Picking up the slack
January 7, 2022 12:46 PM Subscribe
How do I get my colleagues to pull their weight or is it time to look elsewhere?
I have been working at an organisation processing letters for the past three months. We tend to have 30 or more urgent letters to process each day. Two people are assigned to process the urgent letters per day. We have a rota for this. We are supposed to take half each. Two of us (myself and Janet) out of a team of 6 always tend to end up doing at least 2/3rds of these if we are paired up with one of the other 4 in the team. As long as the letters are done, the manager is happy. If I am paired with Janet, we are able to finish the urgents by around lunchtime and then work on the backlog for the rest of the day or chase things up regarding the urgent letters. We are therefore still processing letters, however, working on Urgents is more intense and pressurised as there is a deadline at the end of the day. They are also more complicated and finickity.
The other day Janet decided to not do more than her share of the urgent letters. When asked by one of the other team members (Carol) to help out, Janet said she couldn’t as she had other things to do.
Three of the team, Carol, Anne and Sue work more slowly and only tend to process a maximum of 6 letters a day. Carol complained to a more senior colleague and said that if Janet finishes her share of the Urgent letters when she is paired up with one of the other 4, that she should then help them with their share. That Janet is not a being team player if she doesn’t help them out. The senior colleague (who is also my mentor) agreed with Carol. Carol likes to do the bare minimum and spends time gossiping to various people.
It is not set in stone that the letters should be divided equally, just something that is generally accepted, except they never are shared equally (only when Janet and I are paired up) I work 2 days, everyone else in the team works either 4 or 5 days. I process up to 100 letters in my 2 days, others who work more days sometimes don’t even manage to do 20 all week.
I don’t agree with what Carol says but don’t want to call people out as being lazy or a slow worker, but they really are and I feel aggrieved at the obligation to do more than my fair share. I don’t want to carry other people.
I have been working at an organisation processing letters for the past three months. We tend to have 30 or more urgent letters to process each day. Two people are assigned to process the urgent letters per day. We have a rota for this. We are supposed to take half each. Two of us (myself and Janet) out of a team of 6 always tend to end up doing at least 2/3rds of these if we are paired up with one of the other 4 in the team. As long as the letters are done, the manager is happy. If I am paired with Janet, we are able to finish the urgents by around lunchtime and then work on the backlog for the rest of the day or chase things up regarding the urgent letters. We are therefore still processing letters, however, working on Urgents is more intense and pressurised as there is a deadline at the end of the day. They are also more complicated and finickity.
The other day Janet decided to not do more than her share of the urgent letters. When asked by one of the other team members (Carol) to help out, Janet said she couldn’t as she had other things to do.
Three of the team, Carol, Anne and Sue work more slowly and only tend to process a maximum of 6 letters a day. Carol complained to a more senior colleague and said that if Janet finishes her share of the Urgent letters when she is paired up with one of the other 4, that she should then help them with their share. That Janet is not a being team player if she doesn’t help them out. The senior colleague (who is also my mentor) agreed with Carol. Carol likes to do the bare minimum and spends time gossiping to various people.
It is not set in stone that the letters should be divided equally, just something that is generally accepted, except they never are shared equally (only when Janet and I are paired up) I work 2 days, everyone else in the team works either 4 or 5 days. I process up to 100 letters in my 2 days, others who work more days sometimes don’t even manage to do 20 all week.
I don’t agree with what Carol says but don’t want to call people out as being lazy or a slow worker, but they really are and I feel aggrieved at the obligation to do more than my fair share. I don’t want to carry other people.
Best answer: It sounds like your bosses aren't doing their job and you're having to unfairly carry the burden. I don't think it's appropriate for you to ask for more of your colleagues nor should it be your responsibility. I definitely agree that it's time to look for a new job with better balance. In the mean time, can you do slightly less to give yourself a break? It's not your job to carry your employer although you've certainly been awesome for going above and beyond. It sucks that, in a shitty or simply mismanaged workplace, those who do most are ignored or even punished.
I have been in that situation as have many of us here at Metafilter: I think most would agree that working our own boundaries, then leaving and finding a place that's better is the best choice. I worked at a place for 12 years and stayed out of loyalty (I'm a teacher who loved her students and their families) and convenience (change is hard and a risk!) I know earn much more, have way more free time, and it's like I never knew that a workplace could be so... fair and humane? Good luck!
posted by smorgasbord at 1:15 PM on January 7, 2022
I have been in that situation as have many of us here at Metafilter: I think most would agree that working our own boundaries, then leaving and finding a place that's better is the best choice. I worked at a place for 12 years and stayed out of loyalty (I'm a teacher who loved her students and their families) and convenience (change is hard and a risk!) I know earn much more, have way more free time, and it's like I never knew that a workplace could be so... fair and humane? Good luck!
