Negotiating Workload Limits - Free eBook in PDF Format
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Book Description - ISBN 978-1-62620-981-7 (25 Pages)
Sometimes the pressures and demands of work seem overwhelming and it is all too easy to find yourself snowed under with impossible deadlines. This free eBook provides practical strategies for negotiating your workload to a manageable level whilst still being seen as a hard-working and diligent manager.
Chapter 1 - Dealing With Stress at Work
When it comes to personal productivity, the single biggest problem that people have is over commitment. This issue is both the hardest to recognize and the most difficult to address. Being over committed means simply having too much work to do on a day-to-day basis.
Chapter 2 - Dealing With Stress at Work - Examining Your Own Behavior
The biggest contributor to over-commitment is the inability to say 'no' to work requests, which results in people taking on far more work than they can realistically manage. This applies to requests from co-workers as well as bosses.
Chapter 3 - Dealing With Stress at Work - Negotiating with Your Boss and Colleagues
There are two main groups you will have to negotiate your workload with; one being your boss and the other, your colleagues. Whilst you may employ the same tactics for either group, the risks are greater when negotiating with your boss.
Chapter 4 - Dealing With Stress at Work - Learning to Say 'No'
If you feel that you would like to become better at saying no, then try prompting yourself to think more carefully about the task involved each time that you are requested to take something on.
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Gave Me the Confidence to Say 'No'
This book has helped me a lot. There is no point in getting better time management if you just keep taking more work. Now I know how to 'negotiate' with my boss to do the things I should be doing - instead of anything and everything. Before I read this, I didn't understand why I was being singled out to take on more and more work when there are other people in my department who are not as busy as me. I have learned a lot from this free book.
Sourav Riakar
Changed My Perception About My Commitment to My Work
Do you feel you are doing more work than you should be doing? If yes, you are not the only one thinking that way. I felt the same way about my job not too long ago. Regardless of how hard I worked, there was always more to do. Work became an endless stream of projects waiting to be completed. As my employment was on the line, I had no option but to keep plodding along. Yet, I was on the lookout for a way I could change the situation and turn it in my favor, which is when I came across Free Management Books, particularly their eBook on Negotiating Your Workload.
Reading the eBook changed my perception about my commitment to my work. I felt that the hard work I was putting in, even if it was burning me out, was ultimately going to benefit me in the long run, that I would have an edge on my peers and contemporaries. Turns out, I was doing more than I needed to do. In other words, I was over-committed. The eBook made me realize the ways in which this could hamper my growth and progress within the organization I was working for.
When you have too much on your plate, there is no option but to rush things. I was doing the same and my quality of work was taking a hit. I wasn't able to deliver the kind of performance my superiors expected from me. More significantly, my health was taking a turn for the worse. Major and minor illnesses and health issues began popping up. For someone who had a clean bill of health till then, it was something surprising. Yet, I didn't realize this was inherently linked to the way I was working.
Needless to say, there were occasions when I considered quitting my job. The pressure, the workload, the stress was becoming too much to handle. It was only after going through Negotiating Your Workload did I realize the fact that I was the one causing my workload to increase beyond control. I was willing to help anyone and everyone. As a result, whenever a task came up that no one else wanted to perform, I was the one asked to do it. And I couldn't say 'no'.
Plus, I had little or no control over the work I was being given. Applying the principles laid out in this eBook, particularly with regards to my behavior at the workplace, enabled me to define priorities and have some semblance of control over the work I was doing. Also, I no longer just say 'yes' whenever a colleague comes to me and asks me to do some of his/her work. I have noted the fact that they need me more than I need them so I am the one with the leverage here and I used it to offload some of my work.
As for negotiating my workload with my boss, I am still trying to work on that. By nature, I am not an assertive and argumentative person. Therefore, I do have a hard time negotiating. Through this eBook, I at least have an idea of what needs to be done in order to say 'no' to my boss when my workload goes beyond the optimum level. I am quite sure I will be able to scale this peak too, though it may take some time.
Miles Norton
Time Management Tips - Effective time management involves learning to focus on the right things whilst letting go of some of the less important tasks. Whilst time management forwards many proven techniques, you will need to develop a strategy that suits your own needs.
Coping with Stress at Work - At some time or another almost everyone feels as though they have more work than they can cope with. However, not all stress is bad, and it is often cited as a key factor in helping people respond to crises, adapt to change and excel when a peak performance is required; for example, in an interview or presentation. When coping with stress at work, the important thing is not to let your workload grow to the point where you are completely overloaded.
Decision Making Techniques - Decision making is an important aspect of time management. For example, when classifying activities on the urgency/importance grid, you will need to be decisive and not procrastinate over each and every activity. Having decided what is important, you then need to progress these tasks quickly and efficiently, and once again decision making will be a key factor in your ability to do this.
Procrastination Help - While we all know that we shouldn't procrastinate, sometimes it is hard to make the right decision and tackle the problems that are in front of us. This can be especially difficult for someone in a management position who might have difficult decisions to make that have real-world consequences for the staff and the business as a whole.
Effective Time Management - Interruptions during the working day not only take up your time, they also have a secondary impact - in that they cost valuable minutes as you get back into what you were doing before the interruption. Some workplace interruptions may be unavoidable, but many are not and you shouldn't feel guilty about reducing your exposure to interruptions as the result will be an increase in your overall efficiency.
