How to handle stress at work
July 24, 2011 5:40 AM Subscribe
We are having cut backs at work. One of the office staff was laid-off and I was told directly I would be expected to do her duties along with my current duties. This starts Monday, I and everyone else in the office knows I will not be able to be as efficient as I have been up to now. How can I not stress about this? If my boss jumps on to me I have decided I will just tell her I am doing the best I can. Has anyone else been in this situation and what are some words of advice you can give me to help me through this? (I live in a small town and jobs are scarce, I need to try to keep this job unless something better comes up.)
I would hazard a guess that most of the people here have been through something similar. It's been that kind of economy for awhile.
Just try and do the best with it you can, and ask for as much guidance from your boss as you need, so you know what her priorities are with respect to the new workload. Try to do this ahead of "getting jumped on" so maybe you can head that off at the pass.
Your boss is probably really stressed too. If you can handle this with grace and professionalism, it will demonstrate what an amazing employee you are.
posted by pantarei70 at 6:04 AM on July 24, 2011 [6 favorites]
Just try and do the best with it you can, and ask for as much guidance from your boss as you need, so you know what her priorities are with respect to the new workload. Try to do this ahead of "getting jumped on" so maybe you can head that off at the pass.
Your boss is probably really stressed too. If you can handle this with grace and professionalism, it will demonstrate what an amazing employee you are.
posted by pantarei70 at 6:04 AM on July 24, 2011 [6 favorites]
Whether you believe it or not, your individual efficiency may not contribute most directly to the overall efficiency of your business. This is often what staff cut backs are all about - at some new or lower level of business demand, old role assignments, even very efficient ones, literally cost more to maintain than the net contribution they generate to the business is worth. Your manager understands this (or should), and is only expecting you to get your new assignments accomplished in the most workmanlike way possible, even if that will be at a lower individual efficiency.
posted by paulsc at 6:04 AM on July 24, 2011
posted by paulsc at 6:04 AM on July 24, 2011
It might make you feel better to know that what you are describing is happening across the country at businesses large and small. Welcome to the current economy -- you've seen the unemployment statistics? All those folks used to be sharing the load with people like you. I work for a large corporation, and over the past 3 years, employees at all levels have had to take on more work with no additional compensation, staff, resources or in many cases, even acknowledgment that it's happening. Definitely re-prioritize, keep your boss apprised, and stay employed until something better comes along. Also, try and make the most of your non-work life!
posted by thinkpiece at 6:06 AM on July 24, 2011 [1 favorite]
posted by thinkpiece at 6:06 AM on July 24, 2011 [1 favorite]
Ask your boss to have ten minute daily (can be stand-up) meetings. Keep lists of the requests/tasks you are asked to do. Prioritize your own work daily but also keep a list of places where you feel like you didn't get to something that should be done. At the daily stand-up with the boss go through your decisions and ask if there is anything you should have prioritized differently and therefore you should prioritize today and tomorrow. End each conversation by asking the boss if they are overall satisfied with your work.
You may not make everyone else in your company satisfied if there is too much for you to do in the time available, but this will help you keep your priorities aligned with the person you work for, despite the pressure from others to deal with whatever they'd rather see you do first.
posted by meinvt at 6:07 AM on July 24, 2011 [1 favorite]
You may not make everyone else in your company satisfied if there is too much for you to do in the time available, but this will help you keep your priorities aligned with the person you work for, despite the pressure from others to deal with whatever they'd rather see you do first.
posted by meinvt at 6:07 AM on July 24, 2011 [1 favorite]
You might consider asking for a quick meeting with your boss sometime on Monday to go over your new duties. Ask her how she'd like you to prioritize things, now that you've got additional tasks. If you request clear guidelines on what needs to be done and when, it will both give you a plan and a schedule. Your boss will know when to expect things and you'll know what to do first.
Rather than tell her you're doing your best, which can sound a little defensive, be proactive and ask, "What do you need me to address first? How would you like me to handle Sue's duties in addition to my own? What are the deadlines for the project reports, for the invoices and for the price breakdowns? How about if I check back with you on Wednesday afternoon to show you where we are with all this?"
