Overworked but afraid to say anything

LegacyUser

I've been in my job a number of years, but lately I've been feeling very overworked. I'm a very hard worker, but I would say I'm average in my area of work. Not for the will of not trying, but sometimes things just don't click for me.

I currently work under two managers, both giving me work and expecting it to be completed within the allotted time. The thing is that neither manager knows what the other is giving me and ultimately if work isn't delivered on time, it's my fault.

I've been letting certain bits of work slip at the cost of my reputation with clients, purely to meet my managers demands. I've stayed in late some evenings and have come in on Saturdays to try and get ahead, to no avail.

I have voiced my concerns about things coming crashing down if something isn't done soon, but they have just told me you should only spend 2 days on manager 1's work and 3 days on manager 2's work. That's all fine in theory, but it never works out like that. Clients make demands and if I don't do it, no one else will. Either that or I would have to tell my managers they would have to do it which wouldn't go down too well at all.

The next step would to be sit down with them again and say I can't handle all this work, but that will make me seem like an employee who isn't performing, even though the expectations to do this work would be unrealistic in my honest opinion. I also feel I am underpaid for the role I'm in, but bringing this up along with asking for a reduced workload would be a real no go.

Is there any reasonable way to broach this subject without coming across as a poor employee?

Tenigate

Be good with one manager. Be unreliable with the second.
The first manager will treat you well because he won't want to lose you. The second will want nothing to do with you.

Speedwell

Tenigate wrote: »

Be good with one manager. Be unreliable with the second.
The first manager will treat you well because he won't want to lose you. The second will want nothing to do with you.

Yeah, that's a good way to get the second manager to fire you. Only takes one.

No, do what I did in the same situation. When you are working on one manager's work on a deadline, and the other manager wants you to do something even though you need all your time for the first job, ask the second manager to check with the first manager to see whether it is OK for you to turn your first job in late. DO NOT offer to talk to the first manager yourself. Make the second manager do it... you're BUSY.

Do this consistently and until they establish a pattern of communicating with each other to efficiently use resources (you). You are not their manager and should not be managing them.

LegacyUser

Speedwell wrote: »

Yeah, that's a good way to get the second manager to fire you. Only takes one.

No, do what I did in the same situation. When you are working on one manager's work on a deadline, and the other manager wants you to do something even though you need all your time for the first job, ask the second manager to check with the first manager to see whether it is OK for you to turn your first job in late. DO NOT offer to talk to the first manager yourself. Make the second manager do it... you're BUSY.

Do this consistently and until they establish a pattern of communicating with each other to efficiently use resources (you). You are not their manager and should not be managing them.

That's a very good idea. Thank you. The only fear I have is that I will come across as an employee creating hassle, even though I'd be right in doing as you say. Some people may not see it that way. I guess it's all down to how I phrase it, but knowing me I'll say it in such a way that it'll look like I can't multitask.

You see, I tend to be a yes man, taking on too much work for fear of disappointing management. It's a bad habit, I know, but I always feel that saying no to work is a bad approach if you want to get ahead in your career.

Speedwell

overworkedandunderpaid wrote: »

That's a very good idea. Thank you. The only fear I have is that I will come across as an employee creating hassle, even though I'd be right in doing as you say. Some people may not see it that way. I guess it's all down to how I phrase it, but knowing me I'll say it in such a way that it'll look like I can't multitask.

You see, I tend to be a yes man, taking on too much work for fear of disappointing management. It's a bad habit, I know, but I always feel that saying no to work is a bad approach if you want to get ahead in your career.

But you're not saying no. You're saying, "help me say yes". You're saying, "You're my manager, I need you to help me prioritise". If the no comes, it will come in the form of the other manager saying, "I need them to finish this first". In more dramatic terms, you're not saying no to work, you're saying no to being abused. Eating sh!t is also a bad approach if you want to get ahead. Stop doing free work, too.

Being pulled apart by two contradictory managers is not "multitasking" (which is overrated anyway) and if the two managers say it is, they are wrong. Multitasking is something like "I'm going to lunch, can you catch the phones while you're finishing that PowerPoint". It is not "I see you're busy working on Smith's PowerPoint but I need you to make coffee for my meeting in 20 minutes and stay to take notes". It certainly is not "To hell with Smith's PowerPoint, I need you to rush this out first".

You are one person and you can do the work of one person. If a couple of selfish cnuts want you to do their jobs instead of your own, you have to refuse because doing their work is not doing your job. You were hired by management to do your job and not doing it is disappointing them. Don't put yourself in the position of having nothing to say when someone asks you why you didn't do your job. If the selfish, lazy managers wind up letting you go because you put your job first, then when you look for another job, you can tell your interviewer that you were never left alone to do the job you were supposed to be doing. But I hope it doesn't come to that. You could consider asking HR (not the managers themselves), "My job description seems to have changed. I was hired to take care of clients and I'm not being allowed to do that. What is my new job description?"

Document everything. Keep a pad with you. When Manager Twiddledee assigns you a task, write down when it was assigned, what the task was, and when it is due. When Manager Twiddledum assigns you a task and it conflicts, write down when it happened, what it was, what was said, when they expected it. If it conflicts with your own job duties, write down what and how. Keep a log of unpaid time, days off you don't get to take, times you're blamed for their mismanagement, nasty things they said about the other manager, whatever seems pertinent. Do not keep this in your desk, and do not type it out on or e-mail it from any computer accessible to the company, but do keep a copy in a safe place.

georgewickstaff

"A good way of getting the manager to fire you" - the unhelpful hysterical garbage that is posted on here makes my blood boil.

