PR Managers are a busy bunch. Similarly, to those clocking in the hours in agencies and SMEs, “work-life balance” is an elusive, faraway, idealistic notion that lives alongside other near-impossible things such as “a peaceful commute to work during the peak hour” or “a day without sweating” in sunny Singapore.
Running a company, sustaining a healthy profit margin and delivering on an intense workload take up a lot of time. Most of your time, actually. Especially for companies that are growing but are experiencing a stretch in resources. (SMEs, we hear you!)
Technology, the double-edged sword that we all love and hate, contributes to our daily struggle as well. Since we are always plugged in to our devices such as smartphones, laptops and mobile screens, this means that we are online 24/7. Which also means that we are available. All. The. Time. Wired for instant gratification and connectivity, we respond to our boss’ requests, check back with our colleagues and delegate work to our underlings even after working hours. And we are getting used to it.
At Affluence Public Relations, we support work-life balance. We work hard, but play hard too!
Here’s some of the ways that we do it:
- Digital calendaring apps that keeps our schedules in sync and transparent for everyone’s reference
- Cloud tech to store files that are accessible on various platforms
- Efficient retrieval of files and client work with naming conventions
- Apps to automate time-sheet tracking, staff leave, claims, and checking in and out of work, all at your fingertips
- Flexible working schemes such as work-from-home arrangements and time-offs in lieu of a work event
Agency work is tough enough, we don’t have to make it any more stressful with an unproductive work environment. With these internal processes to ease our daily work, we save hours that we can channel back into actual money-making time!
But what we believe is the key to achieving work-life balance? Communication – a whole lot of it, in every aspect of the workplace!
