You write a few emails and listen to a podcast en route to work. You meet with colleagues to catch up on an ongoing project, then check Facebook to see what your friends are doing for lunch. You spend a few hours putting together a report, then run home in time for the kids getting back from school. You eat an early dinner before prepping for a nine o’clock conference call with an overseas client or catch up on some emails.
As technology continues to make it easier and easier for us to do our jobs from anywhere at any time, working patterns like this are becoming increasingly common. Over the last decade or so, the focus has moved away from maintaining a balance between the distinct entities of ‘work’ and ‘life’, and shifted towards finding ways of blending the two.
What exactly is work-life integration?
To a large extent, the rise of work-life integration is a natural product of changes in society. Particularly for millennials, there is an expectation that everyone should be connected all the time. This generation are also more likely to favour employers who offer flexible working arrangements, and organizations have had to adapt to attract the best talent.
In contrast to work-life balance, ‘work-life integration’ isn’t about cramming all your productivity into the hours you spend at the office, nor is it about ‘leaving work at work’ when you head home at the end of the day. While that might once have been held up as an ideal, the realities of today’s fast-paced business environment make it an impractical model for organizations whose employees and customers are scattered across different locations and time zones.
Instead, work-life integration is about managing your schedule in a way that accommodates the ever-changing needs of your organization without forcing you to sacrifice the important things in your personal life. The underlying theory is that allowing home, community and wellbeing into your work life (and vice versa) leads to increased satisfaction and success across all four of these domains.
How’s your work-life integration?
Your ability to achieve full work-life integration will likely depend on the flexible working arrangements on offer in your organization. There are, however, a few key questions you can ask yourself to assess how effectively your work and personal lives complement one another:
‘Where and when am I most productive?’
It may be that you get your best work done amidst the buzz of a busy office, or you might be more productive when surrounded by the perfect silence of your own home. If remote working isn’t an option, think about the energy peaks and troughs you experience over the course of a day. If you’re at your best in the first few hours after you open your laptop, schedule important tasks for the morning in anticipation of the post-lunch slump.
‘Could I make better use of technology?’
There have never been more ways for us to get things done and stay in touch online. Whether it comes to brainstorming ideas with colleagues or holding meetings with clients, applications like Google Docs, Slack and Skype allow you to take your office with you wherever you go. From a business perspective, this helps you be more responsive to customers and facilitates collaboration, but the same technology also empowers you to stay connected with friends and family while you’re at work. In a typical day, you might plan a night out with friends through social media, coordinate childcare via instant messaging, then respond to client emails that come in late in the evening.
‘How do I measure my own productivity?’
Instead of focusing on the number of hours you spend working, try to think about how productive you’re being during those hours. According to the Pareto Principle, most of us get 80% of our results from 20% of the work we do, so concentrate your efforts on that vital 20%. If you’re deciding whether to go for a run in the afternoon or power through and clock off at 5pm, think about which will yield the greater productivity. While it might mean finishing work later, taking a run will probably help you clear your head and get more done in the afternoon. Understand that there will be some occasions when you have time to take that afternoon run, and others when you’ll need to work late to hit an important deadline.
How Organizations Can Support Work-Life Integration
Work-life integration requires buy-in from both individuals and their managers or organizations. It's a two-way street: if people are willing to devote time outside traditional office hours to the needs of the organization, then managers will need to accept and allow personal needs being catered for during regular "nine-to-five" hours.
Other ways managers can support work-life integration include:
Being flexible about working hours. The approach won't work if you insist that your people work set hours. That may be unavoidable in some roles or professions, but if your business is able to offer flexible working times, then do so.
Setting boundaries. Work-life integration does not give managers the right to call on staff 24/7. Be sure to reassure team members that the approach will not be abused.
Providing the right tech. If people will be working remotely, they'll need the kit to do so. Allow your team members to take laptops or other appropriate equipment home or out of the workplace, with appropriate safeguards. Of course, there are organizations where work-life integration may be impractical for a variety of reasons. Under such circumstances, the principles of work-life balance apply.
Key Points
Work-life integration is an extension of the traditional work-life balance approach. Instead of there being conflict between the two areas, work-life integration seeks to unify them in a way that supports both.
For the individual, it means managing a schedule that meets your own needs and that of your organization.
For organizations, it means being flexible, respecting boundaries, and providing the appropriate tech and support.
An important caveat
Ironically, work-life integration can only be successful if a balance is struck between the ability to be constantly connected and the freedom that comes with flexible working. It should not simply be seen as a reason to do more or less work than you would in a more traditional nine-to-five role.
Of course, there are organizations where work-life integration may be impractical for a variety of reasons. Under such circumstances, the principles of work-life balance apply.
Reference: Stew Friedman, ‘What Successful Work and Life Integration Looks Like’, Harvard Business Review (7 October 2014). Available at: https://hbr.org/2014/10/what-successful-work-and-life-integration-looks-like
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