The term 'equilibrium' simply means balanced and is an important issue for both physical and mental health as well as intellectual well-being. For example if a person works twelve hours a day each day then it is highly unlikely that the individual will be able to achieve equilibrium in terms of health and work-life.
Workplace Time Management - Building Equilibrium
Building and maintaining equilibrium is very helpful in the workplace setting as it means that one is more likely to make efficient and effective use of both time and energy. It is also important that equilibrium is connected to a personal value system which makes it more likely to result in feeling at peace with oneself. Understanding what holds one in equilibrium will help with recognising when things are out of balance and thus make it easier to hold on to perspective even when faced with difficult or challenging issues within the workplace environment.
There are six key areas of greatest significance when seeking to build equilibrium:
- Rigour
- Resilience
- Relationship
- Responsiveness
- Relaxation
- Responsibility
Workplace Equilibrium - Rigour and Resilience
Rigour is to do with an individual's focus and will and involves being determined, not letting go or giving up when difficulties block one's path. A person may be described as being rigorous if he or she has a robust framework and focuses diligently on completing specific tasks within the time limit available. Resilience requires people to be able to 'roll with the punches,' stand firm and cope with whatever life throws at them without losing hold of their core principles and values
Workplace Equilibrium - Relationship and Responsiveness
Regardless of employment types, everyone needs to be able to establish and maintain relationships within the workplace to be both effective and successful. It is impossible to work efficiently as a team without having healthy working alliances with colleagues. Responsiveness relates to how one responds to others in terms of opinions, perspectives, values as well as the manner of communication utilised. In order to respond effectively to others one must be skilled at active listening, engaging and persuading.
Workplace Equilibrium - Relaxation and Responsibility
The ability to achieve a healthy balance between activities which drain one's energy and those which revitalise is key to maintaining equilibrium in the area of relaxation. Finally, there is a real importance to being aware of boundaries and limits in order to avoid feeling responsible for things that are the responsibility of other people.
As highlighted above, creating workplace equilibrium requires various skills such as rigour, resilience and responsiveness. The benefits of equilibrium within the workplace setting include more effective time management and better organisational skills hopefully resulting in less office conflicts and improved morale, making for a more pleasant work environment.
Source:
Shaw, P. (2009) Raise your Game Chichester: Capstone Publishing
Kate Le Page - Kate Henning-Le Page writes about eating disorders, body image and recovery issues. She specializes in anorexia recovery.
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