Balancing Multiple Roles

Analyze the negative effects of role conflicts. Explain the need for balance as you manage multiple roles. Analyze strategies for achieving balance in life. Describe support systems that help families manage multiple roles. Discuss family-friendly workplace policies.

Quick Write List the various roles you have in your life. Which do you enjoy the most? Which do you enjoy the least? Why?

A role conflict occurs when one role has a significant negative impact on another role. Another way of describing this situation is spillover. One role “spills over” into another, affecting your ability to fulfill it as well as you would like.

Ways role conflict can affect you: Internal effects. When the demands of roles clash, stress usually builds. A person may feel distracted, exhausted, and unable to think clearly. Interpersonal effects. Relationships often carry the brunt of role conflicts. Spillover affects the person as well as the family, friends, coworkers, and others.

External effects. Role conflicts can sometimes keep you from participation in activities that are important to you. Disarray is another example. It results when a task is pushed aside in the effort to juggle many roles.

Role conflicts are an important issue in the workplace Role conflicts are an important issue in the workplace. Spillover from the family is a major cause of absenteeism, tardiness, inefficiency, and distraction at work. It also has an impact on family life People who are under stress at work tend to argue with their spouses more and participate in family activities less.

Learning to manage multiple roles is a key skill for both workplace success and family harmony.

Difficult Factors Difficult situations contribute to stress. These might include: erratic work schedules, multiple jobs, reliable child care, extended illness, older family members, and blended families. What are other examples?

Unrealistic expectations. These add to stress Unrealistic expectations. These add to stress. Examples: New parents with little sleep trying to keep a spotless house. A college student working long hours and trying to take extra classes. Sometimes, lowering expectations is a healthy thing to do.

Overcommitment. Making too many commitments often stems from a desire to please everyone and an inability to say no. It’s also easy to underestimate the time and energy needed to fulfill certain roles. Examples: Playing sports with a job and school. Extracurricular activities and school. Crafts.

Management skills can help in balancing multiple roles. Balancing multiple roles is really about maintaining a sense of balance within yourself. It helps steady you as you shift from role to role. A sense of balance won’t eliminate role conflicts or make your life perfect. When you have balance, you feel in control and you can stay focused on your goals.

Three Strategies to Achieve Balance Setting Priorities This involves setting priorities—choosing where to focus your time and energy. Consider your values—your beliefs, feelings, and ideas about what is important. Then set your priorities based on your values and responsibilities.

Setting priorities may help in putting your roles in perspective. Give yourself the flexibility to adjust your roles as needed. Just make sure you are not neglecting important areas of your life.

Changing Priorities Your priorities may change as you go through life. A single person may focus on his or her career and advancing in it until marriage. Then the focus is shifted to the family.

Setting Priorities Establishing your priorities will help you set personal boundaries. These are limits you set for yourself based on your values and priorities. They enable you to control the number of roles you play and to focus on what matter most to you.

Whenever you’re given the opportunity for a new activity or are asked to take on another role, ask yourself, “Do I have room in my life for this right now? How will it affect my other roles? Does it fit with my values and priorities?”

Careful consideration, rather than a quick response, can help you say yes to those opportunities that best fit and no to those that don’t.

Courage to Say No It’s hard to say no to people who ask for your help, invite you out or include you in their plans. If you want to focus on your priorities, though, you have to learn to refuse. Be ready for others to try to change your mind. Focus on what is best for you.

When someone tries to persuade you in a different direction, stand firm. If you over commit, you’ll end up disappointing others as well as yourself. Think of three ways to politely, but honestly, decline an invitation or request.

Managing Time The ability to manage your time effectively is a key skill in balancing multiple roles. Time management helps you focus on your priorities and use your time effectively.

Tips for Best Use of Time Make a daily or weekly to-do list. Use a calendar to keep track of appointments and special events. Plan each day by checking your calendar and your to-do list. Be realistic about what you can accomplish in any given day. Plan for things to take longer than you predict.

Build flexibility into your schedule so that you can make changes. Learn to say no. It’s better than letting someone down later. Plan for some free time. Don’t schedule every hour of the day.