posted by smorgasbord at 1:15 PM on January 7, 2022
Best answer: Here are a few articles on setting boundaries at work:
- 8 Ways to Establish Healthy Boundaries at Work (Career Contessa)
- How to Set Clear Work Boundaries -- and Stick to Them (TED)
- 7 Tips for Setting Work Boundaries for Yourself and Others (PsychCentral)
posted by smorgasbord at 1:20 PM on January 7, 2022 [7 favorites]
- 8 Ways to Establish Healthy Boundaries at Work (Career Contessa)
- How to Set Clear Work Boundaries -- and Stick to Them (TED)
- 7 Tips for Setting Work Boundaries for Yourself and Others (PsychCentral)
posted by smorgasbord at 1:20 PM on January 7, 2022 [7 favorites]
Best answer: There's no rule that all people at a job need to do the same amount of work. However, if your job is not compensating you proportional to your work output, there's no reason for you to do any more work than any of your other colleagues.
If your pay is not driven by metrics related to number of letter processed (and perhaps some quality metric), you should advocate for that. You should get paid more if you are doing more valuable work than your colleagues. If those metrics aren't available, you should figure out what the required number of letters to achieve your job requirements and do exactly that until your management does start doing metrics-based employee evaluation.
posted by saeculorum at 1:26 PM on January 7, 2022 [11 favorites]
If your pay is not driven by metrics related to number of letter processed (and perhaps some quality metric), you should advocate for that. You should get paid more if you are doing more valuable work than your colleagues. If those metrics aren't available, you should figure out what the required number of letters to achieve your job requirements and do exactly that until your management does start doing metrics-based employee evaluation.
posted by saeculorum at 1:26 PM on January 7, 2022 [11 favorites]
Best answer: Usually you have to suck it up. Frequently there is nothing management can do to make Carol do more than she is doing. She doesn't have the capacity for it and she isn't willing to bust her gut trying and it is unfair and illegal to fire her for performing at a level that previously was considered fine. And this is IF management is even willing to get involved in trying to make things fair, but they probably are not willing to bust their guts in a futile attempt to make things more equitable. Management probably does not have any carrots to motivate Carol to do more.
Anything you can do, like matching your work to Carol's will probably lead management to jump on you, because they need the letters done and the know you can do them. So while Carol will probably not get any more grief than an e-mail or two about picking up the pace, you will get concerted attention if you slack off and stop doing more.
You have three options.
One is to look for work elsewhere.
One is to try to get management to recognize your superior value over Carol and to start rewarding you more. You might, and they might be willing to let you get to claim the Friday before or the Monday after every three day weekend so that you can get four day weekends all the time, or some other benefit like this, as opposed to increasing your pay. They probably can't increase your pay. You should definitely try to get them to document the difference in your performance over Carol's.
The third option is to change something you are doing as a personal reward to yourself for doing extra. External validation is only so helpful in the long run. Being thanked and praised is not necessarily good for your ego, because you can end up seeking praise and doubting your worth if it is not forthcoming. So a valid response is actually to go ahead and do more work than Carol, and take the ego boost of feeling like you are competent and efficient. This will NOT work if you feel like a sucker being exploited, even if they keep praising you, and even if they give you a bonus. It's very possible that slacking off and doing the same as Carol is doing would bore you witless. In the long run improving and maintaining your performance will make you happier if that is the case. But if you'll hate your job if you keep performing well and you'll hate your job if you manage to wriggle out of doing the letters you need to figure out what level of effort will bring you the most happiness and the least resentment and frustration.
Doing something tangible to reward and praise yourself for doing the letters is worth trying. You could for example promise yourself a meal from that incredibly good Thai restaurant when you get 200 letters done, and try to decouple the task from feeling taken advantage of and instead come to view it as a personal challenge and a sign of your own superior competence and adaptability.
You could also try making it a challenge at work - in a light hearted way, suggest you keep score - Every person who does fifty letters gets a chocolate bar! You have to make sure that it IS lighthearted and supportive rather than passive aggressive. The fact that you will be getting candy or memes or stickers at five times the rate of the competition will not necessarily go unnoticed when it is performance review time.
It is worth keeping in mind that your managers may measure their employees worth on more things than getting the letters done. Carol may be the only person who can sooth unhappy clients and gets the best rate of success when doing collections, or have some other strengths that genuinely outweigh or equal your value to the company. Or Carol may be the under-performing employee in all categories. But if Carol is a serious under-performer it could also count as a disability - her ability to process work and to avoid distractions could be impaired if she has anxiety or ADD. So if you can stop thinking in terms of fairness and that Carol is getting away with something you are not, it would be better all around. It's REALLY frustrating to work with people who don't perform well enough to keep up their own share of the work. It's really easy to think of them as jerks doing it on purpose and they often HAVE made the decision not to do any more letters than they have to so it won't cut into their socializing time. But in the long run it is way better for our own mental health to tell others "You do you," and be glad and happy that we have our own way of doing things that suits us better.
