Every employee wants to make a great impression in the workplace, often taking on additional tasks, unfortunately, sometimes the workload can become too much to handle. Employees often become overwhelmed, frustrated, and irritable compromising performance and productivity.
What are the steps you can take to find solutions for an overwhelming workload?
First and foremost, talk to your boss! I know – intimidating! But your boss is the only person that can help you initiate solutions to your overwhelming situation.
How do you talk to your boss without sounding like you can’t meet the demands of your position? Here are some strategies to help you talk to your boss about your workload:
DO NOT HAVE A NEGATIVE ATTITUDE. Express your concerns in a mild manner and your boss will be more likely to listen and help you find a solution to your problems. Don’t expect your boss to find the solution on his own, brainstorm before approaching him and offer suggestions that might be a better solution.
PRIORITIZE. Projects that are due around the same time may overlap and cause you to lose focus on what’s more important. Ask your boss which projects he thinks are the most important to work towards meeting deadlines. Maybe your boss can extend due dates on projects that are less of a priority.
STATE WHAT YOU CAN DO, NOT WHAT YOU CAN’T. When work becomes too much to handle, the best solution is to focus on the positive. When you have an extensive project list to complete already then presented with new ones, tell your boss what you can do, not what you can’t. Tell him you can do a small step of a project to help move toward completion, but suggest another employee who can finish it. Make your boss aware that you will be happy to complete the new projects, however, or you won’t be able to complete them without compromising projects that already exist.
Everyone gets overwhelmed, especially, in the workplace. Whether you believe it or not, most bosses are pretty understanding and are willing to go the distance to help find solutions to aid in the success of employees and the company. You need to stand up and tell your boss what’s going on so he can help find solutions, otherwise, he won’t know.
Remember: For every problem, there is a solution.
