How do you communicate your mental health needs and boundaries to your manager?

When I began to coach team members to advocate for themselves, a key insight emerged: the journey of understanding one’s mental health is ongoing. Initially, tools like quizzes and professional consultations provide a foundational understanding. However, as we evolve—much like our careers—our mental health needs and boundaries also shift. Continuously reassessing allows us to discover new resources, strategies, and forms of support tailored to our current state. Embrace this dynamic process; as you grow and change, so too will the ways you nurture your mental well-being, ensuring you always have the right tools at your disposal.

What are those barriers? What are your triggers? Where are you at? Although a professional may be best placed for more complex challenges, sometimes a conversation with a friend or loved one can be a great starting point - people you trust who can help identify your blind spots.

Choose an appropriate time for a private discussion, ensuring both you and your manager can focus without interruptions. Begin by expressing appreciation for the opportunity to discuss your well-being, framing it as a way to maintain or improve productivity. Clearly articulate your needs, whether it's flexible working hours, a quieter workspace, or regular check-ins. Be specific about boundaries, such as not working after hours, to maintain work-life balance. Provide context that highlights how these adjustments are beneficial for both your performance and the team. Encourage an open dialogue by inviting your manager to share thoughts or ask questions, reinforcing mutual respect and understanding.

Seeking support for mental health concerns at work is an important step towards well-being and can positively impact your professional life. Here are some steps you can take: - Understand Your Rights - Identify a Trusted Person - Schedule a Private Meeting - Be Prepared, use "I" statements - Seek Professional Help - Utilize Company Resources - Consider Professional Help Outside of Work

Talk. Talk to a professional, a friend, a colleague, someone you trust - don't worry about 'burdening' someone, you may be surprised how understanding people can be! Seek support. You are never alone. You may feel alone, and it's ok to feel that way, but you're not alone. Someone may not have experience what you've experienced but they care. If you feel this way - talk. Talk. Talk. TALK!

Before you talk with your manager, you must build trust and be honest. Having great professional relationships with your manager is very important. This helps you feel comfortable communicating issues related to mental health. Start by having a conversation about work and your performance, and then slightly move on to the topic of your mental health. Due to my excessive workload and stress, I cannot dedicate time to my work. Could you suggest a few measures I can take to help with these issues? When you talk about your boundaries, I want you to convey that my personal lifestyle is as important as my professional lifestyle - both have equal importance. Here, I would like you to please be as respectful as possible.

Articulating mental health needs to your manager requires clarity and courage. Begin by requesting a private meeting, setting a tone of openness. Share your needs succinctly, focusing on how your mental health impacts your work and what specific accommodations could help. It’s also crucial to discuss boundaries; for instance, if unplugging after work hours is necessary for your well-being, express this. Remember, this conversation is about finding mutual ground to ensure your wellness and productivity—are intertwined.

I think it's also helpful to relay how improving your mental health is correlated to your effectiveness in your role. Give examples of how you feel like you're not able to maximize your potential because of your mental health challenges. This way, your manager can clearly see both the quantifiable and qualifiable reasons as to why you must address your mental health for the sake of your role and for the company.

I have seen 'Wellness Action Plans' work well in businesses. This simple document guides a conversation between line manager and their team member through a series of questions around getting the best out of each other. Its confidential between the two. It should cover questions like 'What do you need from me to be at your best' 'What do I need to know about you to make sure I can support you properly' 'If you were not feeling yourself, what might that look like in your behaviour' 'Who should I contact if you need help' 'What is the best thing for you to do to feel more like yourself' This just allows knowledge and an understanding between two human beings on how to support each other in good and bad times

Developing strong bonds between managers and employees fosters trust, enabling open communication of thoughts and needs. This allows employees to share their thoughts and needs more easily and empowers managers to proactively identify potential issues and address them before employees themselves recognize the need. Effective listening skills are pivotal in this process. Additionally, managers can help employees understand the resources available for mental health support outside of the team.

It is not unusual for some people to be early birds or night owls in terms of when they are at their creative best. We shouldn't stop people from wanting to work when or where they want however any messaging or emails etc being sent outside of normal working hours can have a simple line added saying 'no need to reply' This is particularly useful for managers who might have team members who feel obliged to respond to them outside of working hours. Simple boundaries and expectations all round

The pandemic spurred the quiet quitting wave. While many consider quiet quitting akin to disengagement, it really represents boundary-setting. Disengaged employees perform the minimum to retain their jobs, whereas those who quiet quit remain engaged but strictly adhere to their job descriptions, refraining from extra tasks. This form of boundary-setting allows individuals to maintain work-life balance and preserve their mental well-being. It involves openly communicating limits and expectations to managers, ensuring that both parties understand and respect each other's boundaries.

People will respect your boundaries, but remember boundaries must be agreed upon. For example if you work a 9-5 and you decide your boundary is to finish at 3pm, that's not realistic. Find out what the company boundaries are and their expectations - to see if you are aligned. If they can't offer what you want, that's ok, don't join them. It's the same from a company - if you want £100k and they can't pay it, they won't hire you. It's 2 way!

Self care is most paramount. In the job market the employer seeks value addition while the employee seeks job satisfaction to receive reward for it. Because the two have a goal, as an employee since you were never able to create the job yourself, understand that if you're not together, you lose. Practice self care and be on a constant self awareness. Respect authority, respond to requests, honor the house rules and regulations. While this is so, look out for the environment whether it responds to you;- are the set rules of the house comprehensible and viable and a worthy pursuit. If so, when you are self aware, you can handle any situation mentally and your mental health will be good.

The initiatives of companies, leaders, managers, and teams might have a limited impact on improving engagement without employees taking some responsibility for their own engagement. There are six ways in which employees can take charge of their own engagement: Mindfulness, Sleep, Nutrition, Exercise, Learning, and Disengagement. Disengagement is often overlooked. Disengagement is required to be more engaged. In this case, disengagement is a strategy to take time away from your work so that you can return more refreshed, re-energized, and better able to focus. This renewal process will allow you to be better focused, more productive, make better decisions, and lead more effectively.

100% there needs to be personal accountability for your own mental and physical wellbeing. Businesses should offer different things in the space of wellness and give space for their employees to engage with them. Encouraging people and sign posting them to take care of themselves hopefully can help some people avoid the burnout stuff

If your manager, peers or direct reports have yet to earn your trust in which to be fully honest, consider how much and to what extent you wish to share. You may want to practice what and how to say with someone you feel is safe: a best friend, partner, colleague, or therapist. Please be sure to get comfortable with what and how to share vulnerable aspects of what you're dealing with.

Be the best version of yourself. We talk about this at EMJ, and part of this is looking after yourself to ensure you are set up for success. Anxiety is ok, stress in certain situations is ok, mistakes are ok - how you learn and grow is what's important. You can't affect your past but you can affect your future. Work on you, don't be too hard on yourself, but work on you.