It is reasonable to ask for her input on how she wants you to manage two jobs. Always try maintain a calm and capable presence. Consider it a given that you're doing your best. Since you sound really nervous about this, maybe you could practice this conversation today with a friend. Do it twice, once taking your own role and once as your boss. Get comfortable asking some questions and take some comfort in the fact that they consider you competent enough to do the work of two people.
Wishing you good luck with this .. let us know how it goes.
posted by Kangaroo at 6:42 AM on July 24, 2011 [7 favorites]
Rather than tell her you're doing your best, which can sound a little defensive, be proactive and ask, "What do you need me to address first? How would you like me to handle Sue's duties in addition to my own? What are the deadlines for the project reports, for the invoices and for the price breakdowns? How about if I check back with you on Wednesday afternoon to show you where we are with all this?"
It is reasonable to ask for her input on how she wants you to manage two jobs. Always try maintain a calm and capable presence. Consider it a given that you're doing your best. Since you sound really nervous about this, maybe you could practice this conversation today with a friend. Do it twice, once taking your own role and once as your boss. Get comfortable asking some questions and take some comfort in the fact that they consider you competent enough to do the work of two people.
Wishing you good luck with this .. let us know how it goes.
posted by Kangaroo at 6:42 AM on July 24, 2011 [7 favorites]
Just do your best, and learn to say 'sorry, but no' if other people ask for assistance from you that you just don't have time for. (Help if you can, of course: you're all in this together!)
(And if, in the end, you do get laid off, perhaps you'll get to enjoy the same feeling of schnadenfrude I got several years ago: my employer too had been layoffs and having the rest of us pick up those peoples' duties; when it can my turn to be laid off in "a cost-cutting move, that will make the company leaner and more cost-efficient," I was replaced with two new full-timers AND a part-timer...... oh yeah, like THAT was cost-effective!)
posted by easily confused at 7:33 AM on July 24, 2011 [1 favorite]
(And if, in the end, you do get laid off, perhaps you'll get to enjoy the same feeling of schnadenfrude I got several years ago: my employer too had been layoffs and having the rest of us pick up those peoples' duties; when it can my turn to be laid off in "a cost-cutting move, that will make the company leaner and more cost-efficient," I was replaced with two new full-timers AND a part-timer...... oh yeah, like THAT was cost-effective!)
posted by easily confused at 7:33 AM on July 24, 2011 [1 favorite]
scan your tasks for redundancy with Sue's tasks. Look for reports or weekly aggregates that are obsolete due to new technologies and systems. Move daily reports to weekly status. Weekly reports to monthly. Suggest these changes to your boss, with the idea that your boss doesn't have time to review this stuff on that schedule.
posted by ohshenandoah at 8:04 AM on July 24, 2011
posted by ohshenandoah at 8:04 AM on July 24, 2011
Best answer: At the daily stand-up with the boss go through your decisions and ask if there is anything you should have prioritized differently and therefore you should prioritize today and tomorrow. End each conversation by asking the boss if they are overall satisfied with your work.
This strikes me as the best way to annoy your boss and unless you are her personal assistant (as opposed to part of a larger team) and thus should be catching up with her at very frequent intervals don't do this. If I was your boss I'd expect you to need additional guidance as to your new tasks and help in prioritising but I would refuse to accept the assumption that you will need a detailed daily debrief to do your new role (and have my time wasted by this exercise).
So check in on Monday morning to go over your new role and to find out what the changed priorities are likely to be and to find out what her expectations are. Ask to check in with her later in the week and on Friday to ensure you're on the same page. Go and start your new role. If your boss is any good she'll check in with you in the afternoon to see how you're holding up. If she doesn't ask her for a quick chat at the end of the day to validate your priorities and decisions.
