How to Establish Boundaries at Work for Yourself and your Team

So how do you make sure everyone is on the same page? It’s imperative as a leader to establish and communicate clear expectations that everyone can agree on and adhere to. Setting a precedent for balance by respecting your own boundaries and encouraging your team to do the same will result in a healthier, more sustainable work environment. Here’s some tips to helping yourself and your team enforce boundaries at work for a healthy work-life balance.

Understand your priorities

Outlining your personal and professional priorities is a great way to start understanding what you can confidently say no to. If you find yourself becoming the stereotypical workaholic who misses every one of your child's football games, it’s time to consider who else is affected by your inability to set boundaries. Start by identifying your personal priorities – these might include spending quality time with your children or partner, dedicating time to your favourite hobby, or ensuring you get daily exercise. Recognise how these activities can help reduce stress and contribute to your overall happiness. Remember, taking care of yourself is vital; when you do, your productivity at work will naturally improve.

Once you’ve established what’s important to you on a personal level, you can figure out what your professional priorities are – both long-term and short-term. Create some goals that align with these priorities, and you’ll quickly find that it’s easier to choose what tasks to take on and which to delegate.

Encourage your leadership team to take on this exercise as well so that no one feels obligated to over-commit themselves. By aligning your actions with your priorities, you’re well on your way to creating a balance that benefits both your personal wellbeing and professional effectiveness.

Communicate your boundaries

Proactively setting out boundaries before you get bogged down with requests will result in less disappointment and maintain good working relationships. We worry that saying no will lead to questions about our ability to be a team player or our passion for the job – particularly if we’re new to a role. But establishing boundaries early bypasses the guilt that comes with saying ‘no’.

Some great ways to clearly establish boundaries for your team are to block focus time in your calendar, define concrete working hours and outline the times you’re not available in your email signature.

Try to frame saying ‘no’ around yourself rather than others, so as not to come across as accusatory. For example, if your colleagues are expecting immediate responses from you outside of working hours, try saying something like: 

‘I feel stressed when there is an expectation for immediate responses outside of work hours because it affects my work-life balance. I’m going to address emails and messages during designated work hours only.’ 

rather than…

‘You are stressing me out by expecting immediate responses outside of work hours because it disrupts my work-life balance. You need to stop emailing and messaging me outside of designated work hours.’ 

“I” statements keep the focus on your needs, avoiding coming across as blameful and encouraging understanding and open communication. This idea is useful in all areas of life when boundaries need to be set.

Create physical and digital boundaries

Boundaries can be as literal as you like. It’s a common practice for those who work from home to clearly define a working area that is only used for that purpose. You can physically separate your work and home life with a closed door so that you don’t associate your personal areas with work. You can also create digital boundaries, like taking advantage of Do Not Disturb on your phone or, when you’re on vacation, designating alternative contacts for work-related emergencies rather than providing your personal number or email ‘just in case’. 

Delegate tasks

Delegating tasks can actually be really empowering for your team. If there’s someone showing promise, give them the chance to prove themselves and work up the ladder by giving them a new and exciting task. Something that might cause you stress and tip you over the edge into burnout can be a positive learning experience for someone else. This creates trust in your team too. Allowing your team to handle important tasks without constant oversight will help you step back and have a healthier working life.

It can be hard to let go of certain responsibilities but it’s essential for effective leadership and personal development. Start by delegating smaller low-stakes tasks and as you become more confident you can move on to offloading more complex responsibilities. Here are a few tips to help you get better at delegating. 

• Communicate clearly. Clearly explain the task, expected outcomes, deadlines, and any specific requirements.

• Focus on the outcome, not the process. We all have different ways of working, so as long as the end result is satisfactory, there’s no need to micromanage every aspect of the process because then you’re not really letting it go. Show confidence in your team’s abilities by giving them autonomy to complete tasks in their own way

• Be available for guidance and support. Rather than micromanaging, make sure your colleague knows they can come to you for questions and ideas. Remember, if you teach a person to fish, you feed them for a lifetime!

Establishing boundaries between work and personal life is vital for your health, productivity and for a respectful work environment. It is possible to create a balanced approach that benefits both your personal wellbeing and professional success. Be sure to regularly reassess and adjust your boundaries to ensure they continue to meet your needs and support a healthy, productive workplace. If you need support on this, consider coaching for your organization. Our wellbeing coaching is designed to help you and your team not only achieve a good work/life balance but also a more defined sense of purpose and a more positive mindset.