Managing Workload – the 3Ps

Prevent

• Communicating what your team does/does not do (repeat and through multiple mediums). Some tools can help with this e.g. Responsibility Assignment Matrix (I think these can be really useful and I have provided a summary of these here)

• Documenting and agreeing what tasks you are responsible for and turnaround time e.g. will respond to y type requests in x days. A Service Level Agreement (SLA) might be appropriate in some instances

• Writing guidance for reoccurring processes/issues

• Amending systems to replace manual processes

• Being clear when you are happy for other to make decisions and they don’t need to involve you

Push Back

• Assess whether the task should actually come to you:

• Understand the task

• Is someone else more appropriate/can you share guidance

• Consider what you can’t do if you take on the task

• If it is not appropriate then push back with confidence, brevity, honestly and respectfully

Prioritise

• There are many methods to help do this: ranking, MoSCoW, Eisenhower Matrix etc..

• And many tools that can help: Microsoft Tasks, Trello, Microsoft Planner etc.

• Different methods and tools work best for different people – try some out and see what works for you

I’d welcome your feedback on the 3Ps approach I have developed and any tips you want to share about what should be included under each ‘P’.