I enjoy people watching in both the real world and in cyberspace. Some folks I consider role models and some are models for what (I feel) not to do. I’m especially interested in watching how the same person runs a private social media account v. a brand’s Twitter account. For example, I know of one community manager who doesn’t appreciate when members of her community reach out to via her personal Twitter account. Instead of saying, “I’m sorry, I’m off duty right now, but please feel free to contact @mycoworker who can help you through this,” she tells community members to “flake off, this is my private account and not for community business.”
Here’s what happens when she does this:
- She speaks down to someone in a community she is being paid to manage.
- She makes it clear she is not interested in letting the company brand mix with the personal brand.
- She reflects poorly on her professional brand.
- She makes the community member feel unimportant
- She showed both her business and private world that she’s inflexible
Here’s how I would have handled it:
- Take five minutes to steer the Tweeter in the right direction
- Referred the Tweeter to a coworker
- Asked the Tweeter to email me with the problem – which I could then forward to someone who can help.
- Nicely telling the Tweeter this isn’t the best time, but again, offering some solution.
- Not responded at all. (Which is better than being rude.)
The problem is, the community manager felt that her personal time was being infringed upon and that when she’s off duty she shouldn’t have to deal with customers or community members even when she’s so publicly online during her personal time. I get this. I believe it’s important to set boundaries because otherwise folks are just going to infringe upon your private time and you’ll never get any rest. However, I also believe that being accessible can lead to being indispensable. So yeah, I could only do the required amount of work and leave it at that, but it’s my experience that sometimes if we go the extra mile we get noticed and, also, earn the big bucks.
Also? If the business is a 24 hour brand, they might not be so comfortable with the idea of their community manager telling the person to “flake off” until Monday. When we’re approached about a brand we work for, we automatically become a representative of that brand, even if it’s when we’re off duty. We may not like it, but it’s true.
Why Boundaries Need to Be Elastic
I come from the freelance world where there’s always someone waiting in the wings to take over a job. Believe me, there is no shortage of workers waiting to pick up the slack for someone who failed to get the job done or has downsized for the summer. I learned to make my boundaries of a material that is easily stretched, but not so easily broken.
For example, in the summer I rarely work on the weekends, but if I get a frantic email from a client because something is needed immediately or a deadline needs to be moved up, I might adjust my boundary and do that extra work. If I’m on vacation or have family obligations, I will refer that client to someone else. As long as these emergency gigs aren’t the norm, I don’t mind being flexible.
Why?
Because if I’m hired to do a job and do it to the best of my ability, I’m not going to go through the motions. I’m not going to fool myself into thinking I’m indispensable, when I’m not – especially if I don’t act it. In my experience, the people I work with will respect my boundaries 99.9% of the time, and only cross the line if urgent. If I can’t be there in a crisis, they may find someone they can truly count on.
What Happens When Our Boundaries Don’t Bend?
First and foremost, I do believe in personal v. professional boundaries, but I’m not quite in a 9 to 5 world. When the people I work for know I’m not available at certain times, they can choose to wait until I’m available again, or they might choose to work with someone who is more accessible. For example, I might be passed over for a job if I make it clear I take three day weekends, because what if I’m needed on Monday or Friday? When I make my boundaries big, bold and unmoving, I cause people to wonder if this is the right situation for them. When I make my boundaries clear, but am gracious on the rare occasion a client needs me on my time, they know they chose correctly.
Does this mean I shouldn’t work four days a week? No, hell no. Does it mean I shouldn’t take a vacation or weekends off? Absolutely not. What it means, to me anyway, is that there’s no need to draw a line in the sand unless people are abusive. I’ll politely tell the client who calls at 9:00 PM that I don’t generally take calls at that hour so he knows not to do it again. However, I’ll respond to Tweets about BlogWorld on the weekend because it’s only 140 characters and because it’s the helpful thing to do. Now, if that Tweeter wants to go on for an hour about some issue he’s having with his speaker proposal, I might encourage him to email me at my work address so I can look into it when I’m wearing my Conference Director hat, or I will refer him to someone who can better help at that time. What I won’t do is make him feel bad for reaching out to me with a questions because I understand that people have questions on nights and weekends, beyond the 9 to 5.
I don’t want to be a person people move away from or are afraid to reach out to because it’s 5:05 p.m. I like being someone folks know they can count on, even if it might be later in the day.
There’s a Difference Between Being Flexible and Allowing People to Walk All Over You
I have firm boundaries, but they’re not set in stone. Over the years I learned that it’s OK to take the occasional weekend call or answer someone’s questions. This doesn’t mean they’re disrespective of my time, to the contrary I find that the opposite happens. When I had strict “don’t bother me” times, the people who needed to contact me were so scared to contact me, they found people to work on who they felt were more approachable. When I created boundaries with a little push, I learned that my clients counted on me more. They weren’t disrespectful and they got that my family time is most important. However, they knew that if the time came where they’d have to reach out on a Saturday morning, they could do so without fear I’d tell them to “flake off.”
Do you create flexible boundaries? Have you ever lost work for being inflexible?
Discuss…
