How to Deal with Uneven Distribution of Work at the Office
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I donāt know about you, but these quarantine days are FLYING by. I canāt believe May begins next week. Itās honestly insane. I have pretty much been living in leggings, so I have been utilizing older photos more than ever. In fact, Iām almost out of photos, so chances are that I will slap on some face and curl my hair this weekend. Hah! You may notice todayās photos, as they are from this instagram post I shared a couple weeks ago. Who knew how much Iād use this fiddle fig tree for photos? So glad we purchased it at Costco in February!! Ok so my outfit mat not totally office attire; however, they arenāt casual Friday clothes, which is saying something right now! My dress was actually the one I wore to my wedding rehearsal dinner. It was fun to pull it out and get some use out of it for an indoor date night.
ANYWAY, onto the Women on the Workplace topic at hand. Todayās post is another request and a subject that I greatly relate with. As a worker bee, I often take on greater workloads; however, Iāve experienced several instances where I felt taken advantage of. If you are feeling like you have an uneven distribution of work, you are either working alone and are getting too much on your plate OR you have a team member or two who arenāt adequately helping you. Either way, keep scrolling for some tips on how to go about this issue.
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WHAT TO DO IF YOU HAVE AN UNEVEN DISTRIBUTION OF WORK:
Analyze the situation. Itās important to know if you are actually on the receiving end of more work and not just taking the job personally. Before you take any real action, make it a point to cool off and assess what has happened.
Itās also good to identify whether your issue is self-inflicted. Iāve piled on more work for myself than I should have before. My boss never pressured me to complete more than i could, rather I frequently overcommitted myself. I have helped combat this by prioritizing items I HAD to get done within a day each morning. I reminded myself that the work would still be there for me when I got in tomorrow, no problem.
Take notes. If you uncover that an unsurmountable load of work is expected of you, start to document these cases with the specifics of what project, exact dates, etc. Doing this can also tell you if something is actually happening, like I mentioned above. If it only happened once, I probablyyy wouldnāt make a fuss about it. If it is something that looks good for your track record, just keep it for review time with your boss!
Ask yourself if this is temporary. Sometimes our jobs require extra work that will pay off in the long run. If it is just a task here or a big project there, I wouldnāt really call it an uneven distribution of work. Iād call it your job! Note that there is a lineā¦ if you are having to work all hours of the day with no breaks or weekends, that isnāt healthyā¦your body does need rest. And this means you too, Tax Accountants. Hah!
Take matters into your own hands. If the issue is with a teammate, try to fix it by dealing with them directly, if possible. If that doesnāt work, isnāt possible to do, or doesnāt even involve a teammateā¦ that is when to take it to your boss and/or HR. Remember that everything tends to look better if you can resolve it directly, especially when it involves co-workers.
Look for another job. If you try all these things, talk to your boss, and still have no luck, that is not good. Buttttt you probably already know that! You are probably burning the candle at both ends and itās time to start looking for another job, if you havenāt already begun to. It sounds like your workplace is taking advantage of you and it is just a matter of time before you are burnt out.
Note that when youāre looking for another job and interviewing, you can ask questions about the culture and work schedule. This will hopefully shine a light on how it would be there for you. I know for me, Iāve interviewed at places that have said things like āmust be able to work more than the regular 40 hour work weekā, which raised red flags for me. I asked if they would be paying overtime or if they would raise their salary offer and the answer was no. Iām a hard worker and I donāt mind putting in work at all, but if you say that you want me to regularly work extra, that is an issue if the salary offer doesnāt match the request. I like to think that most companies and bosses donāt want you to have to spend a lot of extra time at work. Get your work done, do a good job, and see you tomorrow! All the jobs iāve ever had have had busy seasons where more time is required than not, but it wasnāt a year long issue and I learned to make the best of those times.
