Laura,
You are correct! What signs do you notice that might indicate that an employee is overwhelmed and what strategies can you use to help them?
Jamie
I can see when they are stressed and not coming to meetings and not responding to emails about meetings and events. They usually take a backseat role and let others take over. I help by having them decide what strengths they have and then they decide what roles they can play and it appears to them they've made a decision to change and help and gives them motivation on their own.
Yes because they will lose interest. My experience has been it's not motivation for them to try to make it work, it's the opposite.
You are completely right. It's similar to the hardworkers to work together because they don't want to carry the team and have to do the work of the less motivated. Everyone wants credit and people are very possessive for a good idea that they don't want others to take on because they want the recognition.
I agree, however sometimes when a member has a legitimate point about being overextended, others will step up to fill the gap and that strengthens the team. However if that doesn't happen and someone becomes a chronic problem, does anyone have suggestions for handling that team type?
John,
I hope some of your learned classmates will provide suggestions as well, but below is a technique that has worked for me.
It is the manager's responsibility to ensure that the workload of every employee is reasonable. There are periods where somebody will be overextended but that should be the exception, not the rule. Sometimes, HR can step in and dictate the norms of a position. If a person is regularly given tasks beyond what is reasonable, then either another team member needs to be hired or some of the aspects of the position need to be moved to other roles. So often managers keep piling work on the most reliable employees. This is flattering in the beginning but before you know it, the person's fundamental job has changed. An analysis of the hours per day used on various tasks, and comparing that with the job responsibilities of the position, is a good way to get the issue of overextended employees rectified without getting personalities in the mix.
Best of luck.
Jamie
This is exactly where I am in my position with more and more tasks and responsibilities being piled on my plate. At this point I feel like all I do is work on priority tasks. It's like playing the game Wac A Mole . How did the restructuring of duties come about?
Patricia ,
It sounds like a frustrating situation. Please provide some specific information so your fellow classmates and I can get you some suggestions.
Dr. Jamie Morley
Hi Audrey,
I am also a new manager and I am having some struggles with delegation to my team members as we are all overworked and I do not them to feel overwhelmed. I have tried to help them understand that there are only so many hours in the day and if the are feeling overwhelmed they will not be productive. I try to give them enough time when giving deadlines to them and as the deadline approaches give them gentle reminders that is coming up. I also praise them and tell them how much I appreciate all of their hard work and I send out weekly encouraging emails. So far this has seemed to work.
Pamela,
Nice suggestions! A manager’s role is to communicate effectively, train their people to do a good job, get your team the tools necessary to do the job, and then help them clear a path to get it done. So often people feel overworked because of the inefficiencies of the process, as opposed to the actual job itself. They are frustrated with an ordering process, or paperwork required, or time it takes to get a decision. Always start the week by asking your people what you can do to clear a path for productivity for them, you will be amazed at how much more productive they will be.
Dr. Jamie Morley
In the medical field, I've actually found that people seem to be just as productive when overworked, until they reach a breaking point and burn out.
Pamela,
Everybody deals with stress in a different way. As a manager, you don’t want to achieve short term results by sacrificing the long term stability of your team and the health of your employees. To do so intentionally would be ethically questionable at best! The key is to know what motivates your team so that they will rise to the occasion and put in extra effort when it is critical, while at the same time, getting their intrinsic or extrinsic needs met.
Dr. Jamie Morley
I agree, it is very difficult to lead a team when they are overworked and have a low morale. It is very important for the team leader to reiterate the importance of every team member and the value of their contributions to the team and company. Team building activities, accolades, and behavior modification is essential to success of the team during this time.
Lisa,
In addition to the ideas you already presented, a manager needs to take responsibility for the workload of the team and calculate what is reasonable. If the team is short staffed, the manager should explain to the team that the additional workload is temporary. If the workload is not expected to go down, a manager needs to communicate his or her commitment to getting help for the team. Teams need to see a light at the end of the tunnel and have a feeling that their extra efforts have been recognized.
Dr. Jamie Morley
I am not sure if performing worse is the appropriate adjective. I know I am overloaded at this time. I believe I am not as efficient as I can be and somewhere in all these task something is is suffering. I am doing good at all these things, I could be doing great with less tasks.
I believe people that are overloaded will perform worse than those that are not. There are factors that contribute to this and it may not always be the individual. At time the people around you can affect your performance. If someone in your team is assigned a specific task, but could not complete that task and you as a teammate had to step in and assist it can be a burden on you.
Christian,
This is a critical part of being a team leader...or when you monitor team performance and to ensure the workload is evenly distributed. Overload not only affects performance but also moral for current and future projects.
Ron Obstfeld
Recognizing extra efforts can be a great tool. Even if it is just a thank you and a smile, people need to know their extra effort and time did not go unnoticed.
Roger,
Good point. Seems obvious but this simple technique is often overlooked.
Ron Obstfeld
Being overloaded/worked to me means not being as productive under "normal" work circumstances. However, more errors can take place, which causes frustrations in both the manager and team members. If a team member is normally not productive in normal circumstances, performance results are probably worse!
