A common scenario playing out across many workplaces is the overwhelmed senior leader trying to respond appropriately when their team raise concerns about their own work volumes.

I’ve been there.

Drowning in my own work 𝙖𝙣𝙙 trying to support my leadership team’s wellbeing whilst trying to keep delivering on ever increasing demands.

Your team keep telling you they are overloaded, and you don’t know how to help them – or yourself for that matter.

Here’s my three steps for navigating this space effectively:

𝗦𝘁𝗲𝗽 𝟭:

Take a deep breath and attempt to regulate your emotions. As Viktor Frankl tell us – “Between stimulus and response there is a space. In that space is our power to choose our response. In our response lies our growth and our freedom.”

When you don’t take that space that will enable you to respond rather than react, you are at risk of blurting out something unhelpful such as “We’re all busy, it’s just the way it is!”.

A calmer, more effective response will help you and them in that moment. Shutting down or ignoring concerns will compromise your relationship and the trust your team have in you. Soon they’ll stop bringing you their concerns and that’s far more problematic.

𝗦𝘁𝗲𝗽 𝟮:

Actively hear what your people are saying. Truly listen. Try not to deflect, defend or defer, just hear. While you’re at it, listen to yourself too. No more ignoring how you’re really doing.

Try to diagnose where your demands are coming from. As I wrote in this month’s newsletter the topic of “workload” is multi-layered (remember the delicious looking sponge cake?). It feels hard to solve because it’s not just one simple layer.

Participants in my Brilliantly Balanced program complete a diagnostic with a series of questions that help pinpoint the highest risk areas for us to address.

Questions relate to the components in the Workload Mastery Venn diagram below. All of these factors are generally involved when diagnosing the problem of excessive work demands. Rarely is it just one factor at play.

If you are interested in the program or doing the deeper diagnostic reach out for a chat – however, in the meantime, simply reflect on the model below and consider the primary factors at play for you and your overloaded team:

• Is the internal work environment problematic? Is there an unwritten rule that overworking will get you far in this workplace? Is there an unwillingness to truly look at the work and make adjustments to alleviate excessive demands? To explore work redesign?
• Are external stakeholder demands increasing in frequency or complexity? What are the peaks and troughs of those demands? Can you predict patterns that will enable you to pre-emptively adjust workload to manage the peaks?
• What about your inner narrative? How are your boundaries? Do you say ‘yes’ when perhaps you should negotiate priorities or an extended timeline? Does that voice in your head tell you that to earn your leaders badge you have to work an extra 20 hours a week? That being on the brink of burnout is the price you pay? That you truly don’t have time to take a lunch break? That back-to-back meetings actually mean you’re important? Not every thought is helpful – or true.

Effectively monitoring, measuring and managing workload is a skill required of contemporary leaders. There will always be more to do than capacity to do it, which means conversations in real time are more important than ever to course correct as needed and reduce the risk of severe, prolonged or unmanaged work stress. For you and your team.

Martyrdom belongs in the 4th Century. No more self-sacrificing.

𝗦𝘁𝗲𝗽 𝟯:

My 3M Monitor, Measure, Manage framework published in AHRI’s HRM Online provides you with a structured way to effectively deal with modern day work demand challenges.

Stepping into conversations about job demands takes courage in some instances, but there’s much that can be done, even when it feels hopeless. Especially when it feels hopeless.

Wilful blindness is your biggest organisational risk.
Ignoring the problem won’t make it go away,
but it may make some of your best talent disappear.

If you are unsure how to navigate the challenges of excessive work demands for yourself and/or for your team, then seek help.

The costs of ignoring the problem are simply too high.

Programs that can help: