How to Tell Your Boss You Have Too Much Work - The Muse

How to Tell Your Boss You Have Too Much Work - The MuseHow to Tell Your Boss You Have Too Much Work Dear Kyle,Can you explain how to tell your boss that you have an excessive workload (way more than your colleagues at the same level) without sounding like youre just complaining or dont want to work hard?Signed,Overworked and Over It Hi Overworked and Over It,Talking to your manager about an excessive workload without sounding lazy or like a complainer is possible if you know how and when to issue your concern.Lets go over the basics first You want to be deliberate in your approach, leid impulsive. For example, rather than stopping your boss as hes heading out the door to lament the number of hours youll be stuck at your desk finishing reports, youll want to schedule a meeting.Really, no matter how stressed youre feeling, its important to take a step back from your emotional state and properly plan for a conversation about having too much work. Its also important to keep the following in mindDont Complain, Problem-SolveExpressing dissatisfaction with your situation without offering a way to fix the problem is complaining. But when you view the problem as a real and solvable issue, suddenly youre not just griping youre problem solving. Youre having a conversation with your boss wherein you identify a solution thatll ultimately improve the product of your work. Prepare to work with your boss by coming to the meeting with a few proposals. Consider behauptung questions (and their answers) as you work to come up with those suggestionsIs the work simply too great for one person to accomplish in a reasonable numbers of hours each week? Some additional support may save more time than it costs.Do you lack the appropriate resources to do the job? Consider researching and requesting a better system or additional support.Do you lack the training required to do the work efficiently? Think about requesting additional training, so that the work becomes less time-consuming.Be S pecific, Not GeneralCharles Kettering, former CEO of General Motors, once said A problem well-stated is a problem half-solved. When you dont provide specific examples of the problem youre experiencing, you put the burden on your boss to be the problem-solver. Not all managers are skilled at navigating individual problems and identifying root causes, so avoid assuming yours will magically have all the answers. Speaking in general terms probably wont do you any favors.Instead of sayingI feel like Im being asked to do more than my co-workers and I dont think thats fair.Try this Ive been having some trouble keeping up with the amount of things on my plate right now, and was hoping we could talk about my role in item youd like to delegate and other item, since these things are taking up a significant amount of time.In the first example, youre basically asking your boss to process how you feel about your situation. Its borderline whiny. Dont depend on him to dig into the reason for your s truggle instead, offer specifics thatll help lead him to an easy understanding of whats really going on. Illustrating exactly whats keeping you busy encourages collaboration. Comparing yourself to co-workers when, chances are, you dont know the full story, is murky territory, and I dont recommend it. This is about whats going on with you and how you envision things improving.Focus on the Future, Not the PastHaving a reduced workload doesnt mean coasting. It means spending an appropriate amount of time on a reasonable amount of work. Its about working diligently, managing expectations, and not burning out. When you speak to your boss, explain your goals. Presumably you want to continue delivering quality work, and the way to do that is to literally have less work. Try this If we could take name of project or task off of my plate, Im confident that I could place more attention on name of top priority, ultimately exceeding my goals and working to advance the company in description of h ow you see your reduced workload aiding the organization or your team. Focusing on the outcome of your request indicates that you see the big picture, and there are few managers who wouldnt appreciate that. Hard-to-initiate conversations like this arent easy, but they do get easier. Learning to effectively communicate at work is an important part of your career. If you approach your manager with a well-articulated problem, a few potential resolutions, and a genuine desire to improve the final product, you wont sound like youre complaining or incompetent. Youll sound like you care about the work youre producing, and as an added bonus, youll hopefully set yourself on a path to a better work-life balance. This article is part of our Ask an Expert series- a column dedicated to helping you tackle your biggest career concerns. Our experts are excited to answer all of your burning questions, and you can submit one by emailing us at editor(at)themuse(dot)com and using Ask a Credible Career Coach in the subject line.Your letter may be published in an article on The Muse. All letters to Ask an Expert become the property of Daily Muse, Inc and will be edited for length, clarity, and grammatical correctness.

