The same way a physical fence allows you to protect what’s valuable to you. Maintaining good boundaries in the workplace is paramount. Keeping good boundaries is a way of improving productivity. Yes. It is also a critical self-care practice. Healthy boundaries in the workplace create a conducive environment for better mental health for you and members of your team. They set the limits that separate you from other people – not necessarily to exclude interaction, but to protect what matters to you – your needs, and to control who enters your psychological space, as well as your physical space. This is especially important in this age of multiplicity of ideas, convictions and expectations.
Research has shown that poor communication, misunderstanding, resentment, conflict, and overworking at work, are caused by poor boundaries between the leader and even among co-workers. To curb this workplace malaise, what do you think is fundamental for a leader to implement? If you are a leader or aspiring to be a leader, you must be well-versed with various types of boundaries and boundary management strategies. These boundaries must include intellectual boundaries, material boundaries, time boundaries, emotional boundaries, and physical boundaries.
You have probably heard about boundaries being an integral part of an organisation or any company that contributes to general success and competency. Leaders need to ensure effective communication using the correct channel; they must build trust in the team by being honest and confident in their ability to define and maintain healthy boundaries. Leadership is vital to the reason of enhancing effective boundaries in the workplace.
Benefits of maintaining effective boundaries in the workplace.
1.Reduce misunderstanding and conflicts between you and your employees.
You must note that boundaries minimise misunderstanding, provide rules and regulations that your team must adhere to. If you find yourself in scenarios where workers have a consistent disagreement, learn to create boundaries among the team to boost the organisation’s competency. You can create intellectual or emotional boundaries depending on the matter being discussed; this will help the team open up and solve their issues respectfully.
- embrace respect
Managing boundaries effectively enhances appreciation of each other’s differences. Respect is earned not demanded. Leading effectively within boundaries allow teams to flourish while recognising each other’s contributions. Fostering an atmosphere where members’ needs are clearly articulated, and respected builds trust and increases productivity.
- manage expectations
Sometimes you may notice anxiety, miscommunication, and disengagement at the workplace; what do you always do? Do you keep quiet and watch, or do you take action? You must be bold enough to address such issues to avoid negative influence on the entire team by creating boundaries and division roles. Clearly defined roles and responsibilities help team members ‘own’ their deliverables and ensure performance can be measured and rewarded appropriately. This has been noted as a key determinant of employee engagement and retention.
- Avoid burnout
Do you have organisational objectives? How do you ensure the objectives are realistic and achievable within reasonable limits? Being a leader is full of responsibility. In a bid to appear capable or efficient, most people who fail to set boundaries risk “generosity burnout,” as others may take unfair advantage of them. This can leave these individuals feeling exhausted, humiliated and hurt.
Another possible consequence to avoid is ‘quiet quitting.’ The tendency to resist the expectation of giving their all or putting in extra hours. They say “no” to requests to go beyond what they think should be expected of a person in their position.
- Improved self-esteem
Research has shown that most people who are unable to set good boundaries are held back by low self-esteem, a dread of upsetting people, or a fear of conflict. They may simply accept intrusions and interruptions or subsume their personal feelings “for the good of the team.” However, these tends to show up in passive-aggressive behaviour that undermines team effectiveness. By providing an open and safe environment that fosters open communication and safe boundaries leaders are able to support self-esteem and actualization in their teams as an ‘unintended’ but positive outcome.
In conclusion, it is your duty as a leader to prioritise good values in the workplace; As a leader, you must communicate your boundaries adequately and ensure you are clear, honest, and straightforward with teams, managers, and supervisors. Leaders need to streamline and improve the relationship at the workplace to avoid conflicts that may affect the overall performance of the company or organisation.