HOW TO TALK TO YOUR BOSS ABOUT AN UNEVEN DISTRIBUTION OF WORK:
Okay so you like your job and you donāt want to leave. You canāt seem to fix the problem yourself, so time to take it to the boss man. Or woman ;)
Wait until it is a repeated issue. Use your notes that I told you to take above and wait until you see a pattern. Just going to your boss after one problem is kind of winey. Note that this is different than if you need help. If you canāt seem to get work done that needs to be completed now, do not feel bad asking for help. At the very least tell your boss so you can manage their expectations. A question I love to pose toward impending parties who are piling the work on me is regarding prioritization. When they present something else that needs to be completed, feel free to ask them to prioritize their needs. For example, letās theyāve already asked you to run a 2019 sales report and to create a 2020 collection, but just asked you to run sales data for 2018 too. Mention that you already have the first 2 on deck and can only get 2 completed today. Which of the now THREE are the most important? This forces them to acknowledge the work load and make a decision.
Also just a word to the wiseā¦ as a project manager, I want you to shoot straight with me and give me a realistic timeline. Underestimating how long it will take you on purpose because you think that is what I want to hear is never the answer.
Reference specific examples. When you are finally in the meeting with your boss, reference solid evidence. Again, look at your notes that I told you to take! Point to exact scenarios during the meeting. This will give your boss solid evidence that this has become an issue. This is also great for if you have to take the issue to HR as well!
Leverage a raise or promotion. If you have been communicating this extra work and issues to your boss, they should be aware of the extra time you are giving to the company. When you review your current 6 months or even year with them, be sure to note these things. You should probably be doing so BEFORE the review, as most budgets are set prior to actual meetings. I just want you to keep your compensation in mind, because work thatās āabove and beyondā deserves to be rewarded. On the flip side, if the company isnāt going to reward great work now, chances are they wonāt in the future, so it might be time to look for a new gig.
REAL LIFE SITUATIONS
EXAMPLE 1: You share a role with a co-worker. Each day you work together to empty the bucket of tasks, but you work faster than the other person.
This was a really interesting situation. I brought this up to the company and they basically told me that they would talk to the person; however, maybe I could slow down, so it would be more even. Needless to say, I left within 6 months of that occurring. To manage it in the time I still had there, I left work every day knowing I did my best and that the company was aware of the issue, and washed my hands of it!
EXAMPLE 2: You work alone, but a new co-worker is added. Roles are defined, but they are new, so you keep some responsibilities that they should have. As you both work longer there, they are able to stand on their own feet and you want to give them roles that they should have had based on previously decided upon responsibilities.
There is such a thing as being too good at your job, I guess. (lol) People donāt want to replace you! I am very responsible, deliver on time, and over-communicate things. I once had a tricky project. I could do it in my sleep, but it was annoying and technically didnāt fall under my responsibilities. I tried talking with my boss several times about it, but they didnāt want to move me off it. They also didnāt want to give me any kind of raise or promotion, which didnāt match the amount of trust they put in me. I ended up leaving within 6 months of this issue. Not because of this specific problem though! It was due to a snowball effect of other issues.
I will say that if you enjoy working for the company and doing the job, it may be worth sticking it out. I would give grace and give them several chances to make it right, as liking your job, company, and boss is a privilege!
EXAMPLE 3: A co-worker doesnāt know how to do certain things and passes them off to you. They donāt have a desire to learn, so they donāt want to listen to you teach them or even try to learn how.
In this situation, the company was well aware of this problem, before I even was, which was NICE! Iāll be be honestā¦it doesnāt usually happen this way. I gathered my data regarding the problem and then presented it to my boss as a discussion to help me define my role at the company. Note that I didnāt bring it to them as a complaint, but posed it as a learning moment to better my understanding. When I had this talk, it not only helped me understand my job, but actually led my boss to tell me about their plans for me and my future there. It enlightened them to give me more roles and responsibilities!
Overall, I know extra and unforeseen work can really take a toll on a person. I hope this post helps you navigate and even avoid impending issues.
Any tips regarding this topic? Do tell! Leave them in the comment section below, so everyone can learn from them!
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