Employee Workload Management

Many years ago, I interviewed for a training position at our state’s peace officer academy. During the interview I was asked how I would prioritize tasks or workload (e.g., emails, voice messages, meetings, etc.). Many employees struggle with this. As a supervisor or manager, does your employees know how to do this? Do they know what you expect? It is helpful to know what priorities are important in your work place.

Calendar

My first task after getting my computer up and running is checking the meeting schedule for the day. Are there meetings requiring my attendance? What is the meeting about? Do I have to provide any input (assignment) for the meeting? Look at the assignments to make sure they are ready for the meeting. Remind others in the meeting group of their assignments. Once you have the day arranged, move on.

Emails

My next priority is checking emails. Is someone requesting information from me? Have I received requested information? What is the priority to these emails? Respond to the emails with high priority. Can an email be placed in the waiting zone? If so, flag the email and move on.

If I have a deadline, I don’t let incoming emails distract me from concentrating on a project. If you do, you will not complete important work. Distractions like emails can interrupt thought flow. I look at the emails three times during the day, morning, before lunch and before leaving for the day.

How do you organize the emails you receive? You can organize by:

Individual – who is sending the email?

Project – is the email connected to a specific project?

Organization – is the email related to a project and related to an organization?

I conduct audits at over 30 prisons, so I have an email folder for each prison. Under each prison I have folders for each audit. At some prisons I have conducted multiple audits over the years. When I receive an email regarding an audit for a prison, I place it in their folder. I can find related emails quicker this way. You need to work out a method which fits your needs.

Voice Mails

Voice mails can be done after or before checking emails. Again, if a project needs to be completed, I don’t answer calls. Let voice mail do its job, unless you are expecting a call related to the project. Avoiding answering phone calls can save you time in the long run. However, do not forget to reply to those calls. You don’t want to be known as the individual who does not return calls.

Visitors

The hardest thing to manage is people walking by your work area and who want to talk. My current office is a cubicle, “gopher hole”; no door, and when I stand-up I can see other heads popping up. It is difficult to stay on task when others, without a deadline, want to talk. There are ways to let co-workers know you can’t talk (e.g., a sign by your entrance; noise canceling head phones; ear buds playing music). Sometimes you just have to say, “I can’t talk right now, I have a deadline.” The hardest thing is not to be rude. If you tell them you are working on a project, they will understand.

Project

Sometimes the project itself is intimidating. Balancing the workload overwhelms us, because we fear the project itself.

If you were given medium-sized river rocks, pebbles, marbles, sand and water to put in a jar, and if you were to start with the water, sand, then worked your way to the larger items, you won’t get them all in the jar. Let me tell you a secret. Start with the larger items first. The sand and water will fill-in the smaller areas, between the larger items in the bottle. So, what does this mean? Start with the harder things, the things you are avoiding. When you accomplish the daunting tasks first, the easy items on your to do list will be a breeze. Once the hard things are finished, the weight is off your shoulders and you will feel the stress melt away.

As a manager, we want tasks and projects to be completed. How you keep track of these projects is extremely important. Giving your employee set time lines and a reporting process will help you and your employee. There are many leadership styles. One to avoid is “Micromanagement,” which by definition is a management style whereby a manager closely observes and/or controls the work of subordinates or employees. It demonstrates the lack of trust in an employee’s ability to complete their work. Provide appropriate training, as needed, then let them do their jobs.

What are your priorities?

We all have our own methods to getting work done. Your employee might have theirs, too. What are yours? Do your employees know what they are? How can your employees know what your priorities are if you don’t tell them?

Give your employees your priorities. And if they change, which we know can happen, let your employees know. When giving new tasks, let the employee know where this task ranks on the list. Having a list on a project board can be useful for you and your employees. It can help you to maintain a reasonable workload balance, easily seeing at a glance what is on everyone’s plate, while at the same time being a constant reminder to employees that you are well aware of their projects and their due dates.

Managing workload is essential for effective operations and for maintaining the mental health of both you and your employees. Setting priorities, providing clear and reasonable expectations and providing appropriate support go a long way toward making your work environment a happy, healthy and productive place to be.

May you have success with all your adventures,

David