If you are going to stew, look for work elsewhere. If you've been in this situation before and this is not the first job where under-performing peers has left you steaming you will find happiness more effectively by changing your thinking about people who are slow and inefficient.
posted by Jane the Brown at 2:07 PM on January 7, 2022 [12 favorites]
Anything you can do, like matching your work to Carol's will probably lead management to jump on you, because they need the letters done and the know you can do them. So while Carol will probably not get any more grief than an e-mail or two about picking up the pace, you will get concerted attention if you slack off and stop doing more.
You have three options.
One is to look for work elsewhere.
One is to try to get management to recognize your superior value over Carol and to start rewarding you more. You might, and they might be willing to let you get to claim the Friday before or the Monday after every three day weekend so that you can get four day weekends all the time, or some other benefit like this, as opposed to increasing your pay. They probably can't increase your pay. You should definitely try to get them to document the difference in your performance over Carol's.
The third option is to change something you are doing as a personal reward to yourself for doing extra. External validation is only so helpful in the long run. Being thanked and praised is not necessarily good for your ego, because you can end up seeking praise and doubting your worth if it is not forthcoming. So a valid response is actually to go ahead and do more work than Carol, and take the ego boost of feeling like you are competent and efficient. This will NOT work if you feel like a sucker being exploited, even if they keep praising you, and even if they give you a bonus. It's very possible that slacking off and doing the same as Carol is doing would bore you witless. In the long run improving and maintaining your performance will make you happier if that is the case. But if you'll hate your job if you keep performing well and you'll hate your job if you manage to wriggle out of doing the letters you need to figure out what level of effort will bring you the most happiness and the least resentment and frustration.
Doing something tangible to reward and praise yourself for doing the letters is worth trying. You could for example promise yourself a meal from that incredibly good Thai restaurant when you get 200 letters done, and try to decouple the task from feeling taken advantage of and instead come to view it as a personal challenge and a sign of your own superior competence and adaptability.
You could also try making it a challenge at work - in a light hearted way, suggest you keep score - Every person who does fifty letters gets a chocolate bar! You have to make sure that it IS lighthearted and supportive rather than passive aggressive. The fact that you will be getting candy or memes or stickers at five times the rate of the competition will not necessarily go unnoticed when it is performance review time.
It is worth keeping in mind that your managers may measure their employees worth on more things than getting the letters done. Carol may be the only person who can sooth unhappy clients and gets the best rate of success when doing collections, or have some other strengths that genuinely outweigh or equal your value to the company. Or Carol may be the under-performing employee in all categories. But if Carol is a serious under-performer it could also count as a disability - her ability to process work and to avoid distractions could be impaired if she has anxiety or ADD. So if you can stop thinking in terms of fairness and that Carol is getting away with something you are not, it would be better all around. It's REALLY frustrating to work with people who don't perform well enough to keep up their own share of the work. It's really easy to think of them as jerks doing it on purpose and they often HAVE made the decision not to do any more letters than they have to so it won't cut into their socializing time. But in the long run it is way better for our own mental health to tell others "You do you," and be glad and happy that we have our own way of doing things that suits us better.
If you are going to stew, look for work elsewhere. If you've been in this situation before and this is not the first job where under-performing peers has left you steaming you will find happiness more effectively by changing your thinking about people who are slow and inefficient.
posted by Jane the Brown at 2:07 PM on January 7, 2022 [12 favorites]
it is unfair and illegal to fire her for performing at a level that previously was considered fine
In at least the USA (making a statistically likely assumption the OP is in the USA), there is no law against changing job requirements, so long as the requirements are not dependent on a protected category.
if Carol is a serious under-performer it could also count as a disability
There is no law in the USA that requires employers to reduce the required "essential tasks" and "essential functions" of a job due to any covered medical condition.
posted by saeculorum at 2:36 PM on January 7, 2022 [9 favorites]
In at least the USA (making a statistically likely assumption the OP is in the USA), there is no law against changing job requirements, so long as the requirements are not dependent on a protected category.
if Carol is a serious under-performer it could also count as a disability
There is no law in the USA that requires employers to reduce the required "essential tasks" and "essential functions" of a job due to any covered medical condition.
posted by saeculorum at 2:36 PM on January 7, 2022 [9 favorites]
Best answer: How certain are you that the other employees' highest priority task is the letter processing? You have been in this job for three (3) months and you work two (2) days a week. That sounds to me like a relatively junior part-time employee who might get tasked almost exclusively with request-based/queue-based work, while the three full-time employees might have a mix of other duties.
