It’s natural to want to be liked and appreciated, especially at work, which is why when asked to help out our colleagues or take on additional tasks by our managers, many of us are quick to accept.
And while there’s a lot to be said for being supportive and dependable team members, agreeing to take on extra work can quickly become problematic when an employee doesn’t actually have the capacity or understanding they need to get it all done – forcing them to compromise the quality of their work and risk burnout.
As a manager, it’s important to know that when workloads become too much, your employees will look to you to be their advocates – helping them identify what they can and can’t handle and identify the resources needed to move forward, per a recent Gallup study. That’s why you really need to know how to guide your employees to respond to requests, manage their workloads, understand their bandwidths, and feel equipped to move forward.
So, how can you help your team members effectively navigate requests?
When possible, take control
Do your best to establish yourself as the go-to person for team-related requests so that you can get the information needed to determine who on your team is the right fit for the task at hand and give them the context they need to easily move forward. A great way to do this is by setting up a team request form that requires requesters to answer necessary questions related to the request and then lets you, as the manager, decide who on your team should be assigned based on their specific skills and capacities.
Encourage them to ask questions
It’s highly possible that even with proper protocols in place, your colleagues will still go directly to your team members for assistance. So, one of the most critical tools to navigating work requests is knowing what questions to ask in order to feel confident moving forward. Anytime they receive a new request, encourage your team members to take a moment to ask themselves:
- Do I fully understand what’s needed from me?
- What’s the purpose and goal of this request?
- Do I have all the information I need to get started?
- How urgent is it?
- When can I realistically expect to get this done without putting too much added pressure on myself?
Once they can answer those questions for themselves, they’ll know what information they still need from the requester in order to proceed. Do your best to help your team members recognize that by ensuring they have these answers from the get-go, they can avoid the need to make assumptions, which inevitably leads to misunderstandings and frustrating mistakes. Additionally, this insight will enable them to more easily prioritize their work and set clear boundaries.
Promote appropriate pushback
Make sure your employees understand that just because someone reaches out to them for assistance doesn’t mean they’re the right person to take on the request. Whether it’s not within their domain or they simply don’t know how to do the task at hand, it’s crucial that your team members feel comfortable acknowledging when they are not the best person to handle a given request. By being honest and redirecting the requester to the relevant team member, your employees won’t waste their time trying to complete something they shouldn’t be doing, and the requester can get the right resources they need.
Emphasize the need for boundaries
Even if they are the right person to handle a request, there will be times when your team members simply don’t have the bandwidth to take on something else at a given point in time. And while it’s not easy to say no, it’s important for them to know how to set boundaries when needed. Make sure your employees understand that their daily roles and responsibilities should almost always come first and that if taking on an additional request would mean sacrificing the quality of their own work, it’s not a good idea. Let them know that when they don’t think they can handle it, responding to a request with something like, “I would really love to help but I’m swamped right now, so if it’s urgent, I think it’s best to ask someone else,” is completely acceptable and valid.
Additionally, remind them that it’s also an option to offer to take on a smaller commitment. For example, “Unfortunately, I really don’t have the time to get to it this week, but I’m happy to review it at the end if that’s still helpful.”
Help them prioritize
Whether it’s in a simple checklist or a more detailed workload board, encourage your employees to document everything that’s on their plates, including general timelines and due dates, to help them fully understand their capacities. Once they have everything laid out in front of them, they can effectively determine if and when they have room for additional work. Emphasize that when it comes to work requests, it’s better to underpromise and over-deliver than to fail to meet the expectations they’ve set, so they should try to err on the side of giving themselves a bit more time when setting deadlines with requesters. Saying “I’m happy to help, but I won’t be able to get to this until next week,” is a completely acceptable way to agree to help without overcommitting.
