Balance is not the destination; it is a journey. In today’s world, our greatest ally is the automation available to create a balance within or among our personal and professional pursuits.
To understand further, let’s look at some of the learnings we can pull out from the book ‘Unjuggled’ by Jana Kingsford
The “Unjuggling phases:”
1. The Juggle Phase: Due to work or societal pressure, we sign up beyond our competency and land into a chaotic situation trying to be a jack of all and end up being a master of none.
2. The Un-juggling Process: By setting our Priorities right, optimizing automation, operating with a flexible mindset, and maintaining our composure, we can untangle ourselves from the chaos and accomplish much more. It calls for a good amount of introspection, awareness, and commitment.
3. The Joy of Un-juggling: This transition from being in quicksand to calm waters offers a sense of fulfillment. It is similar to a plane set on autopilot mode. So, after the initiation is done, processes are set, interdependencies and the objective to be achieved are defined; introducing automation for execution and regular reviews ensures completion of all the tasks and alignment with the larger objective.
Considering the VUCA world & multi-tasking environments that we operate in, various new-age tools and automation capabilities have been able to successfully induce more productivity in business operations alongside enabling employees to strike a balance between their work and family:
a) Automation at Work: There are multiple fronts where every organization can automate regular operational aspects of work and improve the effectiveness and efficiencies to save time & effort of manual intervention.
Some of the successes we have seen in business automation resulting in increased productivity and better work-life balance have been through:
The adoption of an automated HRMS platform that allows Self-service by employees and Managers; providing necessary transparency by capturing & managing employee Leave & attendance, performance management, process leaves and salaries, managing employees’ self-paced learning, generating responses for process / policy-related queries, etc. It helps us reduce indulgence at the operational level and frees the human resource team to focus more on strategic initiatives. The
automation has also enabled good data analytics and predictability which has helped in faster decision-making.
Automation has also been leveraged internally by us for seamless Integration, sustainable Delivery, Testing, Managing Application Release, Provisioning & Management of Infrastructure. It thus has freed up the required bandwidth for creative minds for engaging with clients and offering need-based and long-term solutions.
Automation when done right enables an organization to focus on long-term vision and enables our people to be effective and efficient and at the same time enables them to strike a balance between their professional and personal space.
b) Mindful Delegation and collaboration: Work delegation and collaboration based on competencies and business priorities in the team and across teams is another effective way where employees can work together and solve business cases faster and more efficiently thus resulting in better:
a) Time & Resource Management.
b) Workload Balancing.
c) Empowerment of the team members.
d) Better and quicker decision-making.
And not to mention that it kindles team spirit in the process and offers a conducive environment to get more done within less time thus providing individuals more time at hand to spend quality time with their families.
c) Learning & Development: An equally important pillar in cascading a culture of embracing work-life balance is enabling people to learn and develop techno-functional skills along with behavioral skills. Technical and functional skills enable individuals to be efficient at one’s jobs whereas the right behavioral practices empower one to embrace the need to attain balance in our life holistically.
Director
People & Development
BUSINESSNEXT
d) Supportive culture: Finally, an organization that fosters a supportive culture and values work-life balance can encourage employees to take care of their personal lives without fear of judgment or negative consequences. Clear policies and guidelines regarding work-life balance, including expectations around working hours, availability, and response times when communicated effectively ensures that employees understand their rights and can navigate their work-life demands accordingly.
This above-mentioned combination of Automation, Mindful Delegation, Learning & Development, and a supportive culture can do wonders for an organization. It is not something to be tried once and declared success or failure thereafter. Attaining a balance between business and family life is something the majority aspires to achieve however few can accomplish. Organizations and people willing to have a balance shall have the awareness of gap areas, tools / techniques to fill the gaps, and willingness to implement those techniques. As mentioned in the beginning, “Balance is not the destination, it is a journey”
