How to tell your boss you have too much work

Published on

In our management sessions, we often explore how to respond to an employee who says they have too much work, and the employer's duty of care in relation to preventing work-related stress.

This article looks at managing a heavy workload from the employee's perspective, and provides some helpful tips and suggestions on what to do if you feel you have too much work.

-Seek advice from your manager or a coworker on ways to decrease the amount of time you spend on certain assignments.-Be upfront about asking if priorities can be shifted or trade-offs can be made.-Show a willingness to pitch in by inquiring if there are small ways you can be helpful to colleagues and projects.

Related Articles

Surviving to thriving: finding the win-win

There is a tendency to think of mental health simply as the absence of obvious mental illness. But, as Martin Seligman and others exploring this territo...

Don't write it off. A case study making a case for mental health at work

“The day I qualified as a solicitor I was, the senior partner told me, ‘exceptionally technically talented.’ ‘The one to watch.’ …Less than a year later...

Surviving or thriving - the lumps of mental health

Mental health awareness week 2017 is here and the theme this year is Surviving or Thriving.When we think about mental health the temptation, somewhat od...

HR Magazine: Half of UK workers faced toxic workplaces

Head of Resolution Zoe Wigan comments on speaking up and creating psychological safety.

People Management: HR must protect workplace investigators from the threat of vicarious trauma

Head of Resolution Zoe Wigan shares how to recognise and mitigate this risk for investigators of distressing subject matter.

Personnel Today: Six ways to kickstart conversations about team stress at work

Rachael Forsberg shares six steps for workplaces properly discussing team stress, as a crucial first step in tackling it.