The pedestrian entrance to the local university is flanked by one house on each side. As you can imagine, people like to park there and walk onto the university. All year long, a truck has been parked in front of one of the houses, with cones blocking off the rest of the curb space. The owner of the house set a clear boundary that they don’t want people parking there. And no-one has disturbed the space.
We talk about a lot of things in business, but boundaries don’t come up as often as they should. When done well, boundaries set the basis for what is appropriate and what isn’t in how people interact with each other. And when they are made explicit, people understand the expectations, leading to lower levels of conflict and stronger relationships.
How effectively are you setting boundaries?