Assuming nothing major crops up you go about doing your job. Check in some time mid week to discuss how it's going and to ask for input in prioritising, any feedback or guidance. Check in again on Friday afternoon for a more detailed chat about the week, the practical problems you've come across and how they were resolved or how to resolve them. Use this to confirm your understanding of priorities, to seek feedback and understand how you're meeting her expectations and what else (if anything) you should be doing or not be doing. Clearly if there is a particular problem that needs to be addressed urgently you seek guidance as required. Agree to catch up again in a few days. Repeat as necessary.
But don't start the week thinking you won't be able to cope because chances are you'll be ok - most people adjust to increased workload, albeit grudgingly.
If you a) really struggle with the length of your new to do list or b) still struggle a fair bit a month down the line talk to your boss, confirming priorities and level of perfection required. And as others have said learn to be protective of your time with respect to "helping" colleagues - let them figure out their own stuff.
posted by koahiatamadl at 8:10 AM on July 24, 2011 [2 favorites]
This strikes me as the best way to annoy your boss and unless you are her personal assistant (as opposed to part of a larger team) and thus should be catching up with her at very frequent intervals don't do this. If I was your boss I'd expect you to need additional guidance as to your new tasks and help in prioritising but I would refuse to accept the assumption that you will need a detailed daily debrief to do your new role (and have my time wasted by this exercise).
So check in on Monday morning to go over your new role and to find out what the changed priorities are likely to be and to find out what her expectations are. Ask to check in with her later in the week and on Friday to ensure you're on the same page. Go and start your new role. If your boss is any good she'll check in with you in the afternoon to see how you're holding up. If she doesn't ask her for a quick chat at the end of the day to validate your priorities and decisions.
Assuming nothing major crops up you go about doing your job. Check in some time mid week to discuss how it's going and to ask for input in prioritising, any feedback or guidance. Check in again on Friday afternoon for a more detailed chat about the week, the practical problems you've come across and how they were resolved or how to resolve them. Use this to confirm your understanding of priorities, to seek feedback and understand how you're meeting her expectations and what else (if anything) you should be doing or not be doing. Clearly if there is a particular problem that needs to be addressed urgently you seek guidance as required. Agree to catch up again in a few days. Repeat as necessary.
But don't start the week thinking you won't be able to cope because chances are you'll be ok - most people adjust to increased workload, albeit grudgingly.
If you a) really struggle with the length of your new to do list or b) still struggle a fair bit a month down the line talk to your boss, confirming priorities and level of perfection required. And as others have said learn to be protective of your time with respect to "helping" colleagues - let them figure out their own stuff.
posted by koahiatamadl at 8:10 AM on July 24, 2011 [2 favorites]
Document what you do every day in terms of measurable outputs. Make sure it looks like you are getting stuff done!
Make notes about priortization, and include a brief rationale.
At the end of the week, email the daily breakdown of outputs for the week to your supervisor, along with the prioritization rationale.
Ask him or her for feedback.
In the email, promise you will follow-up verbally.
This will give your supervisor the chance to course correct, and will ensure you're covering your ass.
posted by KokuRyu at 9:14 AM on July 24, 2011 [1 favorite]
Make notes about priortization, and include a brief rationale.
At the end of the week, email the daily breakdown of outputs for the week to your supervisor, along with the prioritization rationale.
Ask him or her for feedback.
In the email, promise you will follow-up verbally.
This will give your supervisor the chance to course correct, and will ensure you're covering your ass.
posted by KokuRyu at 9:14 AM on July 24, 2011 [1 favorite]
I too have been through this. The bad news is it's stressful and may require you to put in some extra time at the office. The good news is it means you're a valued employee - they want to keep you and think you're good at what you do. This does in fact give you some degree of leverage, even in a time of layoffs.
As everyone has said, the key is clear communication of important information (without requiring endless input and reassurance from your boss). Two additional pieces of advice:
-If you are already busy and then have a big new project with an imminent deadline dropped on you, be sure to communicate at that time that you can do it, but it will result in delays to your completion of Y and X. Make sure your boss knows that upfront and can adjust prioritization as necessary.
