QI'm a consultant in the midst of
a big project, working with a mixed team of client staff and
consultants. The project is full-on, and we are all off-site and
out-of-town.
A client team member (I'll call her Ann) and I have been
given a big module to do. Although we're both supposedly full time
on this case, somehow I find myself doing all my work and some of
Ann's, too. I'm really fed up; when I work until midnight she
leaves early and seems to have long, boozy dinners with her mates.
When we get back after the weekend - that I've spent working! - I
can tell she's not touched a thing since Friday afternoon. I really
don't know what to do. Any ideas?
AIt sounds like you're in a really
difficult situation, working phenomenally long hours, away from
home and with a colleague who's perhaps not as conscientious as
you.
It also sounds like your team in general may not have very clear
roles, responsibilities or accountabilities and this is
exacerbating the situation. Unfortunately, this sort of situation
happens a lot more frequently than you think. Some people can just
sense when there is a diligent worker in their team and somehow
this person ends up carrying a lot of extra work.
So, what can you do?
We think that you have two broad choices:
a. Keep overworking on this project but take steps to ensure it
doesn't happen again in the future (click here for
details)
- Advantages:
- You spend your time and energy delivering the agreed outputs
rather than diverting them into this difficult issue. This way, you
build a reputation for reliability and hard work
- Disadvantages:
- You need a month's sleep when it's all over and you're that
much closer to burnout
- You've risked setting unreasonably high expectations for your
rate of work for the future
b. Try actively to deal with the situation right now (click here for details)
- Advantages:
- If the case is long and you simply can't last out, this offers
you a chance of improving things
- Disadvantages:
- If you need to bring in your boss, or Ann's, to solve things,
you might lose some credibility for not being able to sort things
out on your own.
a. Ensuring this situation does not happen again in the
future:
The most effective way for preventing this situation from
happening is as simple - and as difficult - as establishing clear
boundaries at the outset of a project. It means having the
confidence in your own value, and your knowledge of the norms of
your firm, to be able to say,"This is what my role is and this
is what I will deliver. This is how much I am prepared to give and
this is where I draw the line."
Sometimes, it just seems easier to do the excessive work than
have to go through the discomfort of stating limits, and risking
coming under the microscope from senior managers as a result.
However, overwork is unsustainable. To ensure you maintain healthy
boundaries you just have to keep pushing back on those colleagues
who try to get you to do their work for them!
There are several elements to establishing clear boundaries.
- Figure out for yourself what it is you are prepared to do. Are
you prepared to work weekends? Are you prepared to work late nights
every night? Where are you going to draw the line?
- Communicate your boundaries to those you work with at the
BEGINNING of a project or period of work.
- Keep reinforcing them - push back on colleagues and managers
who overstep the boundaries you established.
- When things begin to be too much, send warning signals, don't
wait until you can't cope.
- And lastly, the tough one: make sure you perform! When you're a
high performer people are more likely to respect you and the
boundaries you set.
Boundaries, especially in stressful situations, are very hard to
maintain. The key lies in continuously re-establishing them.
Has anyone encountered this situation? How did you go about
managing it? Does anyone else have other suggestions? We would love
to you to send in your thoughts and to discover what workable
alternatives you've seen out there.
b. Dealing with the current situation in 3 steps:
FIRST, walk a mile in Ann's shoes.
She may in fact have good reasons for the way she's acting! Take
a moment to consider:
- Who set the parameters of the workplan? Chances are it was
largely driven by the manager or partner from your consulting
company, not Ann's own manager. So she may think it's fair enough
to leave the 'extra' to you!
- Employees in professional service firms do develop stamina for
huge workloads and crazy hours. Ann may be working harder than ever
before in her life - and harder than anyone told her she'd ever
have to. Thus she may feel she's already delivering well in excess
of her firm's norms
- What other work she may be doing. Does she still have to cover
off some basics in her day job? Even though you say she's full time
on the project, it's rare for company managers to be able to step
away so completely.
- Lastly, have you ever suggested "adjustments" to Ann's work to
improve the logic or clarity of presentation? Maybe you've
physically taken her output and changed it yourself? She may feel
disempowered by this, no better than a cog in your machine.
These considerations may lead you to feel you should make more
allowances. If not, they will still have been a useful exercise to
prepare for step 2.
SECOND, talk to Ann. We suggest you prepare for this
conversation - don't just blurt out your frustration. Take a few
minutes to write down examples of times you carried her share of
the work, so that you have them clear in your mind. Also, try and
jot down a couple of times she helped you out: being able to say
something nice will come in very handy!
Find a time when you're away from the immediate office and not
totally stressed out, perhaps while you're both out buying a
sandwich.
Begin your conversation by asking her how she feels things are
going with the project in general and your working relationship in
particular. That might reveal some interesting perspectives! Treat
her with respect and make sure you communicate to her that you
value her work and contribution. Use an example of a time she
helped you. Once you've established the appropriate positive
rapport, you can broach the issue of the occasions when you feel
you've been doing more than your share.
Remember, your goal is to find out if there's anything you can
do to help her produce more work and be willing to do so. If you
find practical actions you agree on, make sure you follow up with
her regularly!
It would also be a good idea to have a quiet word with your
manager to fill him or her in. By taking along a proposed solution
to your problem, you will look proactive.
THIRD, you may have to push the problem upwards,
depending on how things go with Ann. Even if the conversation went
well, you may both still want clearer individual accountabilities.
You could both ask your respective managers for a meeting, but
ultimately, if there are issues of timing and scope changes, your
manager will need to agree these with a separate person, namely the
lead client manager.
In your meeting with your manager, you might want to establish
first how s/he thinks the project is going. It could be the case
that s/he's picked up on the issues but hasn't dealt with them,
assuming you could cope. Sometimes when we don't voice how we feel
it's convenient for others to think we are OK, to save having to do
something about it!
Then, it is important that you voice how you feel in a
professional and factual way, illustrating your points with the
actual examples you collected for your talk to Ann. Since you know
your manager will probably need to discuss the solution with client
managers you'll want to be as even-handed as possible, and fully
cognizant of Ann's perspective. Ultimately, you want your manager
to alleviate the situation by re-establishing roles and
responsibilities and clear accountabilities for your team.
Your Perspectives
Has anyone encountered this situation? How did you go about
managing it? Does anyone else have other suggestions? We would love
to you to send in your thoughts and to discover what workable
alternatives you've seen out there.
© Professionelle Ltd 2007