JT & Dale Talk Jobs: Managing more tasks on an already heavy workload

J.T.: It sounds like your boss is under a lot of pressure to perform. Is it possible that the company isn’t doing well and that the people he reports to are now putting pressure on him? Or perhaps he’s been told that you aren’t performing at the level that you should be, and now he’s feeling the stress of having to coach you through it.

DALE: That’s a generous assessment of what’s going on. The truth is that this is a case of lousy management. Upper management should be open with employees about the state of the company’s market and their plans around it. Further, an individual manager should be in constant communication about the department and about each employee’s performance. Knowing that should color how you view your long-term role with the company.

J.T.: Even so, as for the short-term, I would sit down and have a conversation with your boss. Let him know that you can tell that he’s stressed and that you want to be as helpful as possible. Walk him through how you’re currently using your time, then seek his guidance on what you can do to streamline your work. Maybe there are some assignments that you don’t need to work on anymore, or he’s got some shortcuts you can use to get the work done faster. If you can approach it as a collaborative effort, you can figure out how to do this additional work and be on the same page. If, for some reason, he doesn’t oblige and just pushes back, then perhaps there’s something bigger going on, and I’d go with Dale’s assessment and start looking for a new job.