“My workload is too high.”
I hear and see that a lot.
In the United States, we continue to experience this weird dichotomy, signs of slower hiring of people, but we are in a tight job market. The latest figures put the unemployment rate at 3.7% (which is virtually full employment). However, only 62 percent of eligible adults are participating in the workforce. (1)
Given the economic uncertainty that recession and inflation are giving, many companies are taking a pause at bringing on new workers. As I mentioned in another article, people are suffering from burnout. Whether a symptom or a cause, burnout and workload are usually linked. A heavy workload can contribute to and exasperate job exhaustion.
Forbes recently noted, “Unsustainable workloads are one of the top factors contributing to the Great Resignation, along with uncaring managers, inadequate compensation and lack of career advancement potential…”
About 40% pf all respondents to the Work-Life Balance Assessment agree or strongly agree that they are unable to manage their current workload. Nine in ten executives participating in the Leadership Assessment Tool consistently take their work home with them. When leaders need to labor outside of standard business hours, their teams are doing the same.
For the individual, a way to evaluate your workload is to audit your time management. Efficiency will be found in finding time blind spots of unproductive periods. They are there. To the manager, look at you first. See where you are negatively impacting efficiency and output by the decisions you implement with your team.
For both personal and managerial, follow these concepts to truly gauge the capacity of the single job assignment or the group, to start down a pathway of clarity.
Why?
Individual: There is power in the word “why”. The question, “Why am I doing this?” should be asked multiple times a week. Not to get out of doing work, but the means to shed light on the purpose of that work. After the question is asked, if the answer is, “Well that is the way it has always been done.” It is time to evaluate, change, adapt, and even stop said activity.
Leader: Likewise, you have even more power when it comes to “why”. Your question is, “Why is the team doing this?” The follow-up to that is, “What can I do to make it easier and more efficient?” Do not stop subordinates from coming to you with their “Why?” questions. Listen, ask more questions, and involve them in helping craft better options.
Calendar and Task Management
Individual: If your workload is too heavy, it should be reflected in your calendar and by your task list. The only way to help yourself cope (and your manager to appreciate your struggles) is to be able to objectively illustrate the level of your efforts. A well-planned calendar (with every hour accounted for) along with a dynamic and cataloged activity history, gives you the fact-based data to have a meaningful discussion.
Leader: Having access to team calendars and seeing where the allocation of time is being placed, creates compelling trends to assist in aligning the right behaviors. Consistently coaching them on the correct priorities of their tasks stops the false sense of project achievement as people have a tendency to start at the top of a list and not with the most important item on that list. This approach is not to become a micromanager, but to be seen as a resourcefulness manager.
Protected Time
Individual: So many people feel protected time is only for the boss. Baloney, I say. Your employer expects you to accomplish the goals assigned to you. If that requires you to be able to safeguard and defend certain allocations of your time to complete important components of you job, ask for the permission to shield yourself off from any external interruptions in order to focus.
Leader: Your time is valuable, but so are your direct reports. Institute productivity zones. Find out the times of the day that your team is most productive and ask each to block off that time and dedicate it to high priority items. You’ll need to monitor and provide advice to help them get comfortable and confident this time is as effective as possible.
These three areas are just a beginning. However, as companies and their members grapple with workload issues; asking the right questions, managing the tasks in tandem with the calendar, and promoting protected time will help managers and employees quantify the workload challenge.
Dave Buck is the Chief Executive Time Keeper of Kairos Management Solutions.
Learn about your time management opportunities by taking and getting a free Time Management Analysis (TMA) summary report. Schedule an appointment with Dave Buck to discuss a full-time management improvement program for individuals, teams, and compa