How to tell your boss you have too much work

You have a role at work you employ and you, like everyone else, want to rise up the corporate ladder. One of the key people you need to impress is your supervisor but there’s a catch. You don’t see eye-to-eye and cannot seem to agree on ratings of your performance - you think you’re doing a pretty good job, s/he does not. You constantly feel overwhelmed by your ever growing list of responsibilities but are afraid that if you voice these concerns you will be viewed as not up for promotion in future or a pay rise.

How do you handle this, especially if you’re at the beginning of your career and don’t have the courage to build boundaries yet?

The downside

Sometimes, bosses lean harder on employees that they find reliable. Unfortunately, when a member of staff being really good at their role leads to them being assigned more responsibility, one of two things happens. They either become overwhelmed and less effective at their primary responsibility, falling into the risk of getting a bad review or they put in more time in a bid to perform their main and additional roles to satisfaction. Either way, when a good employee is stretched too thin, they run the risk of making mistakes, or getting burnt out.

Talk to colleagues

Do you have colleagues who have worked with your boss longer that you can trust and speak with in confidence? Speak with them about feeling frustrated or overwhelmed and about how to effectively engage your boss without coming off as if you’re copping out on your role. People who have had difficult conversations with the person will give you a hint on how to approach this.

Address it

Don’t make assumptions about why your workload is growing. As difficult as it may be, find a time that works for both you and your boss to have a conversation regarding your performance, keeping in mind the pointers you got from your colleague/s. A great way of addressing the concerns is from a factual perspective. Make a list of all your daily roles and tasks, related deadlines and projects you have on your plate. At the end of the day, you want to frame the conversation from the perspective of ‘I want to be as effective as possible in my role and achieve my assigned targets so that I can support my team in achieving the organization’s vision’. Avoid using words that imply you feel as if you’re being treated unfairly, instead keeping the conversation objective.