In 2002 I was
managing a team at SARS. I found that because my staff had a reputation for
being able to provide answers and deliver, they were constantly interrupted
with requests. With the result that they had to work overtime to keep up with
their own work, sometimes fell behind and were feeling stressed. I called a
meeting and we discussed what was happening. They were all helpful people who
felt guilty to say No to anyone who asked them nicely.
So we set some
new rules (or boundaries). I would let the departments we supported know that
we would be planning our week’s work on Monday mornings. Anything they required
from us was to be communicated to me by the previous Friday (or very early on
Monday morning). Anything not so requested would stand over for scheduling the
following week.
My team agreed
that they were answerable to our schedule before anyone else’s. If someone
asked them for something during the week they learnt to say “No” in a nice way
such as “I’d love to help you once I have finished all of this week’s work” or
“If you give the request to Alison I am sure she will schedule it for you.”
Naturally
there were emergencies and we did make adjustments to accommodate the
legitimate ones, but for the most part after a few weeks everyone pretty much
cooperated with us.
The result was
a happier, fulfilled, engaged team delivering on time and getting through even
more work than they’d ever done previously.
All of us have
a need for boundaries in some aspect of our life. Without them our values, needs
and priorities get subjugated by those of everyone else. We lose sight of what
is important, suffer health problems, miss important events with loved ones. Some
of us do too much for others. We think we are helping but we are denying them
the opportunity to be strong.
Think about
how you could modify what we did at SARS to help you in your own circumstances.
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