-If you come to a point where it is just impossible to complete all of your work in a reasonable time frame and it is making you unhappy and worse at your job, tell your boss that too - before it gets so bad that something important gets screwed up. But don't just go and say you're overworked and something needs to change. Do some analysis of how you're spending your time (X number of hours per week or percent of your time on Task 1, Y number of hours on Task 2 etc.) as well as who else is working on related tasks and might be able to pick up some of the slack. Make it as easy as possible for your boss to understand what the problem is and how things could be readjusted to distribute burdens more fairly across the team.
posted by unsub at 9:56 AM on July 24, 2011 [1 favorite]
As everyone has said, the key is clear communication of important information (without requiring endless input and reassurance from your boss). Two additional pieces of advice:
-If you are already busy and then have a big new project with an imminent deadline dropped on you, be sure to communicate at that time that you can do it, but it will result in delays to your completion of Y and X. Make sure your boss knows that upfront and can adjust prioritization as necessary.
-If you come to a point where it is just impossible to complete all of your work in a reasonable time frame and it is making you unhappy and worse at your job, tell your boss that too - before it gets so bad that something important gets screwed up. But don't just go and say you're overworked and something needs to change. Do some analysis of how you're spending your time (X number of hours per week or percent of your time on Task 1, Y number of hours on Task 2 etc.) as well as who else is working on related tasks and might be able to pick up some of the slack. Make it as easy as possible for your boss to understand what the problem is and how things could be readjusted to distribute burdens more fairly across the team.
posted by unsub at 9:56 AM on July 24, 2011 [1 favorite]
This strikes me as the best way to annoy your boss and unless you are her personal assistant (as opposed to part of a larger team) and thus should be catching up with her at very frequent intervals don't do this. If I was your boss I'd expect you to need additional guidance as to your new tasks and help in prioritising but I would refuse to accept the assumption that you will need a detailed daily debrief to do your new role (and have my time wasted by this exercise).
I somewhat disagree, although I guess it all depends on the sort of work. The point is brief regular discussions that confirm the boss is on the same page about how you are prioritizing your work. If it can be done in a five minute drive-by weekly, then great. I've never worked in a place where I wasn't in an hour or two of design discussions with my boss almost daily, so for me to take 5-10% of that time to make sure our big priorities were staying aligned was help not burden. In any case, the point is that you make sure it is prepared, quick and helpful, and that you do it on some schedule. Whatever works for you both is the right answer.
posted by meinvt at 2:19 PM on July 24, 2011
I somewhat disagree, although I guess it all depends on the sort of work. The point is brief regular discussions that confirm the boss is on the same page about how you are prioritizing your work. If it can be done in a five minute drive-by weekly, then great. I've never worked in a place where I wasn't in an hour or two of design discussions with my boss almost daily, so for me to take 5-10% of that time to make sure our big priorities were staying aligned was help not burden. In any case, the point is that you make sure it is prepared, quick and helpful, and that you do it on some schedule. Whatever works for you both is the right answer.
posted by meinvt at 2:19 PM on July 24, 2011
I agree with the responses here--if you can't do everything, get your boss to help you prioritize. And be upfront with him or her when you are asked to take on new tasks. There's a non-bitchy way to do this, something like, "I'm excited about this project, but I'm concerned that I'm not going to be able to give it the attention it deserves; should I put X or Y on the back burner to deal with this?" I used the bitchy way several months ago when I was completely buried in work and was asked to add a new weekly responsibility. My response was, "okay, so what can I hand off to someone else so I can do this?" That doesn't sound bitchy as is, until you consider I said it to the president/owner of the company in front of everybody at a staff meeting. Needless to say, I don't recommend this approach unless you don't care if you lose the job. (BTW, his response, much to my surprise, was to ask the VP--his wife!--to do the new task. He may have sensed that I was fed up and ready to walk.)
posted by WorkingMyWayHome at 7:31 PM on July 24, 2011
posted by WorkingMyWayHome at 7:31 PM on July 24, 2011
This thread is closed to new comments.
Your workload is higher, so you will need to prioritise differently. You will work slower at first, but become more efficient as time goes on. Your boss understands both of these things. Be more positive.
posted by devnull at 5:49 AM on July 24, 2011