It does not matter whether Carol is slow because she's been tasked with longer-term projects, because she gossips, because she's covertly studying physics during work hours, because she is disabled, or for any other reason.
If your management is already aware of everybody's letter-processing metrics, actually acting on that information is their problem, not yours. In your position, I would work on processing as many letters as possible (or handling whatever other tasks you're told are important) during your two work days, and then do my best to mentally step away from my job completely the rest of the time. This leaves you five days a week for improving your skills, spending time with family, pursuing hobbies, or finding a role with more driven colleagues.
If your management cannot check on the letter-processing metrics in a few minutes, that's unusual, in my experience. In 2021, if your part-time job is mostly queue-based and management isn't using any kind of customer relationship management (CRM), ticketing, or other request-distribution/queue-tracking system, so they have no idea who does what, that's not a great sign. In that case, it may be past time for managment to get this type of software or for you to find a different role, if this kind of thing matters to you.
posted by All Might Be Well at 2:40 PM on January 7, 2022 [2 favorites]
It does not matter whether Carol is slow because she's been tasked with longer-term projects, because she gossips, because she's covertly studying physics during work hours, because she is disabled, or for any other reason.
If your management is already aware of everybody's letter-processing metrics, actually acting on that information is their problem, not yours. In your position, I would work on processing as many letters as possible (or handling whatever other tasks you're told are important) during your two work days, and then do my best to mentally step away from my job completely the rest of the time. This leaves you five days a week for improving your skills, spending time with family, pursuing hobbies, or finding a role with more driven colleagues.
If your management cannot check on the letter-processing metrics in a few minutes, that's unusual, in my experience. In 2021, if your part-time job is mostly queue-based and management isn't using any kind of customer relationship management (CRM), ticketing, or other request-distribution/queue-tracking system, so they have no idea who does what, that's not a great sign. In that case, it may be past time for managment to get this type of software or for you to find a different role, if this kind of thing matters to you.
posted by All Might Be Well at 2:40 PM on January 7, 2022 [2 favorites]
Best answer: You should intentionally work more slowly and do less work to fill your shift. Process 10 letters a day at a slow pace that leaves you no time at the end of the day. You’re still exceeding the norm set by the full time workers without doing so much more that it feels unfair. And I agree with you that the disparity in the number of letters you each process does seem unfair.
Does working that slow seem like it will drive you batty, if you have to do it indefinitely? If that’s the case, look for a new job. This doesn’t sound like a career for you so unless you love this work I would suggest moving on as soon as you can find something that’s a better fit.
posted by scantee at 5:34 PM on January 7, 2022 [2 favorites]
Does working that slow seem like it will drive you batty, if you have to do it indefinitely? If that’s the case, look for a new job. This doesn’t sound like a career for you so unless you love this work I would suggest moving on as soon as you can find something that’s a better fit.
posted by scantee at 5:34 PM on January 7, 2022 [2 favorites]
Best answer: It seems to me that if these people were as productive as you, your position wouldn’t exist in the first place. The fact that management decided to hire someone rather than get the existing crowd to pick up the pace tells you what they think the odds of that happening are.
To me it seems that your options are to either do your job to the best of your ability and not worry about other people, or take off for greener pastures.
posted by Tell Me No Lies at 9:08 PM on January 7, 2022 [8 favorites]
To me it seems that your options are to either do your job to the best of your ability and not worry about other people, or take off for greener pastures.
posted by Tell Me No Lies at 9:08 PM on January 7, 2022 [8 favorites]
Best answer: Ugh, I was in a similar situation at the end of my last job, and that was the icing on the cake that caused me to leave. My manager was on the rotation and didn't do any of the work - understandably because of other things he needed to do - but that meant he could not chastise anyone else, resulting in me doing 95% of the backlog on my turn.
I agree that trying to get people to do more work without reporting authority over them is pointless. Let it go and either slack off yourself or leave. My work ethic and pride didn't make the former appealing, but I was lucky enough that the latter was an option. Otherwise, I'd have swallowed my pride and let the shoddy work slide.
posted by redlines at 1:45 AM on January 8, 2022 [1 favorite]
I agree that trying to get people to do more work without reporting authority over them is pointless. Let it go and either slack off yourself or leave. My work ethic and pride didn't make the former appealing, but I was lucky enough that the latter was an option. Otherwise, I'd have swallowed my pride and let the shoddy work slide.
posted by redlines at 1:45 AM on January 8, 2022 [1 favorite]
Response by poster: Many thanks for all of these suggestions and for the advice. I truly appreciate all of the responses!
posted by charlen at 12:11 AM on January 9, 2022 [1 favorite]
posted by charlen at 12:11 AM on January 9, 2022 [1 favorite]
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by raccoon409 at 12:58 PM on January 7, 2022 [1 favorite]