Heres How to Tell Your Boss You Have Too Much Work

Heres How to Tell Your Boss You Have Too Much WorkYoure totally swamped, but you feel like you cant tell your boss or shell think youre a wimpor youll be written off for promotion because you just cant cut the mustard. But if youre notlage just being lazy (youre actually overwhelmed because theres genuinely too much on your plate), then you might just need to find the right way to broach the subject. googletag.cmd.push(function() googletag.display(div-gpt-ad-1467144145037-0) ) Continuing to thrash around with your head just below the surface of the water is not going to win you any medals. You might actually do damage to your career. Remember that being overcommitted and dealing with exhaustion can lead to sloppy mistakes or cut cornersor even failing to get something done on time. Far better to give your boss a heads up so you can continue turning in the top notch work youd rather put your name to.Here are some guidelines to follow.1. Make it about quality.The way to frame this is that you dont want to sacrifice quality in buchung to keep up a ridiculous level of output. Dont make any accusations, just present the situation frankly. Say that youre concerned the high standards you hold yourself to might suffer given your responsibilities overload. Emphasize that youre totally up for turning out four high-quality projects at a time, but that six is a bit too much.2. Be concrete.Dont just say you have too much work. Give concrete examples. Explain how youve been assigned several projects on top of your regular workload. And how any one of them would be fine, but cumulatively, youre having trouble keeping balls in the air. Give an estimate of how much time it would take for you to complete each and then the aggregate time. Then explain how it would be impossible to meet all of the deadlines. Tell your boss all the times youve stayed late or worked extra hours to finish, without complaint.3. Discuss deadlines and delegation.It might be an easy fix, like staggering deadlines, or outsourcing some projects or tasks to other team members to get the thing done (and well) in a timely fashionespecially if there are any general administrative aspects that dont require your skillset that could be passed along to support staff to free you up to concentrate on the meat of the project. Set clear priorities showing you value the most important projects and understand the importance of getting them done to standard.4. Stay positive.Soften the blow by focusing on the positive. Frame the conversation by saying yes to what you can do, and do well, and not no to all you cant, i.e., you can do project X, but extra added-on projects and tasks might require you to sacrifice that very important project, which you are not prepared to sacrifice. Keep it positive and use an upbeat, devoted-to-the-company tone, rather than one of despondence or frustration. And show, above all, your willingness to pitch in.5. Ask for help.Never underestimate the power of a third fest ivitt to help ground you when youre feeling overwhelmed. Get an outsiders perspective on your workload. Theyll either tell you to suck it up and get it done, or theyll validate your feeling that youre really being asked to juggle far too much.