The OP has been a model employee for YEARS at this company. He simply cannot be fired. To suggest he can is nuts.

I would also suggest that you look at your company anti bullying and harassment guidelines as placing unfair and unreasonable demands on staff constitutes bullying.

In relation to your query, you have explained yourself very well. You need to be firm and involve HR if necessary.

Please do not listen to the IBEC fire 'em brigade. They are talking bollox.

OldMrBrennan83

This post has been deleted.

Speedwell

georgewickstaff wrote: »

"A good way of getting the manager to fire you" - the unhelpful hysterical garbage that is posted on here makes my blood boil.

The OP has been a model employee for YEARS at this company. He simply cannot be fired. To suggest he can is nuts.

I would also suggest that you look at your company anti bullying and harassment guidelines as placing unfair and unreasonable demands on staff constitutes bullying.

In relation to your query, you have explained yourself very well. You need to be firm and involve HR if necessary.

Please do not listen to the IBEC fire 'em brigade. They are talking bollox.

I've worked for major multinational corporations for 20 years, here and abroad. A model, indispensable employee is one that insists on, and gets, fair and equitable treatment as part of a mutually respectful team environment. The OP is not that. What they are describing is an atmosphere of contempt for them and for their own job duties on the part of the people who are supposed to be managing them. "Cannot be fired"? Yeah, that'll do a lot of good when the OP is standing outside with a box, wondering how to hire a solicitor on a jobseeker's benefit payment.

You are, however, correct about bullying. The problem is, the OP sees themselves as a bit of a doormat, and no wonder, they've been treated like one. They are the commons, and the situation is a tragedy (I trust you've heard of the "tragedy of the commons"). If they were the kind of person who was capable of being a firm and effective communicator, this would never have been an issue in the first place. Since it is now an issue, the way to remedy it is to induce the managers to decide "of their own free will" to start bloody managing instead of playing power struggle games against each other with the OP as pawn.

Thoie

A shared calendar might be an idea. If you're using Outlook, setup a category for ManagerA and a category for ManagerB (different colours). If there's other work you're doing, set that up as a different category with a different colour.

When ManagerA asks you do something, put it in your calendar "Task Z - 2 hours, 9-11 Monday". Categorise it as ManagerA.

Then if ManagerB comes along and wants something done, you can say "I can't get to that until 11 on Monday".

As you've been there a while, you'll have a fair idea of how long each request will take. If ManagerB needs something done during a ManagerA assigned time, you can show him the calendar and ask her to confirm with ManagerA that it's OK to move their task to later. If they refuse, you drop a mail to ManagerA, cc'ing ManagerB saying "Just to let you know, ManagerB has prioritised something, so I'll need to deliver your thing later - I anticipate the new delivery date/time will be X".

It's all about creative time management, and making it clear and obvious to them what work you're doing. Add everything to the calendar, with the colour coding (takes seconds). Even add/update things after they're done if you have to. At the end of the week, you'll have a clear picture of how much time you're spending on each one, and where the conflicts come up.

Which one of them is your "line manager"? Who approves holidays/does performance reviews? That's the one who should be dealing with the conflicts.

Diziet

Keep a note of requests and how long they take to progress, and then you can respond accordingly. it is ok to say 'I will do this but it wont be ready till Tuesday, a I am working on x'. if they complain, ask them to square it with your manager.
Keeping a diary will allow you to then have a review and work out a better way to allocating time and possibly delegating some of the work. But don't go in complaining of overwork without data to back it up, it is far more professional to say 'here are the numbers, let's find a better way'.
Saying yes all the time is not a professional approach; you need to take ownership of your time and make sure it is used well.

georgewickstaff

"Companies can do what they like.." what utter horse ****.

I stopped reading there.

Speedwell

georgewickstaff wrote: »

"Companies can do what they like.." what utter horse ****.

I stopped reading there.

Yes, you absolutely did stop reading there. That's clear.

OldMrBrennan83

This post has been deleted.

doolox

In theory every worker should know the capacity of their job and what is expected in each grade and sector of employment. They should be able to have a good grasp of what is normal in any given employment.

Just as it would be inappropriate to ask a bus driver to exceed the legal speed limit or carry 60 people in a 55 seater bus it should be possible for a reasonably competent person to set limits on what can be achieved in a given time in their work.

You need to communicate effectively and firmly with each manager what the limits of your working day are and make sure if measurement is possible that it is competitive for your grade and sector. This might involve retraining and reskilling to catch up with the norm, it may involve investment in newer technologies and processes to get you up to speed or it may involve managers reeling in their expectations of what can be done in a finite day.

Speedwell

doolox wrote: »

In theory every worker should know the capacity of their job and what is expected in each grade and sector of employment. They should be able to have a good grasp of what is normal in any given employment.

Yes, that is the job of the manager to define and enforce.

Just as it would be inappropriate to ask a bus driver to exceed the legal speed limit or carry 60 people in a 55 seater bus it should be possible for a reasonably competent person to set limits on what can be achieved in a given time in their work.

The OP is in the situation where two different authorities are defining his speed limits, routes, and driving conditions.

You need to communicate effectively and firmly with each manager

No, you don't "communicate firmly" with managers who are already assuming you are insubordinate. You don't take on the responsibility for "managing your managers". Managers should manage.

georgewickstaff

Terrifying that some people actually believe what they are writing! Or is it all an hillarious wind up?

Imagine going through life with such fear and forelock tugging.

Well done.

Speedwell

georgewickstaff wrote: »

Terrifying that some people actually believe what they are writing! Or is it all an hillarious wind up?

Imagine going through life with such fear and forelock tugging.

Well done.

Imagine trying to right a wrong while denying the wrong exists.