Reducing Stress Stress often results from role conflicts. Too much stress can knock you off balance. It can also pull you into a downward spiral: the more stress you feel, the more difficult is it to manage multiple roles. That can lead to more role conflicts and still more stress.

Developing Support Systems Managing multiple roles is easer with a good support system—all the people ad organizations a person can turn to for help. A typical support system might include family, friends, and coworkers, as well as professional and community services.

Think of the roles you have and the people who interact with in those roles. How do they support you? Talk with those people to see how you can help one another.

At Home Many families call on their extended family for support. Example: Support from grandparents in transporting children to and from home or for child care. These arrangements are often more convenient and less expensive than other options.

They also give family members the chance to spend time with one another and grow closer. Good communication helps family members understand each other’s roles and the demands of those roles. If you want your family to support you, be open about the role conflicts you experience.

Talk about your various roles Talk about your various roles. Let your family know when you are having problems. Help them understand the demands you face in balancing your life. Sharing these concerns not only enhances understanding but may give you a new perspective and lead to new solutions.

In return, be willing to listen to the concerns of family members and offer your support.

At Work Like at home, it helps to have a support system at work. Having support can make the difference between enjoying a job and feeling constant stress due to role conflicts. Examples: lunch with coworkers; after work activities.

Family-Friendly Policies Employers know that their employees have personal lives and family obligations. Although employers can’t let employees have unlimited time off to deal with problems, some have introduced family-friendly policies that make it easer for employees to balance their lives.

Family-Friendly Policies Flexible work hours. Some companies have introduced flextime, a system that allows workers to choose when they will begin and end their working day. This allows parents to build their workday around their children’s schedules.

Compressed schedules. An employee who works a compressed workweek might work four ten-hour days and have three days off. This is often used in hospitals and in schools and universities during the summer months.

On-site child care. Companies that provide on-site child care facilities make it possible for employees to stay close to their children while they work. Parents can visit their children during their lunch break, and they are on hand if there is any kind of emergency.

Job sharing. Under this system, two part-time employees share one full-time job. They split the hours and the pay. One might work in the morning and the other in the afternoons, or might work two day one week and three the next. The offers flexibility to people who don’t need or want to work full time.

Telecommuting. Technology makes it possible for some employees to telecommute or work from home using communication links to their job. These links include the telephone, fax, email or computers.

It is ideal for people who don’t need daily face-to-face contact with coworkers. It offers flexible work hours and saves travel time. It also saves gas expenses.

Family and medical leave. Companies with more than 50 employees are required by law to allow workers to take time off to deal with family and medical emergencies. These include up to 12 weeks of leave for sick workers, a birth or the adoption of a child, or to care for a sick family member.

Employers are not required to pay employees during this time off. The employees have the assurance that they will have a job when they return to work.

In the Community Friends and neighbors often join together for mutual support and assistance. Ex: one parent who waits with small children for the bus. Many communities offer programs and support to help families balance their multiple roles.

Some schools and places of worship offer after-school programs for children as well as family activities that encourage family members to draw closer. Some community service organizations also arrange for supervised after-school programs.

Help with caring for older family members may also be available from the community. Some communities have day care centers for seniors, offering lunches and a range of activities and outings .

For older people who can’t get out, Meals on Wheels provides daily hot lunches. Social service agencies can arrange for other needed care.

Regaining Lost Balance Everyone experience role conflicts and loses balance from time to time. If you find that one of your roles is taking too much time and energy and is spilling over into other important roles, try to keep things in perspective.

Remember that you don’t have to be perfect. Use your support system. Reexamine your priorities and look fro ways to regain the balance in your life The more you practice maintaining balance, the easier you will find it becomes.

Summary Role conflicts occur when one role spills over into another. Difficult situations, unrealistic expectations and overcommitment increase role conflicts.

An internal sense of balance helps you to manage multiple roles. To achieve balance, try to set priorities, manage your time, and reduce stress. Support systems are available to help people manage multiple roles.

In the workplace, family-friendly policies help employees balance work and family life.