Too much on your plate at work? 4 actions to regain control
To lead a team pillar(s): #you #stuff
No matter where we sit in an organization—entry level, somewhere in the middle, or at the top—we all answer to someone. That means we all receive work assignments from someone.
The type of assignment, how it’s assigned, and how well coordinated it is with our other work may vary. But we all have one thing in common.
Sometimes the work piles up and becomes too much to handle.
When this happens, we may experience growing anxiety, even panic, as our ability to manage our workload slips out of our control. These conditions tend to move us into the equivalent of “fight or flight” mode at work.
This is bad—not just for us individually but for our teams.
For example, when we are in “fight or flight” mode at work, we tend to focus our time and energy only on urgent matters while dropping tasks that fall under the Eisenhower Matrix’s “important but not urgent” category. And as it turns out, much of the work of leadership falls into that “important but not urgent” category.
So in addition to increasing our own feelings of anxiety and loss of control, being overloaded subjects our teams to sub-optimal work experiences.
What can you do to regain control over your workload and avoid these negative downstream effects? Below are four actions you can take.
Take what works for you and leave the rest!
Playbook: 4 actions to regain control
Understand the ‘Why’.
Ask questions to understand the purpose behind assignments. Staying rooted in the purpose can help you and your assigner get on the same page about how you should approach an assignment, if at all. In some cases, especially during reactive or hectic periods at work, you may discover that what you’re being asked to do doesn’t match why you’re being asked to do it.
When you’re less busy, you may not mind taking on a project that’s not 100% on target; but when you’re overloaded, ensuring alignment between purpose and task can be a critical time saver. For example, by taking the time to understand the ‘why’, you may find it’s appropriate to reduce the scope of an assignment or that your team already completed a project that fills the need.
Understand the ‘What’.
Ensure you’re crystal clear about what’s being asked of you. This will do a service not only to you but also to your assigner. Failing to take this step introduces a number of risks including over- or underestimating the scope of the work, making incorrect assumptions about the surrounding context, or the need for rework. These risks become even greater when the work is connected to an emergent situation or when leaders are distracted by another urgent matter—both of which are recipes for ambiguity and rushed decision-making.
Nailing down exactly what’s needed may take a few additional moments up front, but it will save everyone time in the end—time that you need if you’re overloaded.
Manage expectations.
Communicate proactively to get on the same page about priorities and timelines. You should discuss both new assignments and existing projects and responsibilities.
Depending on how your organization and workflows are structured, you may need to loop in your manager or other project leaders to provide situational awareness around what’s competing for your time. Note that this discussion may require delicacy—you never want to make someone feel like their project isn’t as important as others. One way to approach this discussion is to keep it rooted around your desire to do what’s best for the company while highlighting your own bandwidth limitations.
Bring people along.
Don’t fall into the trap of trying to do everything yourself. This is when it pays to delegate, if you are in the position to, or to lead without authority. However, delegating and leading without authority both take time and energy, especially if done well. So you may be tempted to just knock things out independently.
But taking that approach is a missed opportunity on many levels:
Bringing people along is an investment in them: You’re building teams, providing learning opportunities, and empowering people.
It’s also beneficial for the company: You’re removing yourself as a single point of failure, increasing productivity, and potentially introducing more diversity into the work in question.
And finally, it’s important for you: You’re preserving your energy, investing in your longevity, and practicing leadership.
These four actions won’t magically empty your plate at work. But they will help you regain control over your workload.
And here’s one final (bonus) nugget to keep in mind:
Bonus: Stay flexible, but know where to draw the line.
Most of us are doing our best on any given day. A lot of the time, we don’t have playbooks that spell out how to navigate every situation at work. And the more senior we get in organizations, the more frequently we must rely on experience, leadership skills, and other skills to face new unknowns.
So we ought to be patient with our colleagues and show up with empathy and grace. One way to do this is to stay flexible when we’re thrown curveballs and try to make things work, even if they look a little messy. It’s also helpful to assume best intent, even in the midst of unfair demands on our time.
That said, being overloaded is bad for us and everyone around us. So it’s important to speak up when we’re asked to do things that move us into that “fight or flight” mode or that would require adjusting our overall workload, allocating more resources, or receiving some form of special compensation (e.g., day off, higher bonus, promotion, etc.) to be reasonable.
But where exactly do we draw the line?
The answer is personal, but one way to think about it is with respect to the nature of your role at the time. More specifically: Some roles have natural cycles that balance ultra-intense periods with calmer periods. In that context, too much on your plate may be acceptable, but only for a few weeks or months at a time, and only if followed by down time. If the ultra-intense periods extend longer and longer or happen more and more frequently, it may be time to draw the line and speak up. Other roles demand consistent and steady output. In that context, too much on your plate for more than a couple days at a time may be enough of a trigger for drawing the line and speaking up.