The Bottleneck Attention Audit Report | The Importance of Having a Good Work-Life Balance
Balance is an important aspect in most aspects of our life, no less when it comes to people’s careers. Work-Life Balance is something that everyone aspires to have, but not a lot have the luxury of. Some due to the nature of their jobs, or not having the luxury for one due to certain circumstances.
That said, it’s still something that a business should look into for their employees. While having everything working efficiently 24/7 sounds good on paper, people aren’t machines. If you have them working long hours with no rest, something will eventually give, one way or the other.
So in this section of the Bottleneck Attention Audit Report blog series, we talk about Work-Life Balance, and how businesses and those working in teams can create a system that pursue a good balance between efficiency and maintaining a good and healthy team that can go the distance. We will also show our scores in the audit that was done by MindEQuity. If you are not familiar with this blog series or the Bottleneck Attention Audit Report, you can check out our introductory post and our last topic on the importance of having a good workplace environment.
The Importance of Work-Life Balance
Having a good work-life balance is not only important for your team’s health and well-being, but it can also improve their productivity and overall performance. Someone who doesn’t see their work as a chore and are fully-engaged can work harder, make fewer mistakes, and will remain loyal for a long time.
On hiring and retaining your team
Nowadays, businesses that gain a reputation for encouraging work-life balance have become very attractive, particularly on hiring people of the younger generation. Some would even forgo higher pay to work for a company with a reputation for good work-life balance.
It’s not only for hiring new blood. A company with teams enjoying a good work-life balance are less likely to look for another job, even if offered higher positions or better pay. In this current climate of the great resignation, employee retention should be a priority for most companies. Because even if you can replace a person or two that left, you’re still left to train the new blood that will replace them, which means time and resources allotted just to catch up.
Getting closer to the team
Helping your team find a good balance between work and home can also be a way to increase their engagement levels. It can be an avenue to discuss what they do to relax or on their off days, or how they are doing at work, and what can you do to help them.
Having an engaged workforce will lead to your team going ‘the extra mile’ and be local advocates for your business.
Less Burnouts
We all feel burnout from time to time. However, being burned out at work can be detrimental, not only in productivity, but also in morale. Burnout is one of the most common reasons why people leave their current work as well, as they either feel overwhelmed or underappreciated despite their efforts.
Nowadays with the current situation caused by the pandemic, people are having problems separating work from their home / free time. This also increases the chance of a burnout, so it is important to encourage your team to not overextend and “leave work at work”.
Bottleneck’s Attention Audit Results on Work-Life Balance
That said, what was Bottleneck’s score on Work-Life Balance?
According to MindEquity’s audit report, our team score on Work-Life Balance was 60%, which is about average for most teams.
One of the things of note in the audit was that because Bottleneck has a remote-based workplace, one of our biggest issues with Work-Life Balance is creating a divide with our work hours and personal time. So much so that some of us checks our emails or chats for updates, even before or after our scheduled shifts. Also, being online and connected on multiple devices means that we receive notification from chats, emails, and tools that we use, so it drags us back to work mode suddenly.
Another issue that needs to be addressed, is that people had too many tabs open in their heads. This also comes with mixing personal and work time, which adds to the clutter in one’s head. So it’s important to segregate personal and work hours in your day, so that you have less things to think about at certain times.
Creating a Better Work-Life Balance for You and Your Team
Now that we have identified the problems, here are some things one can do to improve the Work-Life Balance in your company.
Encourage Time-Off
Vacations are important, and a necessity for everyone. A break from work can give a chance to reset and give your team a great opportunity to recuperate and recharge. This is essential to help your people improve productivity and focus when they return to the office.
Take Short Breaks Throughout the Day
Also, letting them take breaks in their work hours is important, not only for their health, but also for their mental. Simply put, people were not designed to stare at a bright screen for hours on end.
Get Feedback from Your Team
Of course, you don’t have to think of everything on your own. Take some time and get ideas from your team, and discuss why their suggestions can be implemented or not attainable at the moment. That way, they feel involved and informed on what is happening in the company, especially since it concerns their scheduling and whatnot.
Practice What You Preach
As a business owner, you often feel like you have to do more work than your team at all times. While that might certainly be the case for most, it’s still important that you yourself practice good Work-Life Balance yourself. That way, your team can see that it is also okay to pursue a good balance in their life.
Conclusion
We hope that you have enjoyed reading this blog series on the Bottleneck Audit Report done by MindEQuity. Do stick around for the last piece, as we round everything up and give our final takes on each topic.
Are you interested in taking the Attention Audit for your team as well? You can check out MindEQuity today and see if you are up to the challenge!
Want to learn more about Bottleneck? Visit our website and find out how our team can help your business break through its bottleneck today!
About Jaime Jay
Meet Jaime Jay – a man who wears many hats, and wears them all admirably. He's a master connector, an entrepreneur extraordinaire, and a published author who knows how to get things done.
Before he found his way to the business world, Jaime served his country as a brave paratrooper in the U.S. Army. But that's just the beginning of his many accomplishments.
He's the founder of the renowned Bottleneck Distant Assistant Services firm, and his book "Quit Repeating Yourself" has become a must-read for entrepreneurs everywhere.
When he's not busy building his empire, you can find him on his beloved Harley Davidson, cruising through the countryside and taking in the invigorating effects of Uitwaaien – a Dutch practice that involves facing the wind to boost health and relieve stress.
He enjoys spending his free time outside building stuff with his wife, Nikita the dog and their two kittens (for now at least) Tommy and Tater.
He is ‘over-the-moon’ happily married to his wonderful wife Sara, his amazing daughter, Jessica, who is serving our country as a United States Army soldier. Jaime and Sara are the proud grand parents of two beautiful little girls.
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Quit Repeating Yourself provides guidance for entrepreneurs, business leaders, and managers to help prevent unknown challenges from ruining their business.
