Managing technical professionals: work/life balance

At certain milestones of a project work/life balance may be weighed towards work. This is especially true during the initial planning phase of a project and towards the end of the project, when we are trying to complete delivery and close a project. For example, during IC design projects, it is typical that team members work late hours during the last month of a project. But, if late hours become the norm throughout the entire project, more team members will sustain some level of burn-out; if this becomes standard practice in the organization, soon we will start seeing more employees leaving the organization and seeking positions that allow them to have a higher-level work/life balance.The best way to help make this clear to your employees is to set an example. Remember that your team members are always watching you. If they see you working late every day including weekends and holidays, responding to e-mails late night, and what´s worse, expecting immediate responses to those late night e-mails, your comments on the importance of work/life balance will suddenly become meaningless to them. If your actions contradict your words, use your communication skills to explain yourself.