Inspire People by Doing Your Job Well and Caring - The Muse

Inspire People by Doing Your Job Well and Caring - The MuseInspire People by Doing Your Job Well and Caring You get up every day and go to work because youre expected to show up. You try to do your job well because you want, at the very least, not to get fired, and at best to get ahead in your career. Ideally, you care about what youre doing and the people youre working with and treat them with kindness and respect. You get all kinds of reinforcements for good performance in your role- whether its positive feedback from a manager, a raise, a promotion, or a new job offer. And you might notice some fleeting signs that youre motivating the people around you- maybe a thanks for your help here and a couldnt have done it without you there. But you never know how much you might inspire people in the long-run just by being great at your job and genuinely caring. Karin Brulliard recently wrote an essay for The Washington Post about how her mother accidentally found out decades later how mean ingful shed been as a teacher to a particular student shed taught in the 1960s. Mary Jacobson hadnt known that one of her seventh grade English students had gone on to become a spectacularly famous author. And she never realized how much early inspiration that student-turned-author, named Tamora Pierce (you mightve heard of her), attributed to Jacobson. Until the retired teacher heard an interview with Pierce on NPR that made her wonder if it might be that same little girl shed taught, all grown up. As Brulliard and her parents did some research online and at the library, they found out. It was right there in the biography on her website The next year, as I was still scribbling my own stories, my English teacher (bless you, Mrs. Jacobsen) introduced me to The Lord of the Rings trilogy by J.R.R. Tolkien. I got hooked on fantasy, and then on science fiction, and both made their way into my stories.And in the dedication in Pierces 1998 novel Dajas Book, part of The Circle of Magic seri es To the teachers who shaped my life Rosemary Gomes, Mary Jacobsen, Margaret Emelson, and David Bradley, Jr. A great teacher is above all other treasures.Pierce may have been mistaken about the spelling of her old teachers name, but she was clear about the impact shed had on her life and career trajectory, later telling Brulliard that Jacobson also encouraged her to keep writing beyond school assignments and to save everything. Jacobson went above and beyond- and that it made a huge difference. Imagine how profound it would be for you to hear something like that about how your showing up, doing your job well, and just caring changed a persons life. What if you approached your interactions with your co-workers with that mindset every day? Take the time to help someone, go above and beyond whats in your job description, or mentor an employee who doesnt report to you. These probably wont be the first things to come up during your next performance review, but people will remember the s mall and large acts of kindness you directed at them. So make it a habit as much as you can. You could end up in Jacobsons shoes a few years from now- finding out you changed someones life.

Curriculum Vitae Strategies for Recent Graduates

Curriculum Vitae Strategies for Recent GraduatesCurriculum Vitae Strategies for Recent GraduatesIf you are pursuing a career in academia or research, then you should focus on creating a curriculum vitae (or CV) in addition to a resume. Resumes are mora commonly used in the U.S. than CVs, and it will never hurt to have one ready. While a resume is a one- or two-page document that highlights your experience, education, and skills, a curriculum vitae is a document that grows over time, cataloging your entire career. Curriculum vitae, after all, is Latin for course of life.If you have completed a graduate program and want an academic job, you will need a polished CV before you begin your job search.Getting startedFormulate a list of all of your academic-related experiences, including education, research, teaching, publications, presentations, honors, committee service, and affiliations. Also consider which faculty members you will ask to serve as your references. You can list your refere nces directly on your curriculum vitae, or you can create a separate references page.FormattingTypically, the first sections of a curriculum vitae are contact information and education (in contrast, education is often the last thing listed on a resume). You can choose to list only your personal contact information, or you can include your departmental information if applicable. You do not need to repeat your contact information on each page your name and a page number in a header or footer will suffice.A CV is a fairly flexible document you can organize the sections in the order that you think is best, and title each section as you see fit. Entries within each section are most often listed in reverse chronological order.Information about your thesis or dissertation can be included in your education section, or in a section of its own. In either case, you should include the title and a brief description, as well as the names of your advisor and committee members.For inspiration, you might want to browse through some examples from others in your chosen field. In addition, the Career Development Center at Stanford University has published a handful of useful examples from a diverse set of fields, each sample designed with a specific focus (teaching, research, administration, etc.).Because of the length and detail included in a CV, the format should be simple, straightforward, and easy to read.ContentsAs with a resume, you may find yourself needing to tailor your curriculum vitae based on the position, grant, or department to which you are applying. The contents of your CV should reflect your goals.If you want to focus on research, then it makes the most sense to have the details of your research experience and publications listed at the start of your curriculum vitae. Your research experience section can include information not just about subject areas in which you have conducted research, but also the specific techniques you have used. Your publications section can include works already published as well as those leise in progress. You can also break this section into categories, such a monographs and journal articles, if you have published different types of works.If you want to teach, then you might lead off your curriculum vitae with information about workshops you have led, courses you have taught, your teaching interests, and your committee service and community involvement at your university.Many graduate programs require their students to have some level of proficiency in one or more foreign languages if applicable, include a section detailing your language skills. If you have relevant professional experience outside of academia, you should include that as well.Different fields have different norms and conventions for CVs. Ask your references and others in your field to review your curriculum vitae to ensure that you have followed these.