Getting to know your working style
Thursday October 16 2008
WORK-life balance can be a difficult thing to achieve in the current economic climate. However, according to Emmet Wrafter, human-resource (HR) manager with Abbott Laboratories Ireland, it is possible and, in the long run, could make you more effective as an employee.
Wrafter recently completed a ‘life-navigation’ course, developed by Camilla Kring, founder of the B-society. Put simply, the B-society represents a different kind of workforce — those people who prefer to take time waking up in the morning, but will work late into the evening. Already, the society has helped bring about a lot of change in the corporate world and, increasingly, companies are allowing staff more flexibility.
Kring says we need to move away from the idea that early rising is the equivalent of high productivity. She suggests a variety of ways you can become more productive in the workplace.
“Test when you prefer to wake up and rise. Explain to your supervisor that you are a B-person, with a tendency to wake up and function best around your tested time. Highlight the advantages of having a B-person on the payroll, for example, the heightened level of productivity it offers, and how few changes this would mean to your work, with no extra charges,” she advises.
Wrafter, who was a speaker at a workshop on work-life balance hosted by PricewaterhouseCoopers last week, says he has learned a lot as a result of the programme.
“We need to manage our workload more effectively. Life navigation empowers people to prioritise their work-life balance; it allows them to challenge deadlines and priorities where necessary,” he says.
Wrafter adds that focusing on work-life balance doesn’t mean you’re not committed to your work.
“A lot of people who are restricted and must leave at 5pm get a lot more done during the day. [A life-navigation course] gives people the tools to plan and manage time more effectively.”
The course asks people about their life goals and respects different styles of work. For example, by asking yourself where you want to be in five or 10 years’ time, you are giving yourself something to work towards.
Wrafter suggests that you record your time in order to figure out what you do with it. By keeping a note of when you’re most effective and get most work done, you will learn what type of worker you are.
He also suggests that we plan each week in advance, and almost double the amount of time we allocate to any given task. “Plan realistically. We never give ourselves enough time when planning,” he adds.
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- Linda Daly
