance Our Research Research questions: What is the nature of the work-family boundary, including challenges and opportunities? What strategies are used to facilitate this boundary work? Based on a study of Episcopal priests Two studies: (1) open-ended surveys with 220 priests; (2) in-depth, hour-long interviews with 60 parish priests. So what do priests have to do with me and my company???
Priests and Professionals Similarities Episcopal priests can be men or women, married/partnered or single, with or without children Both go through rigorous, societally-accepted education processes Priesthood and professions can be “ greedy ”!
Boundaries and Boundary Preferences
Powerful symbol of a boundary – The Berlin Wall
In German: “every wall will fall sometime”
A small opening is the beginning of the end…
People actively destroying the boundary…
…until it becomes physically permeable.
Types of Boundaries “Thin” “Thick” Segmenting Integrating Strong Weak Impermeable Permeable Closed to influence Open to influence
Work-Home Boundary Preferences Variation in how people prefer to either integrate or segment work and home Integrator: “I think that a person who integrates doesn’t even really think about that.…The only thing I think I intentionally do is really pay attention to how many evening meetings I schedule. Other than that, because I integrate both, I’m not one of those obsessive boundary people. I know that I have friends that will say, ‘This is the line and it doesn’t get crossed’, but I don’t have that.” Glen’s example: writing while holding baby…
Work-Home Preferences Segmenter: “I kidded you when I said that we have a moat with alligators in it around the rectory. But there is a certain sense that there is a psychological moat there…. I think because I’ve been doing this long enough I know how to care about people, but not let them run all over me. I have a good sense of boundaries. I always have.” Glen’s example: working more on campus
Boundary Preferences People have a general preference: segmentation or integration? Yet, rarely are people fully one or the other – we tend to pick and choose what we segment or integrate What do you prefer to segment vs. integrate? What are the preferences for various employees in your organization?
Model of Work-Home Boundary Work Individual’s Work-Home Boundary Preferences Environmental Work-Home Boundary Influences
An example of a “segmenter” married to an “integrator!” “How many times have I told you not to bring your work home with you?”
Boundary (In)Congruence Who around you is similar or different in their preferences? How your boundary preferences fit or not with Family members Superiors Subordinates Clients Occupation
Model of Work-Home Boundary Work Family members Individual’s Superiors Work-Home Subordinates Boundary Clients Preferences Occupation Work-Home Boundary Incongruence Dimensions Environmental Work-Home Boundary Influences
Handout Part 1 Questions 1-4 Results from diagrams? Pop ups for: Your actual and ideal boundary are EQUAL Your actual boundary is MORE segmented than your preference? Your actual boundary is LESS segmented than your preference?
Boundary Management Challenges & Opportunities
Work-Home Boundary Violations Events, episodes when desired work-home boundary is not provided Intrusion – when desired boundary is breached Distance – when desired integration is denied Idiosyncratic! One person’s desired behavior is another person’s violation Asking questions about personal life Social/personal events for co-workers Expecting email replies on weekend Sending personal emails (causes, opinions, etc.) Calling people on days off / vacation
Work-Home Conflict In contrast to violations (events), work-home conflict is an ongoing state Demands of work & home in regular friction (temporal, cognitive, physical, emotional, behavioral) “I also feel that tension between work and family. Probably anybody who has figured out what their real calling in life is has experienced a similar tension.”
Work-Home Enrichment Work and/or home benefits from the other domain Knowledge / ideas / resources / insights Leading more effectively at home b/c of job Having more compassion toward worker b/c of parenting Relationships / people / networks Friends from work enrich family experience Personal contacts land you better job
Model of Work-Home Boundary Work Individual’s Work-Home Boundary Preferences Work-Home Boundary Incongruence Work-Home Dimensions Work-Home Boundary Conflict Violations • Intrusion • Distance Environmental Work-Home Boundary Influences
Boundary Management Exercise: Improvisation! Five-person group — volunteers please! The group’s goal is to tell a story about typical work-family boundary issues — e.g., preferences, challenges, opportunities, violations, conflict, enrichment, ups/downs. One member will begin, then each member in the group will alternate, adding a line to the story. The story should have a plot and a sense of finality or closure when it is done. And… What interesting themes/issues did the group raise?
Handout Part 2 – Boundary Challenges and Opportunities
Boundary Work Strategies
Boundary Work Tactics What people do to change / manage the boundaries between the work and home domains…remember boundaries are both bridges and borders Segmenting Build a border Integrating Build a bridge Types Behavioral Temporal Physical Communicative
Model of Work-Home Boundary Work Boundary Work Tactics Individual’s • Behavioral Work-Home • Temporal Boundary • Physical Preferences • Communicative Work-Home Boundary Incongruence Work-Home Dimensions Work-Home Boundary Conflict Violations • Intrusion • Distance Environmental Work-Home Boundary Influences
Strategies for Work-Life Balance Doing “boundary work” involves strategies/tactics that are often quite consciously employed As I go through the strategies, consider: What do you do? What could you do? What about other people at your organization?
Using Other People “Border - keepers” – the other individuals who can help one’s attempts at work-home balance, such as spouses, children, staff, friends Can act as a “firewall” between you and other potential boundary violators “My church administrator, who takes all the calls at the church, is very good about helping me keep my boundaries up. There are also three clergy on staff here so we are able to share emergencies that come up. That is a great help.”
Leveraging Technology By using caller ID, voice mail, email (separate or single accounts), etc. “Caller ID is a big help with the phone calls. We always return phone calls, of course. We always respond, but it’s not always when the people want . When people need , yes. There is a big difference between what a person wants and what they actually need .”
Invoking Triage Prioritizing multiple simultaneous demands on time Some are known in advance (conflicts in a schedule) while others pop-up last minute (child gets sick when need to be somewhere) Triage = making quick but efficient diagnoses of which crisis or problem is the most important and/or most likely to be fixed, then acting accordingly
Example of Triage Strategy I try and sort out between what I have to do, and what I should do, and what I want to do. It is kind of a triage. You know, you have to do what you have to do…. Like tomorrow my kids are in this big swim meet. I would love to be there for the swim meet. I was supposed to have a volunteer job at it. But, a long-time member of our parish died, and we are going to have an enormous funeral with 500 people, and the rector is on vacation. So, there is just no question. You know, I wish I could be at the swim meet, but I can’t. On the other hand, if it was an optional sort of “Can you come in and do this on a Saturday?” you know I would say, “You know I have this big swim meet to go to. I’ll come in, in the afternoon”…. It’s ongoing triage…. You know, it’s a situation - by-situation thing, who gets the most attention.
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