Work-Life Balance as an IT Manager

As the expression goes, no one on their deathbed ever said they wished they spent more time in the office.

?This expression does not mean you should never go to the office, it just means that you should not neglect everything else in your life for the sake of your profession.? As a manager, this also doesn’t mean just you, it also related to how hard you push those that work for you.

?Overwork can lead to professional burnout, divorce, not watching your kids grow up, physical illness, and a number of other nasty outcomes.

?All that said, let’s first talk about you, then talk about your staff, and then discuss the value of work-life balance to your company.

?Regarding you, there is an old joke that CEOs and entrepreneurs often say “I only work half days, my issue is which twelve hours it is.”? Yes, you should work hard. Yes, you should do what is needed to get the job done. But, if you overwork yourself for too long your productivity will decline, your effectiveness will reduce, or your personal life will fall apart.? If any of these happen, even as hard as you have worked, you will all of a sudden be of less value to your company because your performance is not at the same level. You in fact, may have worked yourself out of a job and destroyed your personal life in the process.

?Now, let’s extrapolate to your staff.? If you overwork them, they in time will be of less value to you, or they may leave because they are being pushed too hard. If they leave, they will of course be of no value to you because they are gone.? To make matters worse, high attrition further lowers your department’s productivity because new people must be continually hired and trained.

?This may seem like a crass way to talk about you and your staff, but I want to illustrate and emphasize that work-life balance isn’t just about being nice to the people that work for you, it’s also good business.

?As an IT manager, there are many things that you can potentially do to help your team and yourself maintain a proper work-life balance.? They are:

• Fill open positions as quickly as possible. Just because your team is shorthanded, it doesn’t mean that there is less work. It just means that everyone else on the team must work harder until the position is filled.
• Don’t over commit your department. Over committing means overworking, missed deadlines, and potentially lower quality.
• Assure that your staff members take their vacation time.? In today’s fast paced minimally staffed business environment, many people feel uncomfortable taking time off. In time, this will hurt their performance and lower their morale. Think of it this way, would you rather have brain surgery by a doctor who was well rested and at the top of their game, or by a doctor who has worked forty days in a row and feels exhausted.
• Properly schedule your projects, deadlines, and commitments. Scheduling your projects too optimistically may very possibly cause you and your staff to work nights and weekends
• Streamline department processes. This will allow you to use your team’s efforts in the most efficient way possible.
• Maximize quality to minimize rework. As the expression goes, “Even if you don’t have time to do it right the first time, it always seems that you are able to find the time later to do it right the second time.” Reducing rework not only makes those you are doing the work for happier, it also helps maximize your team’s efficiency.

?The primary advice and takeaways are to know that:

• Overworking your staff or yourself can have devastating personal and professional consequences
• Work-Life balance isn’t just about being nice to your staff, it’s good business
• Note the above bullet points on ways to reduce the potential of overworking your staff and yourself

(First published in GateHouse News Service.)