Section 1: Work and Life in the Real World
“Beyond Balance … Speaking the Language of Work-Life Effectiveness … Work-Life Effectiveness in Action … Start Your Personal Work-Life Plan … Rounding Out Knowledge”
Summaries
- Section 1: Work and Life in the Real World > Welcome to the Course (6 min.) > Welcome to the Course
- Section 1: Work and Life in the Real World > Work-Life Effectiveness in Action (9 min.) > Voices of Work-Life
Section 1: Work and Life in the Real World > Welcome to the Course (6 min.) > Welcome to the Course
- If you’re taking these courses, it’s probably because you were looking for a way to better “Balance” or manage your work and personal responsibilities.
- There are a variety of ways in which people think about work and personal responsibilities.
- For all of us, managing work and life responsibilities is rarely a question of balancing those responsibilities.
- We’re not trading work for personal life, for example.
- So if we are spending time or being successful at work, for example, it means that we’re doing it at the expense of our home life or other parts of our lives.
- It will help you develop strategies that apply specifically to your situation, whether at work or outside of the workplace, help you define the parameters that work best for you, as well as solutions for you to be more productive and effective in all domains.
- By connecting work-life and inclusive leadership, this course will help you understand how to create teams, both at work and outside of work, that are more effective.
- We will explore ways how to present solutions that work for you and for others, and also how to be responsive to other people’s needs, whether in your family or in your work team, for example.
- With inclusive leadership anyone can have an opportunity to improve the way they’re managing their work and personal responsibilities.
- In that sense, they can be even more successful in thriving in both work and their personal life.
- Over the next four weeks, we’ll talk about a variety of topics, including working flexibly, unwritten rules, the role of technology, as well as trust, transparency, and communication.
- We’ll look at challenges and solutions, as well as bust some myths about work and life.
- Finally, we’ll dig deep into how you, both as an individual and as a manager, can make work and life fit together in an effective way.
- We can’t wait to hear about your experiences as managers and employees, about the cultural norms and unwritten rules you’ve faced in the workplace, the challenges and solutions that you’ve implemented, as well as advice you have for each other, so that we can all move toward better work life integration.
Section 1: Work and Life in the Real World > Work-Life Effectiveness in Action (9 min.) > Voices of Work-Life
- So there were times when I was working part-time because I was getting a graduate degree at the same, time so I had to cut back.
- There were times when I was working part-time because I had kids.
- So I just somehow, was able to make it work at the time, for each thing that I wanted to do.
- Working flexibly, for me, means that I can have the most fulfilling life that I choose to pursue.
- Because we can both telecommute and work flexible hours, we are able to work around each other’s needs.
- On nights when she works late, I’m able to take care of things around the house.
- At times when I’m working late, then she picks up the slack.
- When you think about working flex, you usually think about family flexibility.
- For me, work flexibility means that I have the freedom to decide when and where I get my work done.
- I work flexibly through the fact that we have Friday afternoons off.
- It just makes a huge difference to have that time set aside, because then it means when I’m actually at work, or working, I’m completely focused on that.
- The truth is, the more flexible and inclusive a work place is perceived to be, the more committed and engaged those very employees will be.
- Being a part-time worker, with flexible hours and the option of telecommuting, has really helped me to be more effective in all aspects of my life.
- I’m a PhD student, In addition to my part-time work, and I simply wouldn’t be able to be successful in both aspects of my life in a more traditional working environment.
- What work-life productivity means to me, is that when I’m at the most creative, which is at 5 o’clock in the morning, I can do my most important work without disruption.
- So when you realize that the priorities in the workplace are not face time, or hanging your coat on the back of a chair or anything like that, but instead it’s really getting your work done, creating the best services and products you can, doing things that are aligned with your company’s mission, and being a really great teammate with your coworkers.
- When you realize that, at least for me, what it means to work smart is obvious.
