【Management 0323】用好这些工具，不用再担心工作生活不平衡

刘颖

The Leadership Insiders network is an online community where the most thoughtful and influential people in business contribute answers to timely questions about careers and leadership. Today’s answer to the question, “What are your strategies for staying effective while working remotely?” is written by Elisa Steel, CEO of Jive Software.

I’m often asked, “How do you maintain a work-life balance?" That question used to make me feel uncomfortable because I didn't know the answer. So much of what we say about achieving balance sounds great—but it's rarely a reality. The truth is, it's a super hard thing to achieve and sustain for many of us. But, now, I am at ease with the question.

I’ve come to realize that there is no such thing of work-life balance. Instead I just live my life, which includes what I do at work, with my family, and in my community. But I’m only able to do so because of my ability to work remotely. Other professionals should have the same opportunity.

For years, I failed in my quest to get to this great work-life balance I thought I was supposed to achieve. You name it; I tried it. Worse yet, everyone else seemed to be talking about how well they were able to do it. It wasn’t until I gave up trying to balance my life that I figured it all out. I developed a new state of mind, to simply do what feels right at the right time. I began answering this question honestly: “What is most important for me to do at this time?”

I found I could easily answer that question and needed to start implementing the answer. That might mean working on a presentation on Sunday so I could participate in my kids' activities on Monday. It might mean working from my car outside a doctor's office in the middle of the day on Wednesday. It might also mean traveling for work for two weeks straight, and then planning a long weekend with my family to have dedicated time together. The reality is that both family and work are with me wherever I go. My physical location is getting less in the way of being in the right place at the right time.

Last year, the percentage of employees working remotely at least part of the week rose to 43% in the U.S. Those numbers are nearly twice as high for sales and marketing professionals and executives. In addition, desk-less workers make up 80% of the global workforce. In order to conduct business more flexibly, we have to make sure everyone has the right tools to stay connected and productive.

As the CEO of a global company, I’m often on the road working with employees, customers, partners, and shareholders across time zones and countries. This is true for many other roles today. That’s why Jive has made such an effort to cultivate a culture of community, connection, and transparency among our employees. Leveraging our own product, we communicate using blogs, videos, polls, discussion forums, groups, and teams. This blurs physical location lines and creates a sense of connectedness across the organization. This not only helps me stay aligned with the team while I’m away, but it helps our global employees work better together.

Just as I use Jive every day to get my work done with 600 other employees, I also use technology to stay close to my family when we are not home together. I find that teenagers actually talk more and make more eye contact on Skype and FaceTime than in person!

刘颖

TRANSLATIONS

透视领导力是一个在线社区，美国商界最具思想也最有影响力的大咖会在此及时分享有关职场和领导力的问题。今天的问题是，“远程工作如何保持效率？”回答者是Jive软件公司首席执行官伊莉莎·斯蒂尔。

经常有人问我，“如何保持工作与生活平衡？”以前我听到这个问题会不舒服，因为我也不知道。人们总说维持平衡多好，但实际上很难做到。其实绝大多数人很难平衡工作和生活。但现在，我能坦然面对这个问题了。

因为我终于明白，世界上就没有工作与生活平衡这回事。所以我只想好好生活，而生活就包括工作、陪伴家人以及向社区做贡献。我之所以能做到是因为可以远程工作。从事其他职业的人应该也有机会。

很多年来我都想达到工作与生活平衡，但一直做不到。但凡能想到的招我都试过。更烦的是，身边其他人看起来都很轻松就能实现。有一天我终于决定放弃努力，才想明白怎么回事。我转换了心态，只在合适的时间做合适的事。我开始诚实地回答这个问题：“此刻对我来说最重要的事是什么？”

我发现回答问题很容易，然后立刻开始按照答案去做。虽然这意味着周日晚上赶演讲稿，好在周一参加孩子的活动。也有可能周三要在诊所门外的车里赶工作。还有可能得连续两周去办公室上班，然后跟家人安心享受个长周末。后来不管去哪我都能兼顾家庭和工作。身处的位置几乎不会影响我在合适时间做合适的事。

在美国，去年选择一周中远程工作几天的员工比例升至43%。销售和市场专家远程工作的比例还要高一倍。此外，全世界不在办公桌前工作的劳动力占比达80%。为了更灵活地处理工作，要确保每个人都拥有合适的工具以保持联系和效率。

作为跨国公司首席执行官，我经常四处奔忙，跨时区跨国家跟员工、客户、合伙人和股东打交道。现在很多工作都是这样。这就是为何Jive公司大力培养社区文化，连接文化，而且注重对员工保持透明。我们积极使用本公司的产品，通过博客、视频、投票、讨论论坛、小组和团队保持沟通。如此一来实际地点变得没那么重要，而且在全公司营造了紧密联系的氛围。这种公司文化不仅帮助我没在办公室也能跟团队合作融洽，也能帮助身处国外的员工提升表现。

我不仅每天使用Jive的产品与600位同事工作，家人没聚在一起时也会用来保持联系。我还发现孩子们用Skype和FaceTime打视频电话时话会多起来，眼神交流也比面对面说话更积极！